dh010447

In USCIS's eyes, a bachelors degree + 5 years continues work experience in the field is the equivalent of a masters / advanced degree, for EB2 purposes.

So, my question - does this work the other way?

If my employer required me to have a bachelors degree and 5 years experience (but not a masters degree) would that be enough for me to apply for a greencard through the EB2 route?

Probably not, just wondered what thoughts you guys might have...

Folinskyinla

Hi:

You made a slight typo in your question. So, let me correct it. Your question was with correction in bold:

In USCIS's eyes, a bachelors degree + 5 years continues work experience in the field is not the equivalent of a masters / advanced degree, for EB2 purposes.

So, my question - does this work the other way?

If my employer required me to have a bachelors degree and 5 years experience (but not a masters degree) would that be enough for me to apply for a greencard through the EB2 route?

So, the answer is that neither way would be sufficient. Now, if the employer requires a master's degree, but will accept as equivalent a bachelor's plus 5 years of progressively more responsible experience -- that might work.

Good luck.

dh010447

I thought that EB2 required either a Masters degree or a bachelors degree + 5 years? Perhaps I read it wrong. Anyway - it was a long-shot.

Looks like I'll have to aim to get promoted and go through EB1c if I want to stay here...

dave2702

It appears to be that it's the job requirements that governs the EB class you can go for. I have a Masters but because my job only requires a degree then I have to go for the EB3

Folinskyinla

Hi:

Thank you for pointing out the perils of on-line questions. Lets say that you did meet the alien qualification requirements of the EB-2 and this was confirmed in this forum -- many people would have taken this as a statement that you could get an EB-2 visa based upon your current job. However, as you ably point out, the second conclusion would not have been true due to the fact that you left out a salient fact.

I bring this up because of a discussion in the marriage forum of somebody who says he got advice from two attorneys. As described, the advice is wrong and one lay-poster said the attorneys are "idiots." I pointed out that there may very well be circumstances just as what happened here.

Good luck in your quest.

annieslp

OMG! I have been having this EB2 EB3 battle with 2 different attorneys for the last year! (

I am in a Master's profession (US Speech Pathologists must have Master's Degree). In the UK a Speech Therapist is qualified with a Bachelor's...

8 years ago there was a mutual recognition agreement between the professional bodies, the American Speech & Hearing Association (ASHA) and the Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists (RCSLT) determined that qualification was largely equivocal. This allowed for Therapists from both sides of the pond to practice in each other's country.

I have been granted a License to practice (US SLP requirement ... Master's)
I have been granted Visa Screen Document (requirement.... Master's)
I have passed the final exam (PRAXIS II) taken at the end of a Master's
I have been awarded a Certificate of Clinical Competance (CCCs) which is only awarded to American SLPs who are Master's qualified AND have completed one year clinical fellowship
I could supervise a Master's student...in her final clinical year... (Only Master's qualified clinicians with CCCs and 2 years experience can do this)

Two Attorney's have told me that I am EB3....because I only have a Bachelor's!


Am I frustrated?.....yeah!

ian-mstm

While I may be stating the obvious here, the US government is not obligated to recognize any such agreement for *immigration* purposes.


Unless you secretly have a Master's degree that you're not mentioning, you *do* only have a Bachelor's degree. The fact that you are allowed to practice by virtue of this "mutual recognition agreement" and that you have "equivalent" qualifications, does not equate to you having a Master's degree.

In Canada, for example, when a person gets a law degree, it's an LLB - a Bachelor of Laws. In the US, that same person would get a JD - a Juris Doctor. One is a Bachelor's degree, the other is a Doctorate. Are they equivalent? For practice... yes - but that's where the similarity ends.

I have a B.Ed - in Canada, the Bachelor of Education is a full 36 hour post-Bachelor graduate degree (at least, it was when I graduated 25 years ago). In the US, the full 36 hour post-Bachelor graduate degree in Education is an MAT - a Master of Arts in Teaching. I couldn't get the job I wanted as a teacher in the US - because the position required a Master's degree. All they saw was that I had a B.Ed and, come hell or high water, they refused to accept that the degrees were equivalent.

I went back to school and got a Master's degree. I suggest you do the same.

Ian

annieslp

So what happened to the Bachelors + 5 years (allowing for EB2 filing)? I did forget to mention that I have been practicing for over 5 years.

ian-mstm

Take a look at Mr. Folinsky's first post in this thread. He correctly identifies the problem with the B+5 theory.

Ian