Visa Lawyer Blog

Articles Posted in Nonimmigrant Visas

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By Yingfei Zhou, Esq.

In July 2014, we updated our readers regarding newly released guidance by USCIS, on adjudication of H-1B petitions for nursing occupations. In the guidance, USCIS acknowledged that the nursing industry has changed and that the private sector is increasingly showing a preference for more highly educated nurses. Although it seems that USCIS has shown its willingness to entertain H-1Bs for nurses, the adjudicatory standards remain high. In our practice, we have found that USCIS adjudicators set very high standards in adjudicating H-1B petitions, arguably higher than what the regulations require, for certain occupations, including nursing.

For Registered Nurses, the key to filing a successful H-1B petition is to differentiate the duties of a nursing position that requires at least a bachelor’s degree in Nursing. USCIS relies on the OOH, as an authoritative source for outlining both the educational requirements, and duties for H-1B specialty occupation cases. The OOH has listed a number of areas in which a nurse may focus: addiction nurses, cardiovascular nurses, critical care nurses, etc. and states that “depending on the facts of the case, some of these Registered Nurse positions may qualify as specialty occupations.” In other words, positions that focus on a particular area, or a particular population, are more likely to be classified as ‘specialty occupations’ than a more general practice nurse.

For Advance Practice Registered Nurses (APRN), USCIS has previously recognized that positions requiring APRN certification will generally be considered specialty occupations due to the advanced level of education and training required for this certification.

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The O-1 visa is a great option for those who have a demonstrated record of extraordinary achievement in their field. In order to obtain an O-1 visa, one must be an alien with a proven track record of extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics. Proving that you are extraordinary in your field is not always an easy task. However, there are several steps you can take to help ensure that your application for an O-1 visa is approved.

Include all required documentation

First, you need to ensure that you completely and accurately fill out the O-1 visa application, Form I-129. Next, you need to make sure that you include in your application package all of the other required documentation, such as a written advisory opinion from a peer group, a copy of the written contract between you and your employer, and your itinerary. If you accidentally forget to include these documents, you risk having your application delayed or even denied.

Provide sufficient and convincing evidence

The most important step in filing your O-1 visa application, however, is including sufficient and convincing evidence that you are an alien of extraordinary ability in your field. The evidence you include needs to prove that you have received a major, internationally-recognized award or, if you have not done so, you need to prove at least three other listed achievements.

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The O-1 visa is quickly becoming a popular immigration solution for talented entrepreneurs who have already started or are about to start a new business in the United States. Many of Silicon Valley’s top companies owe their creation and success to foreign-born entrepreneurs, including Google, Intel, and Yahoo. In fact, more than 40 percent of American Fortune 500 companies were founded by an immigrant or child of an immigrant.

In order to obtain an O-1 visa, one must show that he or she is an alien of extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics. This visa allows individuals to come to the United States for up to three years, with extensions available after that period has elapsed if the applicant is able to prove that he or she is still outstanding in the field. This is a great option for those in technology-related fields.

The O-1 visa has proven to be a better option for many entrepreneurs than the more popular H-1B visa. This is especially true for those entrepreneurs who do not qualify for the H-1B visa or when the H-1B visa cap has already been met, as there is no cap to the number of O-1 visas granted each year. In addition, unlike most H-1B visas, the O-1 visa does not require a college education. This is an important difference, since there are many young and innovative entrepreneurs who bypassed formal education in order to begin their careers. Another benefit of the O-1 visa over the H-1B visa is that it does not tie the immigrant to any employer or sponsor or have any of the other strict requirements, such as a prevailing wage. An O-1 visa applicant can be sponsored by his or her own U.S. company. This gives the entrepreneur more freedom to conduct their business as they choose, including investing any profits early on back into the business instead of paying themselves the prevailing wage salary. The O-1 visa is also a better option than the E and EB “investor visas” for many entrepreneurs, as the O-1 visa does not require any particular amount of capital to be invested into the business.

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By Yingfei Zhou, Esq.

The B-1 business visitor visa allows foreign businesspersons to be admitted into the U.S. so that they may engage in certain temporary business activities. B-1 business visitors are not required to obtain work authorization prior to being admitted because they are not entering the U.S. labor market and they are admitted to the U.S. without Numerical limit.

Who qualifies as a business visitor?

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You are a H-1B visa holder from a country with a backlogged employment based category and you are currently living and working in the United States. You have applied for permanent residence through your employer. You have been working for the same employer for years and have extensive experience in your field. Despite all of these factors, you are still waiting in line for your priority date to become current, and what’s more, your spouse has not been eligible to apply for their employment authorization due to the restrictions on their visa. What, if anything, can be done to receive your permanent resident card sooner?

