H-1B Petition with Bachelor’s Degree and Pending Master’s Degree

Do you know why questions related to H-1B Visa petition pose so many problems?

This is because every person have unique and, at times, strange situation. Here is one such example:

Question: Hi! I’m in a strange situation. I’m currently working on my post completion OPT (expires on October 2009) in a very good and established company.

My employer filed an H-1B for me under bachelor’s degree, regular processing. But the main problem is, I haven’t graduated ’till now, as my master’s degree Thesis is undone.

So now, I don’t know whether there will be any problems with my H-1B. My employer has no problem with the degree. I’m worried though, whether any query from USCIS will be made regarding my master’s degree.

H-1B Petition with Bachelor’s Degree

Usually, companies do submit their H-1B visa petitions using the applicants’ bachelor’s degrees when the master’s degrees are pending.

Some attorneys do apply under the Advanced Degree Cap while most of the coursework is complete and only student’s thesis is pending.

Since your H-1B petition is submitted using your bachelor’s degree, so there shouldn’t be any problem in USCIS approving the petition.

If all the required documents were submitted and the USCIS doesn’t red-flag any documents, company and projects, your approval should push through.

However, there can be so many other factors that USCIS will take into account regarding your approval. Just basing on your comment above, you will not get any query.

If your immigration attorney has said that you are in the process of completing your master’s degree in your application, that adds value and strength to your petition.

At the end of the day, if you still remain unsure, you should talk your attorney and clarify your situation.