Accountants and Auditors Sample Cases from our office

We assisted petitioner, a public accounting firm, in filing an H-1B petition for beneficiary for the position of staff accountant. We received an RFE requesting additional evidence that the position qualified as a specialty occupation by satisfying at least one of the four qualifying criteria for a specialty occupation.  In our lengthy response, we argued that the job duties, as detailed in the petition, and as compared with OOH’s job description for staff accountant not only comports with but goes beyond OOH guidance in its uniqueness and complexity.  We were able to show that although the employee's qualifying degree was not specifically in accounting, it was in an equivalent field with a shared body of specialized knowledge. The petition was approved shortly after filing the response.

Status: We were able to show that although the employee's qualifying degree was not specifically in accounting, it was in an equivalent field with a shared body of specialized knowledge. The petition was approved shortly after filing the response.

A recruiting firm for accountants retained our services to file an H-1B petition for a recruiter. Typically, it is difficult to justify that the position of a recruiter qualifies as an H-1B level occupation. Our petition to USCIS argued, however, that even though recruiters do not generally qualify as a specialty level occupation, the present case is different because the beneficiary will be hired as an International Accounting/Finance Recruiter. Accordingly, since the job duties of such a position are sufficiently complex to require knowledge of accounting, taxation, audit etc., the position requires the incumbent to possess at least a bachelor’s degree in the relevant field.   Consequently, USCIS issued an RFE raising the issue of specialty occupation. We responded by providing the beneficiary’s expanded job description and detailed project description, the employer’s past hiring practices and other supporting evidence.  This case was approved.

We were recently retained by an employer whose employee fell out of status due to an omissions by the former counsel. Prior to the employee’s H1B expiration date, the employer tried to file an H1B extension. The employer’s former Counsel utilized an obsolete and inappropriate wage source when filing the LCA. This wage amount was also not representative of what the employee was earning. As a result, the employer had to withdraw the LCA. This circumstance resulted in an untimely filing of the employer’s H1B application and the employee’s status expiring due to no fault of his own. Nonetheless, we were able to obtain H1B approval for the employee in six business days.  The approval was given nunc pro tunc.