Three Year Bachelor's Degrees: Good for H-1B, but not for Green Card?
This is an issue very much in focus in recent times mainly because of a perceivable shift in standards of adjudication adopted by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). A near-panic has been caused among people with the so-called athree yeara degrees by the denial of a number of employment-based petitions by USCIS in recent times.
In several countries (especially of the British Commonwealth), one can get a bachelor's degree after a total of 15 years of schooling, either as 12 years higher secondary and a three year degree, or in some instances, with a 10+2+3 program. People holding such bachelor's degrees are lately finding it hard to obtain employment-based immigrant visas in the U.S. through the Employment-Based third preference (EB-3) aprofessionala jobs. Professional jobs are defined as those that need a bachelor's degree as the entry level requirement.
Bachelor's degrees in the U.S. are generally granted after a total of 16 years of schooling, i.e., 12 years up until High School and four years of college. So when an employer processes a Labor Certification for an employment-based agreen carda in a professional occupation (i.e., with the requirement of a U.S. Bachelor's degree or its foreign equivalent), the assumption is that of a foreign bachelor's degree that is comparable to a U.S. bachelor's degree.
Until recently, this could be achieved using the experience equivalency evaluation. That is, a bachelor's degree equivalency could be obtained by substituting three years of work experience for one year of academic education. So, a person with a three year degree (obtained after a total of 15 years of schooling) could be evaluated as having the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor's degree if he/she had three years of work experience in a related field. Technically, this could be applied to a situation even where the person had a 12 year high school (or, in some countries, pre-university or pre-degree) diploma and 12 years of experience, he/she would qualify as the holder of a US equivalent BS degree. It is understood that a huge number of cases have been approved over the years using this standard.
But recent decisions by the USCIS show a totally different trend. Immigrant Visa petitions are being denied by the USCIS for the lack of a asinglea four-year degree. To quote from such a denial, aathe regulation at 8 CFR 204.5 (l)(3)(ii)(C) is clear in allowing only for the equivalency of one foreign degree to a United States baccalaureate, not a combination of degrees, diplomas, or employment experience. There is no comparable provision to substitute a combination of degrees, work experience, or certificates which when taken together equals the same amount of coursework required for a US baccalaureate degreeaa
But, as far as processing of H-1B petitions go, the above 3-for-1 formula is still adopted. H1B visas are non-immigrant work visas granted by USCIS to a foreign national to live and work in the United States for a temporary period in a specialty occupation, i.e., an occupation that requires a minimum of a U.S. bachelor's degree or equivalent.
Disclaimer: The information in the above article is of a general nature only and should not be taken as legal advice. Always seek professional legal advice before proceeding with your case.
Copyright: The Law Offices of Morley J. Nair, Inc.
