CASE: H-1B Visa Petition
PETITIONER: Architectural Firm in Stamford, CT
BENEFICIARY: Architectural Draftsperson from Turkey
Our client is an architectural firm in Stamford, CT. They contacted our office in late-February to seek legal assistance for their foreign employee. His wife also retained our firm but for a part-time position, and this was approved recently too, as stated in one of our success stories.
The beneficiary obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture. The proffered position for the Beneficiary is an architectural draftsperson. We argued that this position is a “specialty occupation” and that the minimum requirement for this position is a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture or its equivalent.
After retention, our office promptly filed the H-1B visa petition with various supporting documents on April 1, 2013 via regular processing. However, the USCIS Vermont Service Center issued a Request for Evidence (RFE) on September 4, 2013.
The USCIS argued that the offered position does not qualify as a “specialty occupation.” They claimed that a Bachelor’s degree was not required for this position. They claimed that the beneficiary’s position is not specialized and complex enough to be qualified as a specialty occupation as the law requires.
In response to the RFE, our office argued in an 3-page response brief with 6 exhibits that the nature of the specific duties are so specialized and complex that knowledge required to perform the duties is usually associated with the attainment of a Bachelor’s degree. Moreover, we argued that the degree requirement is common to the industry in parallel positions among similar organizations. Furthermore, we included beneficiary’s sample work to further illustrate the complexity of the position.
Our office filed the response to the USCIS Vermont Service Center on September 23, 2013. Our client’s H-1B application was approved on November 13, 2013. Now the Beneficiary can work for the Petitioner on an H-1B status until September 12, 2016