H1B masters quota - letter of completion enough? Please help me :(

ashtev

Registered Users (C)
Hello everyone,

I am officially receiving my masters degree certificate on May 24th. In the meantime, I received a letter of completion from the registrar's office saying that I completed all degree requirements on April 13th and that the degree will be awarded on May 24th.

Using this letter, my company's immigration lawyers filed my petition. My questions now are:

1) I submitted only my letter of completion and not my final transcripts as they were not ready at the time. Will this be grounds for having my petition denied?

2) Since I did not submit my final transcripts, will they issue me an RFE ? If they issue me an RFE, will that be issued only if there are places left in the master's quota?

I look forward to hearing from anyone. Thank you!
 
I read somewhere (perhaps in the UCIS website) that you are required to submit the MS degree to be considered for the Master's quota.

I think your petition will be rejected.

This is not an authoritative answer.
 
Hi,

My immigration lawyers ok'd the letter of completion, saying that it's acceptable for the USCIS. My problem is with that I need to know if an official copy of my transcripts is required.
 
I remember applying for my H1B visa with just the letter of completion and no official transcripts (but this was 10 years ago).

A data point for you.
 
Hi

I have applied for H1 this year with a letter stating that i have completed all the required coursework that is required for MS in ABC dept at our XYZ university. regarding transcripts, i have taken printouts from our online account. i knew 4 of my seniors did the same thing last year(2006), and the got their H1. Its been 8 days since i applied in premium processing. i did not get any update so far.
 
you have to convince USCIS that you indeed have a MS degree, meaning that ALL requirements have been met (coursework, thesis deposited, etc) and the diploma is only a matter of time.

the easiest way is a letter from the school that states that all requirements were met and mentions the date when the degree will be formally awarded. it is advisable that this letter should come from a high ranking official (Dept Head, Dean, etc)

note that a receipt notice means that your claimed exemption was accepted by USCIS. so if you don't get your receipt soon, chances are that they weren't convinced by your documentation.
 
hi everyone,

thanks for your replies. I just got my receipt this morning, so I guess the letter of completion should cut it. i'll keep you posted. good luck everyone!
 
hi ashtev

please let me know what was the content of the letter of completion. i do not have my ms degree and so applied in general cap. but after all the lottery issue, i again applied in ms cap(premium processing)with a letter of completion. its been like 9 days and i still do not have any receipt/any update. please let me the know the content of the letter of completion.

thanks in advance.
 
hi ashtev

please let me know what was the content of the letter of completion. i do not have my ms degree and so applied in general cap. but after all the lottery issue, i again applied in ms cap(premium processing)with a letter of completion. its been like 9 days and i still do not have any receipt/any update. please let me the know the content of the letter of completion.

thanks in advance.

I received a letter of completion from the registrar's office saying that I have completed all degree requirements towards a Masters of Science degree on April 13th 2007 and that the degree will be awarded on May 24th 2007.
 
thanks for sharing it...i am very worried what if both my general cap and ms cap h1 got rejected...please suggest...
 
I think you should have your attorney call USCIS. Normally PP would email a receipt number within 2-3 days. And I assume by this time PP is operating normally.

What was the content of the letter you submitted? did it say you *completed* all requirements? or that you will complete at some time in the future? if the latter is the case, I'm afraid it won't cut it.
 
Hi J1Holder
the letter was like this

This person has completed all the course work required for MS program in abc department at xyz university. if there are any further, you can contact me for more information
signed and attested by my associate dean
all in the letter head of our university.

any suggestions???
thanks
 
not sure, the USCIS examiner might think that there is a thesis or project that hasn't been completed. The kind of language that helps is "all requirements were met", and "will formally receive diploma in such date", etc. That is USCIS must be sure that you having a US degree is a certainty. good luck!
 
Hi J1 holder
at last one bag thing and one good thing happened yesterday. my general cap petition was returned back because it was not selected in the lottery. and my ms cap eac no. was received. my ms cap petition is in vermont centre. it is not under premium processing as i said before. does any of u suggest me to shift to premium processing. my employer told me to do something abt thesis in 45 days and when a query would arise from uscis, i can give a letter strong enough. its like my thesis is not completed and i at one time decided not to complete it and go for general cap. but then the lottery thing came up and i was not lucky.

please share your suggestions.
thank you
 
iam in the same category

dude iam in the same category. i got a receipt notice for my masters non-premium and my thesis is incomplete. Does the receipt notice mean that, my petition is being considered and that a letter from my graduate school stating that I will complete by so and so date is enough? please advice
 
dude iam in the same category. i got a receipt notice for my masters non-premium and my thesis is incomplete. Does the receipt notice mean that, my petition is being considered and that a letter from my graduate school stating that I will complete by so and so date is enough? please advice

Hi mani1979,

unfortunately, your petition may be rejected since you haven't completed your thesis yet. it sucks i know. sorry.
 
Hi Mani

i have also not completed my thesis yet, i am still registering for thesis and may be by fall 2007 i will graduate. the letter of completion is enough man. 4 of my seniors are still doing their thesis, since they wanted to go for a job and they did. they applied for h1 with a letter of completion of coursework and all requirements. they were approved h1 last year.
when a query arises, according to my seniors, another letter strong enough, is sufficient. but none of them got any queries. they also told that their friends in another universities also did the same thing. all we need to pray is that there should be no query.
 
Hi ashtev

please let me know why are saying that the petition will rejected. did it happen to anyone.
 
Hi mani
may i know when u r planning to complete thesis. and did you keep any expected graduation date anywhere while filing h1.
and ASHTEV, please let me know why are you saying that with a letter of completion, h1 will be rejected. did it happen to anyone. man i am in fear. please reply.
thank you
 
Top