CASE: H-1B Visa Petition
PETITIONER: Nursing Home Facility in Texas
BENEFICIARY: MDS Coordinator, Filipina
Our client is a Nursing Home Facility near Houston, TX. They contacted our office in late February to seek legal assistance for their prospective foreign employee.
The beneficiary obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Nursing in the Philippines. The proffered position for the Beneficiary is MDS Coordinator. We argued that this position is a “specialty occupation” and that the minimum requirement for this position is a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing or its equivalent.
After retention, our office 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 August 30, 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 a lengthy response brief with multiple 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 the organization chart for the department where the beneficiary will be assigned.
Our office filed the response to the USCIS Vermont Service Center on October 31, 2013. Eventually, our client’s H-1B application was approved on January 6, 2014. Now the Beneficiary can work for the Petitioner on an H-1B status until September 14, 2016 as a MDS Coordinator.