Silvergate

Silvergate provides Specialty Occupation Expert Opinion Letters that establish an offered H-1B position as a USCIS Specialty Occupation, which requires the minimum attainment of a Bachelor's Degree. These letters demonstrate that the "nature of the position's specific responsibilities and knowledge is so specialized and complex that knowledge required to perform these duties is usually associated with the attainment of a Bachelor's degree", in accordance with USCIS regulations.

A Comprehensive Expert Opinion Letter and Evaluation provides extra support. In addition to establishing the offered position as a Specialty Occupation, this report also evaluates the beneficiary's academic and/or work experience credentials as equivalent to a Bachelor's in the required field, and endorses the suitability of the beneficiary for the offered position.

Did you receive an extensive and somewhat confusing RFE regarding an H1-B case involving a work experience equivalency?

You are not alone! H-1B petitioners relying on a combination of education and work experience to achieve a Bachelor’s equivalency have recently been encountering RFE’s requiring an evaluation from a professor who has authority to grant credit at an accredited US university, and requesting related documentation.

Silvergate Evaluations works with a network of professors in a wide range of fields to provide evaluations which respond to the requests in these RFE’s and provide much needed support.

Expert opinion letters for L-1A and similar petitions assess an offered position's responsibilities, and establish the position as Executive and/or Managerial. Such letters are completed by a university professor in the field, and clearly describe how the responsibilities and characteristics of the position satisfy the requirements of the USCIS for an Executive or Managerial position. These reports are usually written to help respond to an RFE, and are customized to directly respond to the specific requests of the USCIS in your specific case.

Did you know? Even if the beneficiary will not be supervising subordinate Managers, it is very possible we can provide a letter establishing the position as Managerial if "essential functions" will be managed, in accordance with regulations.

Specialized Knowledge Expert Opinion Letters provide extra support for an L-1B petition which has received an RFE questioning Specialized Knowledge, or for an initial petition to reduce the chances of receiving an RFE.

These reports include an expert opinion letter from a professor in the field, who first performs an in-depth analysis of the company's processes and the knowledge acquired by the beneficiary. The professor then proceeds to establish that the beneficiary possesses Specialized Knowledge of the company's proprietary tools, processes, and methodologies based on his or her work experience for the company's foreign office.

H-1B Requests for Evidence often state the following: Submit an evaluation of the beneficiary’s education by a reliable education credentials evaluation service which specializes in evaluating foreign education credentials.

Silvergate continues to be the reliable evaluation service of choice for immigration lawyers. Tens of thousands of our evaluations have been accepted by the USCIS over the past few years.

Additionally, the USCIS has frequently been using the AACRAO EDGE database as a resource in employment-based immigrant petitions. Silvergate maintains an active subscription to the EGDE database, and upon request an EDGE reference can be inserted into an evaluation, with no extra charge.

Did you receive a PERM Audit questioning Business Necessity? Silvergate’s Business Necessity Expert Opinion Letters establish business necessity for an offered position and demonstrate that "the job duties and requirements bear a reasonable relationship to the occupation in the context of the employer's business, and are essential to perform the job in a reasonable manner", in accordance with regulations.

Requirements exceed the SVP? We provide real-world opinions from real-world experts that clearly illustrate why an employer's stated minimum requirements are usual and acceptable due to the business necessity of the employer.