H-1B For Engineer of 10-Person Company in 3 Months

Year: 2019
Nationality: Chinese
Applicant (U.S. employer): Import/Export Trading Company
Beneficiary (foreign employee): Ms. Qi
Position: Engineer

Timeline:
03/31/2019 Filing H-1B Petition
04/01/2019 Immigration Intake
07/26/2019 Case successfully approved with no addendum

BACKGROUND
– The small size of the U.S. employer, with only 10 employees.
– The employer, as an import/export trading company, had never recruited staff for the position of engineer before and lacked a clear development plan for the position.
– US companies, which were only established in 2016 and are still in the early stages of development, have losses in their financial statements.
– The beneficiary’s low salary, which is at Level I, is one of the reasons commonly used by USCIS for retroactive documentation.
– USCIS has become more stringent in its review criteria for H-1Bs.

Ms. Qi graduated two years ago as an engineering graduate with a three-year STEM OPT and started working for this import/export trading company last year. The company has been interested in keeping up with the pace of technological development in the market and exploring new markets in the field of engineering, but struggled to find suitable candidates. Ms. Qi joined the company to fill this gap, as the company’s only engineer, she shoulders a lot of responsibility and needs to devote time and energy to the development of new products in the long term. So, the company decided to apply for Ms. Qi’s H-1B this year after discussion, and was referred by a colleague to Tsang & Associates for an assignment.

Objectively speaking, Ms. Qi’s application was not satisfactory. Although her major and position were linked, under the influence of Trump’s strict immigration policy, the USCIS has become more and more stringent in processing work visas, and Ms. Qi’s company’s field, size, profitability, and her salary level could all be factors that triggered a supplemental application. Therefore, Tsang & Associates went all out to prepare a full set of H-1B petition documents in order to help her pass the screening process after she won the visa.

KEYS TO SUCCESS
1. Professional positions (Specialty Occupation) four basic conditions
As things stand, “specialty occupation” has become the primary trigger for H-1B petitions to be filed. Although the law requires that the petition meet one of the four basic requirements, the petition is considered to have passed. However, as USCIS becomes more meticulous and rigorous in its review, it is critical that the employer’s letter of support provide a strong and reasonable argument that the beneficiary meets the following four requirements.
– “A bachelor’s degree or higher is a basic requirement for this position”: By submitting the official Department of Labor “Occupational Outlook Handbook”, as well as data from the USCIS’s commonly used The data from the “O*Net” website, which is commonly used by the USCIS, proves that Ms. Qi’s position as an engineer has a high threshold and requires at least a bachelor’s degree as a foundation.
– “Other similar positions in the same industry require a bachelor’s degree or higher”: Tsang & Asssociates’ team conducted an extensive search of job postings in the industry and, based on immigration requirements, repeatedly sifted through them, comparing After researching the most valuable peer-to-peer job advertisements submitted, we were able to demonstrate that other firms would have the same requirements and conditions for the position.
– Even though Ms. Qi’s company has never hired an engineer, all of its other employees have a bachelor’s degree or higher, which proves that Ms. Qi’s employer has its own hiring guidelines and requires at least a bachelor’s degree for all positions. Even though Ms. Qi’s company has never hired an engineer, all other employees have a bachelor’s degree or higher.
– “The position is highly specialized and complex, and requires the expertise of a bachelor’s degree or higher”: Through interviews with the firm’s principals and Ms. Qi herself, Tsang & Associates gained a better understanding of Ms. Qi’s daily duties and development. We assisted the employer in describing Ms. Qi’s job tasks in a letter of support, and provided detailed explanations for each of the duties, demonstrating that this is a complex but specialized position requiring a high level of education.

2. Supporting Documents (Supporting Documents) in three steps
Tsang & Associates organizes the supporting documentation from three different perspectives: corporate, position, and individual.
– Company part: We assisted Ms. Qi’s employer in compiling relevant documents to the USCIS to prove that the company has been operating legally and continuously. Even though the tax returns in recent years were not satisfactory, Tsang & Associates took care to submit additional internal financial statements such as balance sheets to prove that the employer’s losses were within reasonable control as a start-up company.
– Job section: just submitting the official information from the Department of Labor and the Immigration Bureau is not enough, in order to eliminate the possible adverse effects of low pay (Level I Wage), we will filter and organize the job information after the summary into a table, by comparing the same size of companies in the industry treat similar positions, but also pay the same level of salary, so that the Immigration Bureau can Clearly understand that Ms. Qi is not cheap foreign labor.
– Personal Part: By submitting Ms. Qi’s academic certificates, transcripts, resume and other data, it clearly proves that she has excellent qualifications and is a good choice for the position. In addition, under the influence of Trump’s new immigration policy, immigration officers are particularly concerned about how the beneficiary maintains legal status in the U.S. Therefore, submitting a valid OPT card, passport, visa and I-94 entry/exit record is also an essential part of the personal data.

3. Professional lawyers check the layers
Each company’s operations are different, and each beneficiary’s professional qualifications come from different fields. Tsang & Associates takes responsibility for each case, abandoning the templated, assembly-line approach and developing a petition that is tailored to the specific circumstances of the client. From the time Ms. Qi’s employer entrusted us with the H-1B petition, the firm’s attorneys specializing in professional immigration led the case team to work personally every step of the way, from discussing the appropriate position and salary level, to providing document lists and legal advice, to finalizing the delivery strategy, etc. We are familiar with the case and understand the client, and strive to ensure the quality of delivery to the greatest extent possible.

OUTCOME
Tsang & Associates sent Ms. Qi’s H-1B petition by FEDEX on March 31, 2019, and received the approval news from USCIS on July 26, with no addendum. The U.S. employer and Ms. Qi were very excited to learn the good news and thanked us very much for all the efforts we had made for her work visa application over the past few months. Our professional service and rigorous work style made the employer willing to entrust Ms. Qi’s next EB-2 immigration case to Tsang & Associates.

At this stage, the H-1B review is gradually tightening, and the H-1B filing rate in 2019 is much higher than last year’s. Specialty occupation is still the most important factor that triggers H-1B filings, and many applicants are suffering as a result. If you have any questions about this, please feel free to contact us. We are experienced in handling H-1B applications, whether you are applying for the first time, switching companies, or applying for an extension, we can provide you with professional advice and considerate service according to your situation.

*To protect customer privacy, customer names are pseudonyms.