Any successful H1 Extension with Electronics or Mechanical Engineering Background


daya_cnu

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Hi Guys,

I am due for H1 extension on May 2018, I am working with my lawyer to apply the H1 extension.

But recently i am hearing instances from  the forums and also from personal friends, H1 extension has been rejected citing "RFE on Specialty Occupation" because of non computer science degree.

I would like to hear from folks who managed to get their extension successfully processed, may be we can replicate your process like did you attach any extra documents like using Experience Letters to counter the non cs background, etc..

Appreciate your responses guys.

Thanks in advance.

Daya..

 

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Denials are happening across the board, not just consulting companies. I am working for a top outsourcing firm and got a denial for my Extension as a part of specialty occupation RFE few months back and had to return back to India since my I 94 expired. I am from Electronics Background. 

The only thing you could do in the present situation is to pray that your case doesn’t run into an RFE. If you get an RFE, provide a very strong documentation from your Attorney. 

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One could get a better sense of at least the kind of approvals from Trackit website. This website has H1B tracker and people are quite diligent to share progress there. Just google H1B tracker and you should find the web link.

Personally, I have seen/heard denials and approvals of H1B transfers/extensions regardless of who you work for and what your bachelor's degree was in. Several of these have had RFE's related to either the Wage Level or Speciality Occupation or Right to Control. I live in an area which has a heavy presence of H1 & L1 people from Indian IT companies and also people who have done MS here in States and are either working through a Consulting firm or are Full Time employees. I have seen no trend as to who is safe and who is at risk based on who they work for.

One thing is for sure - it is no longer a hidden knowledge to many US employers and citizens that the consultancies here and the outsourcing firms like TCS, CTS etc have been abusing the H1 & L1 visa system for many years now, that not every IT professional who benefits from H1/L1 is competent or qualified enough or truthful in their skill set/experience. One shouldn't be surprised if there is additional scrutiny on applications submitted by these outsourcing or consulting firms. Direct employment with a US employer sounds a little safer even in Trump era though.

What makes a difference in most scenario's is probably how adept and competent the immigration department of the company is. Outsourcing firms like TCS, Infosys etc., will sure have better immigration department as these firms have been very successful in misusing the H1 and L1 system for so long, have filed countless number of H1/L1 petitions and immigration costs are no big deal to them. I believe we are at a point where luck matters as much as one's competency and that is sad.

Edited by Surfer123
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11 hours ago, Surfer123 said:

One could get a better sense of at least the kind of approvals from Trackit website. This website has H1B tracker and people are quite diligent to share progress there. Just google H1B tracker and you should find the web link.

Personally, I have seen/heard denials and approvals of H1B transfers/extensions regardless of who you work for and what your bachelor's degree was in. Several of these have had RFE's related to either the Wage Level or Speciality Occupation or Right to Control. I live in an area which has a heavy presence of H1 & L1 people from Indian IT companies and also people who have done MS here in States and are either working through a Consulting firm or are Full Time employees. I have seen no trend as to who is safe and who is at risk based on who they work for.

One thing is for sure - it is no longer a hidden knowledge to many US employers and citizens that the consultancies here and the outsourcing firms like TCS, CTS etc have been abusing the H1 & L1 visa system for many years now, that not every IT professional who benefits from H1/L1 is competent or qualified enough or truthful in their skill set/experience. One shouldn't be surprised if there is additional scrutiny on applications submitted by these outsourcing or consulting firms. Direct employment with a US employer sounds a little safer even in Trump era though.

What makes a difference in most scenario's is probably how adept and competent the immigration department of the company is. Outsourcing firms like TCS, Infosys etc., will sure have better immigration department as these firms have been very successful in misusing the H1 and L1 system for so long, have filed countless number of H1/L1 petitions and immigration costs are no big deal to them. I believe we are at a point where luck matters as much as one's competency and that is sad.

Well said. Employers and Individuals have been misusing these visa categories for more than a decade and they will for many more years to come. Can't do much about it. Good luck to everyone.

