Cap Exempt H-1B Approval for School Petitioner (Nonprofit Organization Affiliated with an Institution of Higher Education) in New Mexico and Filipina Middle School Math Teacher

CASE: H-1B Visa Petition

PETITIONER: School in New Mexico

BENEFICIARY: Filipina Middle School Math Teacher

ISSUES: Cap-Exempt, Research Organization

Our client is a non-profit organization affiliated with five institutions of higher education. They contacted our office in September 2017 to seek legal assistance from our office for their foreign employee. The beneficiary is a Middle School Math Teacher from the Philippines.  

The proffered position for the Beneficiary is a Middle School Math Teacher. We showed that this is a “specialty occupation” because the minimum requirement for this position is a Bachelor’s Degree in Science or its equivalent.

In the first week of April, the numerical cap of H-1B visas for fiscal year 2018 was already reached. However, our client is qualified for cap-exempt petitions since it is a non-profit organization affiliated with an Institution of Higher Education as defined in 8 C.F.R. 214.2(h)(19)(iii)(B).

Once retained, our office filed the H-1B visa petition with various supporting documents on October 13, 2017, via premium processing. There were no Requests for Evidence during the processing of the H-1B. Eventually, our client’s H-1B application was approved on October 18, 2017.  She can now work for her employer for three years on an H-1B status.