snoble

Hi all,

I recently received a job offer from a US company, and they've employed an immigration lawyer to take care of the visa process.

Problem is, I've been speaking with him about what he requires and it seems like things may take some time, even though from all accounts it will only take three weeks or so to get my H-1B.

He tells me that before he can apply for the visa he needs to provide evidence that my UK degree is equivalent to a US degree. I have a BSc in Computer Studies, and he tells me he needs not only a copy of my diploma but also a transcript of my course. But we don't have such things in the UK, so what do I need to do? I have three years IT experience which I believed, combined with my degree, was enough to obtain a visa.

He also claims that the process of evaluating my degree will take up to two weeks, and then after that he can begin the H-1B process. But the company needs me to begin as soon as possible, and while I can negotiate three weeks of unavailability, I'm not sure they will be too happy with five weeks, and I don't want to lose my job opportunity! I've spent six months of hard work trying to get it.

S B

snoble wrote:
    >
    > Hi all,
    >
    > I recently received a job offer from a US company, and they've employed
    > an immigration lawyer to take care of the visa process.
    >
    > Problem is, I've been speaking with him about what he requires and it
    > seems like things may take some time, even though from all accounts it
    > will only take three weeks or so to get my H-1B.
    >
    > He tells me that before he can apply for the visa he needs to provide
    > evidence that my UK degree is equivalent to a US degree. I have a BSc
    > in Computer Studies, and he tells me he needs not only a copy of my
    > diploma but also a transcript of my course. But we don't have such
    > things in the UK, so what do I need to do? I have three years IT
    > experience which I believed, combined with my degree, was enough to
    > obtain a visa.

Tell him that there's no such thing as a transcript from a UK university
and any good credentials evaluation service will know this. This is why
they these services keep lots of information about courses. When I had
one done, they knew some of the actual courses that were part of the
degree back in 1970s!

    > He also claims that the process of evaluating my degree will take up to
    > two weeks, and then after that he can begin the H-1B process.

It can be done in days if you're willing to pay a bit extra. One I used
was http://www.icascanada.ca ... and they are recognized by the INS as
was and I needed this for a TN (visa for Canadians).

    > But the
    > company needs me to begin as soon as possible, and while I can negotiate
    > three weeks of unavailability, I'm not sure they will be too happy with
    > five weeks, and I don't want to lose my job opportunity! I've spent six
    > months of hard work trying to get it.

That's something they should have known about up front when hiring an
alien worker.

Vicky88

When he is talking about the transcript of your course, he will simply need a copy of your results listing the subjects completed and grade. That is all they required when my husband applied. The results transcript will prove to them that it is a bona fide course, equivalent for US purposes.

When he talks about 2 weeks to evaluate your degree would be interested to know who is going to evaluate it. Sounds to me like he wants 2 weeks to prepare your application and might be using that as an excuse.

snoble

Thanks, I thought it was a bit odd. He also claims the evaluation will cost my company more money. Is this true?

Ingo Pakleppa

Actually, there is nothing odd about it. Credential Evaluations are
usually done by specialized evaluation companies who do nothing but
certify the equivalence of foreign and US degrees for either immigration
or university purposes.

These companies of course charge a fee, anything up to around $200 or so
is reasonable, and I wouldn't balk at $300, either. Some attorneys have
close relationships with such companies and are sometimes located in the
same building. If not, there would be a mailing delay. The evaluation
itself will also take a few days. So these two weeks sound entirely
reasonable.

So, yes, this is entirely normal.

On Tue, 22 Apr 2003 19:46:16 +0000, snoble wrote:

    >
    > Thanks, I thought it was a bit odd. He also claims the evaluation will
    > cost my company more money. Is this true?
    >
    > Originally posted by Vicky88
    >> When he is talking about the transcript of your course, he will simply
    >> need a copy of your results listing the subjects completed and grade.
    >> That is all they required when my husband applied. The results
    >> transcript will prove to them that it is a bona fide course,
    >> equivalent for US purposes.
    > When he talks about 2 weeks to evaluate your degree would be
    > interested to know who is going to evaluate it. Sounds to me like he
    > wants 2 weeks to prepare your application and might be using that as
    > an excuse.
    >
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Vlad

www.wes.org

$80 - 10 days, aka 2 weeks
$180 - 3 days
$275 - same day

This is a well known service, and you also might find out that a UNESCO
branch in your country does this as well. But I would not worry about it.
Let your perspective employer to cover any h1b related expanses, and they
apparently are aware about the timing of this process. So relax, and let
them move. Once you get your visa it would be a good time to renegotiate
your salary, try to make your slavery a bit easier.

