CASE: H-1B Extension
PETITIONER: Software Development and IT Staffing Company
BENEFICIARY: Indian Computer Systems Analyst
LOCATION: Jacksonville, FL
Our client is a fast growing software developing and IT consulting company located in Jacksonville, FL. They contacted our office in June 2016 to seek assistance from our office for their foreign employee’s H-1B extension. The beneficiary is from India and he obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Information Systems. The proffered position for the Beneficiary is a Computer Systems Analyst which we argued qualifies as a specialty occupation. He got his H-1B status through our office’s help in 2015.
After retention, our office promptly filed the H-1B visa petition with various supporting documents on July 13, 2016 via regular processing. We also gathered supporting documents from both the Petitioner and Beneficiary and did research on the industry, focusing on similarly sized businesses, to demonstrate that a bachelor’s degree is commonly required for this position.
Moreover, in our brief, our office argued that the degree requirement is common to this industry in parallel positions among similar organizations. We provided evidence that the position of Systems Analyst or Computer Systems Analyst is a common position required by similarly sized IT consulting company. Also, we provided evidence that Petitioner’s competitors normally require degrees in a specific specialty for closely related positions like that of Systems Analyst. Moreover, our office asserted that the nature of the specific duties is so specialized and complex that knowledge required to perform the duties is usually associated with the attainment of a baccalaureate or higher degree in a specific specialty. Other documents pertaining to an in-house project was also submitted.
Eventually, our client’s H-1B application was approved on October 17, 2016. He can work for his employer until August 2019.