Verdict on H-1B opens door for market research analysts

The recent verdict on H-1B visas has opened doors for market research analysts whose visa applications had been previously rejected. The deadline to reopen a request for the role of market research analyst (MRA) as a ‘specialty occupation’ for the purposes of obtaining an H-1B visa is April 26, 2022.

The United States & Citizenship and Immigration Council (USCIS) issued guidelines complying with the settlement, noting that “class members whose eligible Form I-129 was denied may submit their Form I-290B (without fee) on or before April 26, 2022, to have their reopening request and, if eligibility is established, their underlying I-129 H-1B petition adjudicated per the terms of the settlement agreement.”

USCIS will make a decision on all eligible, timely-filed reopening requests within 90 days from the receipt of the physical file at the adjudicating office.

A plaintiff in the case, Jeff Joseph, partner at Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP, said, “The settlement would impact hundreds of applicants who had filed their respective requests and were denied an MRA position between January 1, 2019 and October 19, 2021”.

Charles Kuck, managing partner at Kuck Baxter Immigration LLC, told DH, “It is unfortunate that we had to bring USCIS to court to force it to correct its intentional misinterpretation of the law and its own regulation. It is good, however, that immigration council will correct its errors and proceed forward in compliance.”

Based on a prior interpretation, the USCIS had erroneously determined that market research analysts did not qualify as a ‘specialty occupation.’ A settlement agreement was approved by the district court of northern California rectifying the agency’s error on October 19, 2021.

“They (USCIS) lost these cases all around the country in individual lawsuits. So, when the class action was filed, they really had no choice but to settle and agree that they were wrong in the way they applied the law”, said Jonathan Wasden, immigration attorney at Wasden Banias LLC in Charleston, South Carolina.

He added that the decision will have ripple effects that go far beyond the MRAcode.

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