Help with an RFE case - specialty occuptaion issues

T

tyrannosaur

New Member
I'm a Canadian working for a mid-size commercial production company in Los Angeles, California. I have a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from a Canadian university.

We applied for an H-1B under the occupation of "Communications Specialist", which I think the lawyer connected with "Public Relations Specialist", and recently received an Request For Evidence (RFE), obviously relating to the definition of a "specialty occupation".

I've done some research, in particular into appeals cases, and heard the consistent mantra that "it is not enough to go on the record without supporting evidence." I'm concerned that my lawyer won't acknowledge this, or is unwilling to be as thorough as possible.

My question is (especially for anyone with experience with RFEs) -- how can I compile the most compelling case when I submit my response? I understand at the base level we should provide

  • an enhanced job description (any opinions on what this might require? Our original application already included time breakdowns/percentages)
  • degrees and pay stubs of any employees in the same position, past or present
  • letters from similar sized companies in the same industry, acknowledging that they require employees to have my same degree when doing the same position.
  • job postings from similar sized companies in similar industries, specifically requiring people with my degree for similar positions.


Is there anything else we can/should submit to bolster my case?

ALSO: my lawyer thinks it will be enough to simply have similar companies submit letters, but I'm worried this will be written off by USCIS as "going on the record without evidence" -- do I need a company brochure, and maybe copies of the diplomas, etc. of the employees they claim to have hired? Or at the very least, do they need to specifically name the people? I am very worried about this.

And for job listings, I saw all the appeal cases thrown out because their wasn't sufficient evidence that the companies were in the same industry, or of a similar size. What can I submit alongside the postings that can corroborate this? Print outs from the company website? Press/corporate kits?

Thanks so much for your help and wisdom, guys!
 
Hiya,

Sorry to hear about the RFE. :( In my experience the USCIS (and the CSC specifically) is issuing a great deal of RFEs for "Communications Specialist" positions. :confused:

One of the USCIS's contentious points is clearly linking your degree to the job. I would suggest making a breakdown of your job duties and then cross reference them to specific courses from your degree, then state exact how your courses help. This can form the basis for your enhanced job duties, and you need to be really specific as to what exactly you do and why you do it. Often the big picture of communications specialist positions gets lost in the application.

Getting the letters from similar businesses is also a good strategy. I have found that searching for adverts for similar jobs is also pretty useful. You can usually look up companies online to see if they are similarly staffed or in a similar industry. You will rarely find the same businesses but a wide range of similar companies is pretty compelling.

Also the company's own record of hiring for your position or similar positions is a great comparison to make (if its useful). The USCIS will want to see resumes of the people and descriptions of their positions. Its kind of an invasion of privacy but what can you do.

Regarding other info, I would look around the web, check out the Dept of labor website and pull some statistics, last time I looked there was a pretty high figure for degreed professionals in the area.

The appeals cases in this area are pretty bad but there are bad appeals cases for a lot of specialized positions, especially general managers...urg. But dont let that get you down those cases got there for a reason, you need to make the best case you can at this stage to avoid that!

Best of luck! :cool:
 
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