When the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reviews an H-1B visa application for specialty employment, there is a lot of information the agency will need to review. If any bit is missing, the applicant will receive a Request for Additional Evidence, more commonly called an RFE.
For many people who deal with the USCIS and immigration law, an RFE is a notorious form that brings frustration and delays. An RFE puts additional eyes on your H-1B visa application and increases the scrutiny it undergoes tenfold; even though you will be providing more information about yourself, your chances of being approved may actually go down.
Furthermore, some RFE forms present questions that are intentionally vague, just to test to see what the applicant will respond; in other words, saying exactly what the USCIS wants to hear might be impossible. For these reasons and more, the best way to deal with an RFE is to take steps to avoid them entirely in the first place.
Tips to help you avoid an RFE from the USCIS for your H-1B visa application:
- Consistency: There are few things government agencies hate more than a lack of consistency between forms. Double-check your H-1B visa application to make certain there are no gaps in your information. The tiniest oversight could make the USCIS think you are falsifying information and trigger an RFE to come your way.
- Specialty occupation: An H-1B visa is only granted to people in specialized fields that require bachelor’s degrees or greater. You may be an expert in what you do but are you considered a specialist? You will need to determine whether an H-1B visa is actually right for your occupation, or if there is another employment-based visa you should be filing for instead.
- Bachelor’s equivalent: Many foreign workers looking to enter the country on an H-1B visa do not actually have a bachelor’s degree, but they do have a license or educational degree that is considered to be “equivalent.” Clearly, there is room for mistakes and misinterpretation here. Once again, double-check your requirements and your certifications for accuracy.
- Perfect match: You must have a specialized degree that pertains directly to the field of occupation you are looking to enter in the United States. Possessing a degree that will help you with your desired occupation but is not necessarily meant for it will not work. RFEs are issued to numerous applicants who want an H-1B visa for this reason.
A Dallas immigration attorney can review your H-1B visa application to help you avoid an RFE and can assist if you have already been given an RFE form. Contact us online and we will get in touch with you as soon as we can.