Upgrading your EB3 petition to EB2 - some additional thoughts

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We have published several articles on this site concerning upgrading from EB3 to EB2. We have also discussed minimum EB2 requirements, and the problems people have with three year bachelor's degree programs. In this article, we will deal with those individuals who have not been able to upgrade due to having completed three year bachelor's degree programs.

As previously explained in the articles linked in the first paragraph, the minimum requirement for EB2 classification is a job that requires an advanced degree (typically a master's degree or first professional degree, such as MD, JD, DPharm, etc.) and a beneficiary who holds that degree or its equivalent. The USCIS defines an equivalent of an advanced degree to be at least a four year bachelor's degree, followed by at least five years of relevant experience.

Many people who have bachelor's degrees and five years or more of experience find that they are not able to even be considered for EB2 classification because they hold bachelor's degrees from three year programs. Personally, I believe that the USCIS is highly vulnerable on this issue and will soon lose if/when it is tested in federal court. Until then, however, they control the right to approve petitions and until they are instructed otherwise by a federal judge, only their opinion counts.

There are remedies available, if you are willing to apply a bit of effort. There are fully accredited colleges and universities that will grant a student advanced standing based on their overseas studies. Most schools require at least 30 semester units completed with their institution to qualify for graduation. Still, it is worth looking into at least to determine what is necessary to get a four year degree.

Also, there are many schools that will accept the bachelor's degree at face value and allow the student to apply years of relevant experience in order to gain advanced standing in a graduate program. If someone obtains an advanced degree from an accredited US college or university, their undergraduate program is wholly irrelevant for EB2 purposes - only the advanced degree counts.

Right now (mid-January, 2011) our office is seeing approvals of PERMs we filed about three to five weeks ago. The PERM process these days involves almost three months of preparation before filing, but once filed, the applications are being adjudicated much more quickly. A few months ago, we were receiving approval for cases that had been pending for more than a year. Now, we are seeing cases coming back to us in just a few weeks.

f you would like to discuss this procedure, and having us represent you, please call us at 818-914-6482 and set up a convenient time to talk. We do not charge for talking to people about possible representation. Also, we never charge our clients for calls or e-mails once we begin representing them. If you are out client and something is worrying you, we want you to call us so that we can discuss it and help set your mind at ease.