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Hi Daya, below are the 3 H1B approvals I am aware of from my friends and family circle. Hope for the best - nothing is guaranteed in this trump era. And the Track-Itt site mentioned in earlier post is in fact a good place to monitor

Case 1 (myself actually): H1B Extension applied in PP in November 2017 and approved without any RFE; Background: Working FT for current US Employer for past 3.5 years; Employer not a H1B dependent one; BE in ECE, MS in CS, 10+ years FT experience with I-140 approved; Job requires BE in CS or related field and 5+ years experience - Wage Level 3, Software Team Lead is the job role;

Case 2: H1B Extension applied in PP in October 2017; Working for Consulting firm - EVC model and Client provided Client letter; Got RFE for Speciality Occupation & Employee-Employer relationship & Wage Level 1 justification; Approved last week after responding to RFE; BE in EEE, MS in EE, 4.5 Years Experience all of which is with same Consultant and since graduation; Job requires BE in CS or related field with 2 or more years experience - Wage Level 1, Software Developer is the job title;

Case 3: H1B Transfer applied in PP in November 2017; Transfer from one consulting firm to another, both in EVC model; Got RFE for speciality occupation; Approved on Jan 4th 2018; BE in ECE, 7+ years IT experience, came to US on H1B with an IT outsourcing firm and then transferred to a local desi consulting firm before initiating the latest transfer to a desi consulting firm; Job requires BE in CS or any Engineering discipline and 3+ years experience, Senior Developer is the job role;

I am not aware of what documentation was submitted for RFE's tied to Case 2 and Case 3.

Another note, I have few colleagues who are on H1B as well and a couple of them have in fact received RFE's during extension but eventually got approvals. One extension was applied for in April 2017 and another in July 2017. One was from BE and MS in CS background and another was from BE in ECE and MS in CS background. They weren't made aware of the RFE reason and our immigration/HR department took care of things without getting them involved in any way - so won't be able to provide more info on these.

Good luck everyone and just hope for the best.

Edited by KS012345
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Thanks for Quick Responses Friends..

@KSO12345...your response was presented smartly, it was very informative and gave me a clear perspective. I am sure others viewing your response would appreciate that.

Let me provide the folks here my details, i will continue to update my progress ( it will likely to be end of the month before my lawyer applies the extension, it will be PP).

My Basic details : 

BE - Electronics and Communications ( My Educational Evaluation document of BE degree puts me Bachelor of Science of Electrical Engineering)
MBA - From US University
Work Experience - Around 13 Years.
Working as FTE for last 8 years for US employer.
Employer not a H1B dependent one.
My I-129 is approved, i have completed 6 years in H1, already got 2 extensions from the current employer. Processing the next one currently.

Lawyer will apply in PP around end of the month, i have requested them to redo my educational evaluation ( not sure it will be useful but anyways requested them to redo it), i will provide them my experience letters for last 13 years. Not sure what i can provide to support my case..

PS: I have been reaching to others in this industry, as the ppl in this group mentioned there was NO clear trend they could identify. 

Thanks

Daya

 

 

Edited by daya_cnu
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Last month my H1b, H4 and EAD extensions got approved after Specialty occupation RFE. I have 13+ years of IT experience with Mechanical Engineering background. My employer did Technical evaluation for submitting the response to RFE and got approved. As per my attorney, my technical evaluation is done for my previous companies experience only equivalent to 5 years

I personally know 6-7 H1b cases working in FT, EC, EVC models;5 people left to India after h1B denials. One person filed new H1b after denial and got approved. An employee from my employer got H1b transferred denied. He has Electrical Engineering degree; last information i heard from my attorney is that they applied  new H1B and got it approved.

No body can assure anything in current situation, however a genuine H1b case and solid attorney can drastically improve your chance of approvals. All the best

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I believe they're doing  blanket denials regardless of what documentation you submit if your job is in IT and have non CS degree. It's kinda scary but it's a fact these days.

They're going by the guidelines given by the current administration to simply deny if a petition is a computer related job and the degree is non CS not matter if you've computer courses in your non CS  degree and pages of evaluation your attorney submits.

However, this is again on case by case basis and depends on other factors.

Current Unemployment at its low with US Citizens, Non immigrants(H-1b and H4 EAD's and so on ) have jobs and working to keep this great nation's economy strong.

 where's the job shortage?

Good luck to all in this situation.

Edited by Bhajagovindam
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  • 2 months later...

I have recently (Feb 2018) got my H1b transfer approved.

