I-140 RFE - 5 yrs of experience!

G

gcwaiter_74

Registered Users (C)
140 EB2 Vermont Service center
ND : Jun 12th 2003
RFE : July 14th 2004
Bachelor's degrree and no masters degree
No option to reclassify under EB3!

RFE Text : Provide proof of 5 years of experience/training since the date of filing

I had 4 years 2 months of work experience before I came to US. After working for 13 months as a programmer, my company applied for LC for post of Project Manager which was approved and then I filed for 140 under EB2 category.

Now RFE is generated asking for 5 years of experience at the time of LC filing. In normal cases, I would not be able to use the experience gained in the sponsoring company to respond to the RFE. But my attorney says that since there is a change of position (Programmer to Project Manager), I can use all the experience upto the time of LC filing, in which case it will be more than 5 years. Some other websites suggest the same.

Is this possible? Could I use the experience gained in the sponsoring company? If not, what other options could I use? Could I use the 5 months of industry project experience while in Engineering college? Otherwise, if I need to get a experience letter from India, can I get it from an ex-colleague? Any specific format for it and any notary required for it?

Any help is deeply appreciated. I am sure many people would have gone through a similar experience and your advice is deeply valued.

Thanks in advance,
 
gcwaiter_74,

I feel sorry to hear that you got RFE .Mine was very similar case.I had ~ 4.5 yrs of experience when my employeer applied for LC but fortunately my 140 got approved so I think it depends on luck and officer.
Good luck.

-tempo
140 AD 4/04
485 RD 4/03
 
tempo, Thanks for your reply.

How did you respond to the RFE? Did you claim any experience with the sponsoring company? Or did you just claim 4.5 years of experience?
if you got any letters from ex-colleagues, please let me know the format.

Thanks for your prompt reply
 
gc_waiter74,
1) Could I use the experience gained in the sponsoring company?
A) I confirm that you can use the sponsoring experience since the text of the RFE on my 140 implied the same and my attorney confirmed it.

2)If not, what other options could I use? Could I use the 5 months of industry project experience while in Engineering college?
A) Yes , you can -- it will be helpful if it was mentioned in Form 750 A or B (I am not sure)

3)Otherwise, if I need to get a experience letter from India, can I get it from an ex-colleague?
A) Yes you can, please have all contact information and present position of you ex colleague listed on the letter.

4) Any specific format for it and any notary required for it?
A) Format -- to the point is better. I ......... confirm the work experience of Mr. GC _ WAITER from ......... to ........... as a Programmer/Lead..... .His duties include ....................... (please highlight all the technologies written under your Form 750 A or B ( not sure , sorry).

5) Notary -- Not required but makes it more appealing and accurate.
 
tempo, Thanks for your reply.

How did you respond to the RFE? Did you claim any experience with the sponsoring company? Or did you just claim 4.5 years of experience?
if you got any letters from ex-colleagues, please let me know the format.

Thanks for your prompt reply


gcwaiter_74

My I140 was approved w/o RFE.

--tempo
 
tricky situation

Looking at your RFE details it appears to be tricky. You can provide all possible documents like mentioned by Rock_ME_AMADEUS. In the end it is left to the adjudicating officer to consider it or not.

After getting BE, and before filing labor what was the time gap. It should be more than 5 years to make it convincing by providing additional experience.
 
Thanks everyone for your very prompt and helpful replies.

I have more than 5 years of gap between my BE degree and LC filing date. But if I do not consider my experience with the sponsoring company, then it wont be 5 years. So, the key lies in claiming the sponsoring company experience.
My attorney says its a slam dunk case since the position I was in and the position mentioned in LC is different with different job responsibilites ( programmer v/s supervisory role) and hence I can use the experience in the sponsoring company.
If I manage to get some letters from co-workers from old companies, is there any chance that they will cross check (that too, if the co-workers are in India)
 
Gurus, help needed on the format of the experience letters to be taken from co-workers. Can it be on a plain sheet of paper instead of a letter-head?
 
cover letter

It has to be on the company cover letter wherever your former colleagues are working. i.e if you were colleagues in x company and now that colleague works in company Y. You need to get the letter from that colleague on company Y's covering letter. If the letter is notarized it is even better.
 
rajudm,

Thanks for your immediate reply. I do have experience letters from the company and now I am trying to get a letter from a co-worker emphasizing my skills/responsibilities in those jobs.