Thousands of immigrants are in the same hypothetical situation. Comprehensive Immigration Reform is necessary not just for undocumented immigrants living in the United States, but also for such specialty workers who regularly contribute to our economy and society, but are stuck in limbo awaiting their permanent residency. Comprehensive immigration reform is also necessary because specialty occupation workers often run out of their H-1B status while they are in line for their priority date to become current. If the specialty occupation worker is married, chances are their spouse has not had the opportunity or privilege to legally obtain employment while the primary applicant has been in line waiting to adjust their status. Many immigrants who have found themselves in similar situations fear international travel due to the risk they may run in not being able to return to the United States.

Bypassing the Quota System

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By Lupe Lopez

Francis was excited.  As a student of holistic nutrition, he had excelled and the school he was attending wanted him to stay on to work with them as an assistant instructor. The school Francis was attending in the M1 status was pleased with his depth of knowledge and his ability to work with people.  They wanted to find a way for Francis to work with them and to help other students achieve the level of knowledge that he had and so willingly shared.  Also, Francis not only had previous education, he had years of experience in a community clinic using holistic nutrition and alternative medicine to heal people of serious ailments.

Francis called us excitedly looking to learn about his employment options.  The school had not ever offered optional practical training (OPT) to their foreign students and although they are SEVIS certified (schools are required to be certified to enroll foreign students), they were not able to answer the questions that Francis had relative to employment authorization.

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The Department of State (DOS) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have announced a joint initiative, in response to the technical problems the U.S. Department of State’s Consular Consolidated Database (CCD)—responsible for the issuance of visas—has been experiencing. These technical problems have had a significant impact on the department’s ability to process nonimmigrant visas, causing worldwide delays. Together the DOS and CBP will waive the visa requirements for nonimmigrant visa applicants seeking admission into the United States on a case by case basis. Applicants who have applied for but have not been issued non-immigrant visas, due to such delays, may request consideration from DOS and CBP for special travel permission to the United States under the following conditions:

The applicant’s travel to the United States must be considered urgent, involving a bona fide emergency, such as urgent humanitarian travel and life and death situations, or a situation that impacts U.S. national interests. DOS and CBP will respond to such requests via their joint task force teams. Travel permission that has been approved will be facilitated by the DOS.

All individuals requesting emergency travel are required to have a pending visa application with the DOS that has not been approved as a result of delays caused by the Consular Consolidated Database.

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The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) recently released a report helping foreign workers and their employers answer the following question:

Where on the ETA Form 9089 should the employer enter the foreign worker’s qualifications which show that the foreign worker does in fact meet the minimum requirements to perform the job opportunity?

Such qualifications may include certifications, licensures, or other credentials. The ETA Form is meant to establish whether the foreign worker meets all of the qualifications for the job opportunity offered by their employer. The employer must list the foreign worker’s specific skills and other requirements for the job opportunity they are offering in Section H Question 14, and demonstrate that they in fact possess those skills and or requirements by utilizing Section K, and listing the foreign worker’s qualifications to prove that the requirements for the specified job opportunity listed in Section H have been met. Examples of qualifications that can be provided in Section K are; bar admissions, medical residency, ordination, professional exams, medical board certifications, professional certifications, teaching certificates, university or professional coursework, professional insurance, etc. For each special skill or requirement listed in Section H, the employer must demonstrate its respective business necessity. If not listed elsewhere, the qualifications to fulfill the job opportunity should be entered after all jobs held in the past three years are listed under Question 9 Job Details. It is advised that Question Numbers one to eight requesting job information can be left blank.

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By Ekaterina Powell, Esq.

On July 11, 2014, USCIS released new guidance on adjudication of H-1B petitions for nursing occupations, which superseded the previous USCIS Memorandum of Johnny Williams, INS Office of Field Operations, Guidance on Adjudication of H-1B Petitions filed on Behalf of Nurses, HQISD 70/6.2.8-P (November 27, 2002).

New USCIS guidance has the “Policy” designation, which means that it has to be followed by USCIS adjudicators.

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Want to track the status of a pending case? Moving to a new address? Want to report a problem with your case? No problem!

Our loyal fans and followers, who communicate with us through our various social networking sites and web page, often ask our law office how they can track or check the status of their pending case, how they can change their address with USCIS while their case is pending, and how they can report a problem with their case. These are all very important questions. It is imperative that all applicants who have pending cases with USCIS regularly check the status of their case both online and by calling USCIS. There are several ways to communicate with USCIS. You can check the status of your pending case online, submit a service request online, schedule an Infopass online, and submit a change of address online.  For time sensitive issues, applicants should check the status of their pending case or report a problem with their pending case by calling USCIS directly by phone. In this post we will walk you through the steps of how to communicate with USCIS via all of these methods.

How to check the status of a case online:

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