Chinese science and engineering graduates successfully passed the H-1B supplement

Zang Dikai United Law Firm, H-1B visa, supplementary documents,
Zang Dikai United Law Firm (Tsang & Associates) shared with you a new type of H-1B visa application notification case.

years:2017
Nationality: Chinese
Industry: Packaging Manufacturing
Company: Large corporation with hundreds of employees
Position: Operations specialist
Case: H-1B Petition

Difficulties in this case:
• The USCIS challenges applicants for H-1B Tier 1 wages (entry-level wages, a total of four levels, with the highest salary level being four levels) applicants
• There is no fixed standard to measure the suitable salary for this position
• USCIS’s harassment is contradictory and goes against common sense
• No precedent to guide legal strategy for this type of case

timeline:
In March 2017, the company entrusted Zang Dikai United Law Firm (Tsang & Associates) to apply for H-1B for the employee Mr. Li. At the end of August, the company received a notification of supplementary documents (RFE), submitted the supplementary documents and materials in October, and successfully passed the application in November.

Brief background:
A common risk point in immigration law is that the law is easily politicized. The inauguration of the Trump administration revealed new challenges to other routine immigration cases in 2017.

After completing his master’s degree at a prestigious university in Southern California, Mr. Li was hired by a packaging manufacturing company that was willing to apply for an H-1B work visa for him. The job position is: operations specialist, which requires the analysis of statistical data, the company’s business weaknesses and corresponding solutions. In order to meet the H-1B application requirements, operations specialist must be identified as a specialty occupation (specialty occupation). It also means that the position typically requires an undergraduate degree and specialized job skills. The company has been a regular customer of Tsang & Associates for many years. We have applied for dozens of H-1B applications for them, and almost never received a request for additional documents (RFE), and have never been rejected.

Lawyer Zang commented:
The biggest challenge in this case is that USCIS has directly linked the salary level to the professional position and determined that a professional position cannot be an entry-level salary. The Immigration Bureau believes that a first-level salary (basic salary) position only requires a basic understanding of the position, plus the ability to solve daily tasks is sufficient, and does not require a bachelor’s degree. But in reality, there is no real inherent conflict between a professional advanced education position and an entry-level position. Each position has an entry process for new employees in the industry, starting from the most basic, gradually improving professional ability and experience in the work on the basis of the theory already mastered, and the salary will also increase accordingly. The salary level and the professional degree of the position cannot be equated.

Keys to success:
The key to the success of this case is appealing to common sense why entry-level positions at base salary also require professional job requirements. In order to better express the argument, we decided to try a different solution. Our in-depth knowledge of not only the client’s history, but also the industry as a whole, demonstrates that this role can be a ‘bend both ways’, requiring both specialized skills and an entry-level role.

Tsang & Associates’ strategy is to make a comprehensive, common-sense debate. In order to better respond to supplementary notifications, our law firm has investigated how typical entry-level operations specialists work in the industry.

To qualify for an H-1B specialty position, the beneficiary must meet at least one of four standard conditions . The team at Tsang & Associates described in detail how Mr. Li’s position fits all:

1. “Bachelor degree or above” is the minimum entry requirement for Mr. Li as an operations specialist.
In order to meet this requirement, Tsang & Associates submitted the “Occupational Outlook Handbook 2017 edition” published by the US Department of Labor. The handbook states the job category, mechanical operations specialists, and for such occupations, a bachelor’s degree is the typical entry-level education and an essential prerequisite for the position. We were able to support this with additional resources, for example, from O*Net, which identified mechanical operations specialists as requiring no less than a bachelor’s degree. In addition, we further searched for other companies of the same size that recently recruited operations specialist. By comparison, it is not difficult to see that other companies in the industry also pay the same level of wages for the same position with similar job requirements.

2. Higher educational requirements are not uncommon for corresponding occupations in other similar companies in the industry. What’s more, Mr. Li’s position is very professional, and only people with corresponding high education can be qualified for this job.
Through the search of Zang Dikai United Law Firm (Tsang & Associates), in the recruitment of mechanical operations specialist, other similar companies also list undergraduate education as an important requirement. Secondly, some professional skills required by mechanical operations specialists, such as creativity, listening, and mathematical knowledge skills, as well as problem-solving skills, are precisely developed and extended in the process of receiving higher education.

3. The company’s previous recruitment required a bachelor’s degree for this position .
In order to prove that Mr. Li met the requirements, Tsang & Associates, from the company’s previous recruitment notices, clearly saw that a bachelor’s degree is indeed the basic requirement for the position. In addition, we made and explained the company’s organizational chart, indicating where this position is in the company. Considering the entire structure of the company, a person with a bachelor’s degree can only be suitable for this position. In addition, we provided the company’s past job recruitment leaflets, which show that the company has always required a bachelor’s degree for this position, and the salary paid is also consistent with Mr. Li’s. This is not only in line with the requirements of H-1B, but also consistent with the requirements of the USCIS for the notification of supplementary documents.

4. The nature of the job requirements is extremely professional and complex , and the knowledge required to fulfill the job requirements is usually linked to a bachelor’s degree or above.
Tsang & Associates’ specific method of proving the regulation is: helping the company representative write a letter explaining Mr. Li’s job responsibilities, submitting documents detailing his work projects , and submitting his work report. In addition, we went into as much detail as possible, described his job duties in detail, and explained each duty in detail. It’s not just a simple collection of documents from the client, we help the client carefully prepare new documents to explain his job content and professionalism.

5. In the end, Tsang & Associates resolved the issue of the “first-level salary (basic salary)” itself.
USCIS staff argued that the base salary was not appropriate for professional positions, as entry-level staff only needed a “basic understanding” of the job requirements. Our side argues that this cannot be a deciding factor in denying Mr. Li’s case, as the position is indeed an entry-level position within the company. However, an entry-level position does not deny the complexity of the position itself and the level of education required. Different job types have different entry-level positions, and they vary in complexity and specialization. For example, entry-level lawyers often hold a Juris Doctor degree, and entry-level architects must undergo extensive educational training as a prerequisite to enter the profession. Mr Li had never worked for the company before and was expected to have a “basic understanding” of his profession within the company. Therefore, we can prove that whether it is holding a specified basic salary, showing professional work skills, or having a higher education background, the three are not necessarily related. All jobs, no matter how complicated and professional, require There is a process of getting started.

Case result:
Although this is a brand-new type of notification case, Tsang & Associates (Tsang & Associates) was able to give a strong, favorable and reasonable reply, and finally won this H-1B case. We insisted on doing more than the case required, but we felt it was worth it, helping an engineer start his career and overcome a difficult visa challenge.

The case was finally officially passed on November 17, 2017. Our client was very satisfied with the result, even though he was prepared to be rejected, because his other classmates also received such notifications, but they were still rejected after supplementing.

After more than a month of hard and serious work, and the skilled use of regulations and common sense, Zang Dikai United Law Firm (Tsang & Associates) was able to help our client successfully avoid the result of rejection.

(Note: To protect privacy, the names of the parties involved in the case are pseudonyms)