Major victory for H-1B employers; market research analyst recognised as speciality occupation

The settlement authorised by the federal district court in the Northern District of California now allows businesses to seek that USCIS reopen and re-adjudicate their failed H-1B petitions.   

A federal court has accepted a settlement in which the US Citizenship and Immigration Services has agreed to qualify market research analysts as speciality employment to determine a foreign professional's H-1B visa application. This is a significant victory for H-1B companies.  The USCIS determined that market research analysts did not qualify as a "speciality occupation" based on its past reading of the Occupational Outlook Handbook, a Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics publication that profiles hundreds of jobs in the US employment market.

The settlement authorised by the federal district court in the Northern District of California now allows businesses to seek that USCIS reopen and re-adjudicate their failed H-1B petitions. 
"This is a significant win for hundreds of American firms and the market research analysts they sought to hire," said Leslie K Dellon, senior counsel (business immigration) of the American Immigration Council.

The counsel said the settlement provides US firms with a second chance to have their H-1B market research analyst applications granted, this time under new guidelines devised by the lawsuit's parties. She added each reopened and granted H-1B petition represents another chance for US firms and the individuals they sponsor to accomplish their business goals.
The American Immigration Lawyers Association and the law firms Van Der Hout LLP, Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP, and Kuck Baxter Immigration LLC filed a class-action lawsuit in this regard.

According to Jeff Joseph, partner at Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP, this deal settles an issue that immigration attorneys have been battling the government over for years. 
"This settlement strikes the right balance between what the regulations say and how employers evaluate a candidate's professional qualifications in the real world," he said. "It is our sincere hope that USCIS will now interpret other speciality occupations from a perspective that is consistent with what occurs in the free market."