CASE: H-1B Visa Petition
PETITIONER: Public School District in Saint Francis, SD
BENEFICIARY: Filipino Elementary School Teacher
Our client is a Public School District in Saint Francis, SD. They contacted our office in October 2023 to seek legal assistance from our office for their foreign employee’s H-1B visa petition. The beneficiary obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education, and he is currently residing in the U.S. with H-4 status. The position for the Beneficiary is an Elementary School Teacher which qualifies as a specialty occupation. This proffered position is a “specialty occupation” because the minimum requirements for this position are a Bachelor’s Degree in Education or its equivalent.
Despite the annual quota for the H-1B, our client was able to file the H-1B petition for its prospective employee since our client is a non-profit organization affiliated with an Institution of Higher Education. Once retained, our office filed the H-1B visa petition with various supporting documents via premium processing service on October 30, 2023. However, the USCIS issued a Request for Evidence and Notice of Intent to Deny for this application and requested our client to submit the beneficiary’s teaching license. The beneficiary didn’t have a South Dakota teaching license yet since he didn’t have H-1B or J-1 status in the U.S.
Our office argued that the beneficiary is eligible for an H-1B. Even if a license is required, the USCIS should approve an H-1B petition if the application shows that the beneficiary meets almost all the requirements for a state license. Our office filed the Response to NOID on December 7, 2023. Our client’s H-1B application was approved a week later.