Levine & Eskandari, LLC was retained to prepare an H-1B visa petition for a long-time client for the position of Credit Analyst.  Our client in this case, CBC Group, LLC, provides financial and accounting due diligence services to large banks and other lending institutions. Their numerous Credit Analyst employees are charged with assessing the credit worthiness of large corporate applicants seeking multimillion-dollar loans and lines of credit.    

Levine & Eskandari, LLC had over the past 15 years successfully represented CBC Group, LLC in around 40 H-1B visa cases for the Credit Analyst position.  The USCIS California Service Center issued a Request for Evidence (RFE) on the petition which maintained that the Credit Analyst position did not actually require a Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting or Business Administration in order to perform the job duties.

Our office prepared a comprehensive response to the Request for Evidence which showed that the position qualified under all four (4) of the requisite “specialty occupation” criteria.  A U.S. employer need only show that one of the four “specialty occupation” criteria has been satisfied in order to receive approval of an H-1B petition.

USCIS nonetheless issued a denial on the H-1B petition.  In so doing, USCIS advanced the extraordinary argument that the Credit Analyst position failed to satisfy any of the four specialty occupation criteria.  The denial was contrary to literally 15 years of positive agency decisions for this very same position.

After assessing the denial and determining that the legal reasoning set out in the decision was completely at odds with the actual evidence, Levine & Eskandari, LLC strongly recommended pursuing federal legal action.  While there are appellate steps within the USCIS process (Motion to Reconsider or an Appeal to the Administrative Appeals Office) these options were substantially less preferable then simply taking USCIS straight to Federal Court.   Our firm filed what is known as a “Declaratory Action” in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia:

Our federal court case was never actually decided by the Federal Judge, nor was it necessary to appear in court.   Eight weeks after filing, and a mere 10 days after the Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) entered their appearance, we received a notice that USCIS had reopened the denial and approved the H-1B petition.  The reversal by USCIS fortunately means that our client will continue to be able to recruit talent from all four corners of the world for their vital and indispensable Credit Analyst positions.   

For additional information related to this topic and for advice regarding how to navigate U.S. immigration laws you may contact Kenneth S. Levine of the law firm of Levine & Eskandari, LLC at (770-551-2700) or ken@leimmigration.com.