Successful H1-B approval after RFE response

[ursjanpal]

Dear All,

I would like to share my experience with my H-1B extension after addressing RFE.  My petition was extended for 3 full-years and the RFE response was granted in 1 day after the documents were received by USCIS, yes 1 DAY

Background

1. IT Consultant working on EVC model with a fortune 15 client for 3 years

2. US Masters degree in Computer Science from a tier-1 college

3. 4th H1-B renewal

4. I-140 approved

5. Never received any RFE in any prior approvals so far

Extension

1. Filed in premium processing, RFE received after a few days on specialty occupation, employer-employee relationship

Documents furnished

1. Client letter 

• My client does not provide typically letters to support immigration
• My client supervisor provided an e-mail in lieu of the letter specifying my responsibilities, how my role is related to the organization, why a degree is needed for the role and ads of similar openings requiring a bachelor's degree or higher

2. Vendor letter

• Was provided with detailed job responsibilities and relationship with the client and the end company (employer)

3. Contract and SOW executed between Vendor (Between Prime Vendor and Client if applicable) and the Client

• Due to confidentiality and sensitivity, the SOW/MSA agreement between client and vendor was not provided
• Instead, the SOW numbers were mentioned indirectly in the vendor letter and also mentioned in my weekly client timesheet approvals
• Attorney handled this with additional appropriate verbiage

4. ID Badge issued by the Client

• Provided a photocopy of my client ID/badge
• Provided my contract details from corporate directory

5. Project related technical and functional docs

• This was confidential information so I had to get permission from my client supervisor
• Provided copies of the following: project plan, technical documents, functional documents etc.

6. Photographs of the beneficiary at his work desk or near the work location with the Company name board

• Provided photos of the client board/address with logo
• Provided photos of my desk/work area and colleagues
• Provided information of my supervisor with name, designation, phone, e-mail ID

7. Time Sheets/Project Status Report from petitioner

• Provided on a weekly basis for the last 3 months

8. Time Sheets/Project Status Report from client

• Provided on a weekly basis for the last 3 months
• Timesheets contained e-mail approval from client manager, timesheet template having SOW numbers

9. Handbook with signed acknowledgement page

• ·My employer provided

10. Performance Evaluation

• My employer provided for last year

11. Last 3 paystubs of the Beneficiary issued by the Petitioner, Medical Insurance, Certificate of Liability Insurance, Offer Letter, Employment Agreement, and Organization Chart

• All documents provided by employer

12. Client recommendation letters (not required by attorney but I provided)

• I gathered from my LinkedIn account

13. Copy of my MS degree and transcript

14. Copies of all my professional certifications related to the role

15. Resume

16. Specialty Occupation documents requested by attorney (all documents were provided):

• Client letter or email and Vendor letter
• Affidavits from two coworkers with their ID badges 
• Present or past job announcements used to recruit for the position that states minimum educational requirements, minimum experience required. (Newspaper ads/Online job postings/Job announcement on company website etc.)
• Degrees, Transcripts and Most recent paystubs/W-2s of all individuals employed 
• Expert opinion letter from an outside company – Provided by my attorney

Advice to others waiting in response for an RFE:

1.    Do not loose hope, if you and your attorney can provide all requested documents, it should not be an issue at all, even for EVC model

2.    Tenure of extension does not depend on the contract details/SOW. For me client did not provide the actual contract, still it was extended for 3 years

3.    DO NOT depend on the attorney fully, you need to work with them to furnish the client specific paperwork. Client will not respond to attorney directly for immigration matters

4.    USCIS website was not updated after my RFE documents were received, but my attorney got an e-mail in one day, so DO NOT depend on the website at all. USCIS needs to really ramp up their resources for a more streamlined process

5.    Finally, some degree of luck is there, but we have to live up to it and hope for the best

6.    DO NOT be concerned when you hear of denials from others, in Murthy.com forum, I have observed folks do not post their experiences of a successful case, be it for approvals or stamping

Got luck to everyone in the same boat and god bless!

 

[CC139]

Hello,

Many Congratulations. May Gd bless you for sharing this information. Can you please share copy of following: 

• Client letter or email and Vendor letter
• Affidavits from two coworkers with their ID badges 
• Present or past job announcements used to recruit for the position that states minimum educational requirements, minimum experience required. (Newspaper ads/Online job postings/Job announcement on company website etc.)
• Degrees, Transcripts and Most recent paystubs/W-2s of all individuals employed 
• Expert opinion letter from an outside company – Provided by my attorney

[ursjanpal]

@CC139 - Due to confidentiality, I cannot share any document. Your employer's attorney must guide you for standardized template/format. Affidavits can be notarized from a bank, certified state notary, public librarian, FedEx, UPS to name a few.

Reputed RFE evaluation companies for an expert opinion letter would be Trust forte, Carnegie evaluations, Morningside evaluations

Hope this helps

Edited November 20, 2018 by ursjanpal

[Abhi86]

RFE for H1B extension (specialty occupation) was approved today. Let me know if i can help.

[Shiva8383]

Hey Guys,

 

Do we need client letter for specialty occupation RFE??

[Provence]

1 hour ago, Shiva8383 said:

Hey Guys,

 

Do we need client letter for specialty occupation RFE??

Some decent advice in this thread. Check with your firm's attorneys; competent attorneys should know how to respond. 

[siri p]

On 11/26/2018 at 7:07 PM, Abhi86 said:

RFE for H1B extension (specialty occupation) was approved today. Let me know if i can help.

Hi, can you please let me know what documents you submitted. I got a speciality occupation RFE for H1 transfer.

[ursjanpal]

@siri p - Please take a look at my original post where the list of documents are mentioned

[zenk]

Hi,

I have received RFE saying I need to provide following.

1. Detailed Job Description/ Expanded Job Duties
2. Work Product samples
3. Copies of recent emails exchanged between supervisor/ manager and project team.

I got my NDA and offer letter yesterday, saying they need it immediately for RFE response. I am not sure why NDA is required now. is it something related to sending client documentation or email.

Looking forward to response. Thanks in advance.

Thanks,