My educational background:

BTech in electrical and electronics engineering.

MS in electrical engineering. (US)

I got approved my three H1(1+2 extensions ) from consulting company. I have recently got approved my h1b transfer to client which i have been working for my whole H1. No RFE. Every time my h1b was approved for three years. 

Good luck.

 

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  • 1 month later...
On 1/7/2018 at 9:49 PM, daya_cnu said:

Thanks for Quick Responses Friends..

@KSO12345...your response was presented smartly, it was very informative and gave me a clear perspective. I am sure others viewing your response would appreciate that.

Let me provide the folks here my details, i will continue to update my progress ( it will likely to be end of the month before my lawyer applies the extension, it will be PP).

My Basic details : 

BE - Electronics and Communications ( My Educational Evaluation document of BE degree puts me Bachelor of Science of Electrical Engineering)
MBA - From US University
Work Experience - Around 13 Years.
Working as FTE for last 8 years for US employer.
Employer not a H1B dependent one.
My I-129 is approved, i have completed 6 years in H1, already got 2 extensions from the current employer. Processing the next one currently.

Lawyer will apply in PP around end of the month, i have requested them to redo my educational evaluation ( not sure it will be useful but anyways requested them to redo it), i will provide them my experience letters for last 13 years. Not sure what i can provide to support my case..

PS: I have been reaching to others in this industry, as the ppl in this group mentioned there was NO clear trend they could identify. 

Thanks

Daya

 

 

@Daya: How your extension went? 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

Hi Everyone, how important is Job title?
I am working as Sr Operations Analyst having Masters in Mechanical Engineering and work experience of less than 3 years, since my job title has analyst and not "Engineer"  will it be difficult for approval...? Are analysts jobs comes under IT? My job role is to do product life cycle analysis for the reliability and warranty by extracting data which i can very well relate with my mechanical background but just because of title I am bit worried. I Would really appreciate your comments an suggestions, thank you.    

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  • 5 weeks later...

Hi,

I have a B.E in Mech and 14 years of experience in software industry. I have a I-140, but my H1B extension was denied for speciality occupation after RFE. My lawyer submitted expert evaluation from 2 well known experts, inspite of this the application was denied.

I am thinking of re-applying for H1-B, but need your valuable inputs as to how did you guys cross this situation and what other documents / paper work can be submitted.

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  • 1 month later...
On 9/5/2018 at 11:26 AM, Emi said:

Hi,

I have a B.E in Mech and 14 years of experience in software industry. I have a I-140, but my H1B extension was denied for speciality occupation after RFE. My lawyer submitted expert evaluation from 2 well known experts, inspite of this the application was denied.

I am thinking of re-applying for H1-B, but need your valuable inputs as to how did you guys cross this situation and what other documents / paper work can be submitted.

I got this rfe during March 2017 and able to overcome by submitting

1. Expert opinion letter

2. Client letter stating current position requires minimum bachelor degree 

3. Job posting stating this job requires bachelor degree

4. Explain day to day job role performed in detail why it needs experienced H1b candidate with such skill set

5. Explain the current domain functionality of the application you are working on and how it interacts with the software and skill set you have

my team mates working on same project got three years approval with normal rfe which went to LIEN and EAC center, mine went to WAC center with such rfe got approval for one year, also ensure your LCA wage level and job title is appropriate to avoid such stuffs

Experienced lawyer can handle such stuff with appropriate documentation, some how we need to overcome such stress until 2021 or 2024 😳

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  • 2 months later...
On 1/5/2018 at 5:52 PM, daya_cnu said:

Hi Guys,

I am due for H1 extension on May 2018, I am working with my lawyer to apply the H1 extension.

But recently i am hearing instances from  the forums and also from personal friends, H1 extension has been rejected citing "RFE on Specialty Occupation" because of non computer science degree.

I would like to hear from folks who managed to get their extension successfully processed, may be we can replicate your process like did you attach any extra documents like using Experience Letters to counter the non cs background, etc..

Appreciate your responses guys.

Thanks in advance.

Daya..

 

Hi Daya / @all

Please Update your status. I am on same situation. My Transfer got Denied Twice . Now i am worried about Extension.
Any suggestions to take care.

 

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  • 7 months later...

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