CASE: H-1B Visa Petition
PETITIONER: School District in Forrest City, AR
BENEFICIARY: Filipina High School Math Teacher
ISSUES: Cap-Exempt, Nonprofit Organization Affiliated with an Institution of Higher Education
Our client is a public school district affiliated with several institutions of higher education. They contacted our office in August 2021 to seek legal assistance from our office for their foreign employee. The beneficiary is a High School Math Teacher from the Philippines who has been working for this employer for the last several years under a J-1 status. Her J-1 visa was not subject to the 2 year foreign residency requirement.
The proffered position for the Beneficiary is a High School Math Teacher. We showed that this is a “specialty occupation” because the minimum requirement for this position is a Bachelor’s Degree in Education or its equivalent.
In the first week of April, the numerical cap of H-1B visas for fiscal year 2022 was already reached. However, we argued that our client is qualified for cap-exempt petitions since they are a non-profit organization affiliated with an Institution of Higher Education as defined in 8 C.F.R. 214.2(h)(19)(iii)(B).
Once retained, our office filed the H-1B visa petition with various supporting documents on September 24, 2021 via premium processing. Eventually, our client’s H-1B application was approved on October 7, 2021 without any RFE. She can now work for her employer for three years on an H-1B status.