Back in 2013, we received word from the attorney of our client that their RFE has been successfully answered and their visa approved. This was particularly great information because our client received a Nightmare RFE, otherwise known as the Kitchen Sink RFE. This is because this particular RFE gives attorneys nightmares, and just about everything is in it but the kitchen sink. We’re not sure what triggers this type of RFE, but the evidence it requests is physically and temporally impossible to provide.
With this client in 2013, she submitted her credentials for a nursing degree along with an evaluation from another agency. The USCIS responded with a Nightmare RFE and she and her attorney came to us. We were able to answer the RFE with an expert opinion letter and an evaluation by international education experts Professor Kersey, and me. We showed that the client did indeed have the required credentials by US education standards by demonstrating that her bachelor’s degree was the equivalent of a US bachelor’s degree in Nursing. While we cleared up the education situation, our client’s attorney went on to answer the other queries submitted in the RFE.
Rates of RFE responses to H1B petitions have skyrocketed in recent years. Just less than a decade ago, only about 4% of all H1B petitions received an RFE. Now one in every four petitions submitted is met with an RFE. Alongside this increase, we are also seeing a sharp rise in difficult RFE’s like the Kitchen Sink. Attorneys are finding that more and more clients are faced with RFE’s that are near impossible to successfully answer, especially given the time allotted. At CCI, we specialize in difficult RFE’s. It has been a challenge to find creative solutions to seemingly impossible problems, but it’s a challenge we – and the attorneys we work with – rise to time and again.
Sheila Danzig is the director of Career Consulting International at www.TheDegreePeople.com, a foreign credential evaluation agency. They specialize in difficult cases and RFEs, Denials, NOIDs, 3-year degrees, etc. and offer a free review of all H1B, E2, and I140 education at http://www.ccifree.com/.