My friends dont want to use their company's letterhead since they are not authorized to do that. Instead, they are willing to give their current position and contact details on the letter. Should it suffice?
 
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Letter from co-worker

Hi,
I have used a notarized letter from a co worker who worked with me in India, who is in US right now. My 140 got approved after RFE.

Thanks,
GC_Kaavaali
 
Question for GC_Kaavaali

GC_Kaavaali,

I was following your posts regarding your experience and the RFE issued for your I-140?
Did INS accept the experience that you had obtained before the degree was awarded?
I am in a similar situation as you. I worked in a company for about 4 months and my attorney did not include that info in the LC/140 application. Now, if I submit an experience letter for that period, will INS accept it?

Waiting for your replly.

Thanks,
 
Exp before degree awarded

gcwaiter_74 said:
GC_Kaavaali,

I was following your posts regarding your experience and the RFE issued for your I-140?
Did INS accept the experience that you had obtained before the degree was awarded?
I am in a similar situation as you. I worked in a company for about 4 months and my attorney did not include that info in the LC/140 application. Now, if I submit an experience letter for that period, will INS accept it?

Waiting for your replly.

Thanks,
Click to expand...

Hi,
My attorney did not use the experience before my degree was awarded during I-140 though it was mentioned in the ETA 750. As the ETA 750 stated in Column 15 that Bachelors and 5 years of progressive experience will be accepted in lieu of Masters and 1 year of experience.

I had 5 years and 5 months of experience after degree awarded and before filing labor. I also had 5 months of experience before degree awarded which was not shown during I-140.

Let me know if you need more information.

Thanks,
GC_Kaavaali
 
Hi,

Thanks for the clarification. I thought that INS asked for 6 years of experience as the text of your RFE implied. Good that it was only 5 years which you already had.
My attorney wants to claim the experience in the sponsoring company in a different job position to account for the 5 years.
If the LCA was approved for 5yrs including experience with the sponsoring company, wonder why INS issued a RFE asking for experience.

Thanks,
 
gcwaiter_74 said:
Hi,

Thanks for the clarification. I thought that INS asked for 6 years of experience as the text of your RFE implied. Good that it was only 5 years which you already had.
My attorney wants to claim the experience in the sponsoring company in a different job position to account for the 5 years.
If the LCA was approved for 5yrs including experience with the sponsoring company, wonder why INS issued a RFE asking for experience.

Thanks,
Click to expand...

Yes, INS asked for 6 years of experience. Here is the exact wording of the RFE:

Submit additional evidence to establish that the beneficiary possessed the required master's degree or equivalent in engineering, computer science or math and one year of experience in the job offered (software engineer) or one year experience in a related occupation ( any computer related profession) as of August 13, 2001, the date of filing.

The evaluation of the beneficiary's education submitted by you is insufficient because the evaluator included the beneficiary's two months of training from "X" and "Y". These programs do not appear to be equivalent to education from an accredited institution in the United States. An acceptable evaluation should :
1) Consider formal education only, not practical experience;
2) State if the collegiate training was post-secondary education, i.e, whether the applicant completed the United States equivalent of high school before entering college;
3) Provide a detailed explanation of the material evaluated;
4) Breifly state the qualifications and experience of the evaluator providing the opinion.

Ther Service acknowledges that a bachelor's degree plus five years of progressive work experience may be accepted in lieu of a master's degree. The Service further notes, an additional year of experience is required, based on the ETA 750 of record. Therefore, not including training from "X" and "Y", to qualify under this ETA 750, the beneficiary must document 6 years of work experience along with the bachelor's degree. Based on the date the bachelor's degree was awarded, January 1996, the beneficiary would not qualify as the priority date is August 13, 2001, five years and seven months after the degree award.

My attorney replied with new experience letters summing to 5 years and 5 months and pointed to Column 15 of ETA 750, which states that Bachelors and 5 years of progressive experience will be accepted in lieu of Masters and one year of experience. He also submitted my education evaluation done by TrustForte.

Let me know if u need any info.

GC_Kaavaali
 
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