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DOL Degree Equivalency
- Thread starter dazzling
- Start date
Jharkhandi
Registered Users (C)
dazzling,
DOL doesn't publish degree equivalance. They have to go by the evaluation agencies. Sometimes there are internal memos which serve as guideline. This is the reason why it changes from service center to service center. For ex. NSC is giving hard time on degree equivalence nowadays.
DOL doesn't publish degree equivalance. They have to go by the evaluation agencies. Sometimes there are internal memos which serve as guideline. This is the reason why it changes from service center to service center. For ex. NSC is giving hard time on degree equivalence nowadays.
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Thanks JK. I was wondering there must be some manual which an adjudicator must be referring to, to identify what is equivalent and what is not. For e.g. my labor requires a degree of Computer Science or equivalent. Now what is equivalent degree to Computer Science. How does the adjudicator know that a particular degree is equivalent to another .. or is this one of the grey areas.Jharkhandi said:dazzling,
DOL doesn't publish degree equivalance. They have to go by the evaluation agencies. Sometimes there are internal memos which serve as guideline. This is the reason why it changes from service center to service center. For ex. NSC is giving hard time on degree equivalence nowadays.
Jharkhandi
Registered Users (C)
dazzling said:Thanks JK. I was wondering there must be some manual which an adjudicator must be referring to, to identify what is equivalent and what is not. For e.g. my labor requires a degree of Computer Science or equivalent. Now what is equivalent degree to Computer Science. How does the adjudicator know that a particular degree is equivalent to another .. or is this one of the grey areas.
It is not a dark area. Usually evaluation agencies ascertain the equivalence. It is better to get it done on a course by course basis thru expert services. One such service is Trustforte. They have experts on their panel to do educational equivalence check. Check the attached form how a request is made for immigration purpose.
NSC, last year, derecognised use of some combinations to show equivalence(was posted on Murthy.com) - there was some internal memo. VSC has not done so till now. So if anyone's equivalence uses such combination in NSC, one will face tough time and may land in AAU. Apart form such exception, everything is accepted by service centers as provided by evaluation agencies.
You may like to contact yeppo - he faced same sort of problem, but was able to overcome it thru proper evaluation.
Also check:
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Source: immigration-law.com
08/21/2004: Advisory on "Bachelor's Degree or Equivalent" Proof
Lately, there are a growing number of people who faced a problem because of their misunderstanding of the education requirement in the permanent labor certification application. The victims involve two classes of aliens: One arises in the context of the substitution of the certified labor certification application and the other involves a new filing of the labor certification application.
When the labor certification required a "bachelor's degree or equivalent" in the education part of Item 14 in the ETA 750 Part A, Application for Alien Employment Certification, it means that employer requires a bachelor's degree or equivalent foreign degree. The term "equivalent" in this context does not mean that one can use credential evaluation that determined that the combination of the alien's "education and experience" was equivalent to a bachelor's degree. Unless it is specified such in Item 14, the education requirement must be established by "education only" and cannot consider experience. This has been made clear by the USCIS opinions and AAU decision. Accordingly, if he/she used the employer's certified labor certification for someone else for substitution, he/she must meet the "education" requirement without considering experience, no matter what the foreign credential evaluation said, unless the labor certification application specifically stated that the employer will accept combination of education and experience in lieu of a bachelor's degree. For instance, the Bachelor of Science degree in India is a three-year undergraduate program and short of one year to make it equivalent to a bachelor's degree in the U.S. If he or she took post graduate diploma education one or two years in that specialty, it will make "equivalent to a bachelor's degree." However, it he/she only has a three-year degree and no other education, no matter whether one has 20 years of experience in the specialty, he or she will be determined unqualified for this labor certification job unless the labor certification application specifically stated that the employer would accept the combination of education and experience.
The denial will not be known until I-140 is adjudicated by the USCIS after wasting a tremendous amount of time. The DOL does not deny labor certification application on this issue because the issue of alien's eligibility for the job is the jurisdiction of the USCIS. Before too late, people should review their labor certification application carefully, no matter whether it is a substitution case or a new case, in order not to experience a panicking nightmare months or years after starting the green card journey.
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Thanks JK. I have already filed an MTR and got my education evaluation done by Trustforte. The details of my case are in the link provided in my signature. To put the long story short:-Jharkhandi said:It is not a dark area. Usually evaluation agencies ascertain the equivalence. It is better to get it done on a course by course basis thru expert services. One such service is Trustforte. They have experts on their panel to do educational equivalence check. Check the attached form how a request is made for immigration purpose.
NSC, last year, derecognised use of some combinations to show equivalence(was posted on Murthy.com) - there was some internal memo. VSC has not done so till now. So if anyone's equivalence uses such combination in NSC, one will face tough time and may land in AAU. Apart form such exception, everything is accepted by service centers as provided by evaluation agencies.
You may like to contact yeppo - he faced same sort of problem, but was able to overcome it thru proper evaluation.
1. Case denied as labor required MS in Computer Science or equivalent and 2 years experience. Adjudicator found I had Bachelors with 4 years experience so I was unapprovable.
2. My education - BE in Computer Science and MBA with major in Information Technology and Finance. MBA does not say what major .. just says Post Graduate Diploma in Management and you can make any major based on credits attained. I had a total of 42 countable credits in IT related courses, teaching and thesis etc. I have 3.7 years of experience prior to labor PD and exactly 2 years and 26 days prior to joining the current employer.
3. Proper evaluation not submitted with 140. Hired a new lawyer and filed MTR last week.
4. Trustforte evaluated my education to BS in Computer Engineering and MS in Management Information Systems.
The only interest I have is if USCIS will consider MIS to be equivalent to Computer Science and I was trying to find out if there is a manual / guideline to the adjudicator for this that is publicly available. Trustforte will give evaluation based on their criteria and they do not say in an evaluation which degrees are equivalent. In my case the issue is not Masters, this has been clearly stated by the evaluator, the issue is the Major Field of study.
Jharkhandi
Registered Users (C)
I am sorry to hear that. I thought you are done with 140 and moved to 485 queue, not sure how did I miss your posts!dazzling said:Thanks JK. I have already filed an MTR and got my education evaluation done by Trustforte. The details of my case are in the link provided in my signature. To put the long story short:-
1. Case denied as labor required MS in Computer Science or equivalent and 2 years experience. Adjudicator found I had Bachelors with 4 years experience so I was unapprovable.
2. My education - BE in Computer Science and MBA with major in Information Technology and Finance. MBA does not say what major .. just says Post Graduate Diploma in Management and you can make any major based on credits attained. I had a total of 42 countable credits in IT related courses, teaching and thesis etc. I have 3.7 years of experience prior to labor PD and exactly 2 years and 26 days prior to joining the current employer.
3. Proper evaluation not submitted with 140. Hired a new lawyer and filed MTR last week.
4. Trustforte evaluated my education to BS in Computer Engineering and MS in Management Information Systems.
The only interest I have is if USCIS will consider MIS to be equivalent to Computer Science and I was trying to find out if there is a manual / guideline to the adjudicator for this that is publicly available. Trustforte will give evaluation based on their criteria and they do not say in an evaluation which degrees are equivalent. In my case the issue is not Masters, this has been clearly stated by the evaluator, the issue is the Major Field of study.
I don't think, I can be of much help on the issue, but one thing I know that you have got good credit number and as far as I know that any GPA of 2 or above on a 4 point scale is fine to be counted as a valid credit.
Hope you get 140 approval soon.