Vlad

    > Actually, there is nothing odd about it. Credential Evaluations are
    > usually done by specialized evaluation companies who do nothing but
    > certify the equivalence of foreign and US degrees for either immigration
    > or university purposes.

    > These companies of course charge a fee, anything up to around $200 or so
    > is reasonable, and I wouldn't balk at $300, either. Some attorneys have
    > close relationships with such companies and are sometimes located in the
    > same building. If not, there would be a mailing delay. The evaluation
    > itself will also take a few days. So these two weeks sound entirely
    > reasonable.

    > So, yes, this is entirely normal.

    > On Tue, 22 Apr 2003 19:46:16 +0000, snoble wrote:

    >>
    >> Thanks, I thought it was a bit odd. He also claims the evaluation will
    >> cost my company more money. Is this true?
    >>
    >> Originally posted by Vicky88
    >>> When he is talking about the transcript of your course, he will simply
    >>> need a copy of your results listing the subjects completed and grade.
    >>> That is all they required when my husband applied. The results
    >>> transcript will prove to them that it is a bona fide course,
    >>> equivalent for US purposes.
    >> When he talks about 2 weeks to evaluate your degree would be
    >> interested to know who is going to evaluate it. Sounds to me like he
    >> wants 2 weeks to prepare your application and might be using that as
    >> an excuse.
    >>
    >> --
    >> Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Thorsten

snoble wrote:

    > He tells me that before he can apply for the visa he needs to provide
    > evidence that my UK degree is equivalent to a US degree. I have a BSc
    > in Computer Studies, and he tells me he needs not only a copy of my
    > diploma but also a transcript of my course. But we don't have such
    > things in the UK, so what do I need to do?

As others have pointed out, this situation is not uncommon at all. I had
to deal with pretty much the same issues with my German alma mater a few
years ago. What I did was basically create my own transcripts, i.e., I
listed all the courses I had taken, the grades which I received for each
course, and had that document signed and stamped by my old department's
office. Worked like a charm.

Good luck,
Thorsten

snoble

Well, all problems are solved. I had my folks fax me a copy of my degree certificate and the results sheet from each year. Now I just have to wait and see.

Ingo Pakleppa

On Wed, 23 Apr 2003 22:17:41 +0000, Thorsten wrote:

    > snoble wrote:
    >
    >> He tells me that before he can apply for the visa he needs to provide
    >> evidence that my UK degree is equivalent to a US degree. I have a BSc
    >> in Computer Studies, and he tells me he needs not only a copy of my
    >> diploma but also a transcript of my course. But we don't have such
    >> things in the UK, so what do I need to do?
    >
    > As others have pointed out, this situation is not uncommon at all. I had
    > to deal with pretty much the same issues with my German alma mater a few
    > years ago. What I did was basically create my own transcripts, i.e., I
    > listed all the courses I had taken, the grades which I received for each
    > course, and had that document signed and stamped by my old department's
    > office. Worked like a charm.
    >
    > Good luck,
    > Thorsten

Strange. I had no problem with a transcripts from my German alma mater
(Technische Universitaet Berlin). I simply used the Diplomzeugnis. When
graduating, I got two documents. One was the diploma - the document you
can frame and hang on your wall if you like. The other was the Zeugnis
that lists all the courses you took and their grades. That's basically all
a transcript is, so I used it.

Thorsten

Ingo Pakleppa wrote:
    > On Wed, 23 Apr 2003 22:17:41 +0000, Thorsten wrote:

    >> I had
    >>to deal with pretty much the same issues with my German alma mater a few
    >>years ago. What I did was basically create my own transcripts, i.e., I
    >>listed all the courses I had taken, the grades which I received for each
    >>course, and had that document signed and stamped by my old department's
    >>office. Worked like a charm.

    > Strange. I had no problem with a transcripts from my German alma mater
    > (Technische Universitaet Berlin). I simply used the Diplomzeugnis. When
    > graduating, I got two documents. One was the diploma - the document you
    > can frame and hang on your wall if you like. The other was the Zeugnis
    > that lists all the courses you took and their grades. That's basically all
    > a transcript is, so I used it.

Mine (from Otto von Guericke U in Magdeburg) did not list _all_ the
courses, just "major" fields of study (e.g., math, electronics, etc.)
that were each concluded with a big-ass exam. This evaluation agency
insisted on a list of all courses, labs, etc., many of which were only
graded as pass/fail ("Schein") and were not individually listed on the
final "Zeugnis". They allegedly needed that to determine how many credit
hours I had taken. Perhaps your situation was different, because TU
Berlin has been a well-known institution for quite some time and its
degrees are easily accepted in the U.S., whereas my alma mater was stuck
behind the Iron Curtain for 40 years and thus much less known in the West.

Thorsten