The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a Press Release recently containing additional guidance to certain employers who received a denial of Form I-129 (Petition for Non-Immigrant Worker) requesting H-1B classification for a beneficiary to practice in a health care specialty occupation before May 20, 2009.
If the H-1B visa petition was denied only on the basis that the beneficiary didn’t have a Master’s or higher degree in the field, then the petition may be reopened on service motion and will be processed according to the May 20, 2009 memorandum titled, “Requirements for H-1B Beneficiaries Seeking to Practice in a Health Care Occupation.“
The memorandum provides clarification on the requirements for H-1B health care specialty occupations. The USCIS will only review denials of H-1B visa petitions for which it has received a written request for review from the petitioning employer or the attorney of record.
The USCIS asks that employers or their attorneys of record whose petitions were denied on this basis send an e-mail to the Service Center (Vermont or California) that issued the denial of Form I-129 to request review of the denial.
Employers and attorneys of record should type, “PT/OT Service Motion Request” in the subject line of the e-mail, and the USCIS will accept the e-mails until August 14, 2009.
In light of this recently issued guidance, the USCIS is allowing employers and their attorneys to initiate Service Motions to Reopen upon receipt of an e-mail request instead of requiring petitioners to file Form I-290B (Notice of Appeal or Motion) and paying the appropriate fee.
