Has anyone experience with a BA degree earned in distance learning and applying for a work visa in the US? I am planning on getting a BA from Excelsior College. They are accredited by a regional institution (so that seems to be fine), but I still want to make sure, that I dont spend time and money doing all this and Immigration later on tells me 'sorry, but this is not accepted by us'.... I contacted the INS already but all they said is: 'If it's accredited it's fine...we can tell you more once you've submitted your paperwork!' Thanks for the help!! So if someone has done this or has any kind of input, I would be grateful to hear about it.... Thank you!
> Has anyone experience with a BA degree earned in distance > learning and applying for a work visa in the US? No, but my colleagues and I have had quite a bit of experience submitting degrees to US Immigration. All they ask for is the diploma. There's nothing on a diploma to indicate whether the degree was earned by distance learning or not. > I am planning on getting a BA from Excelsior College. They > are accredited by a regional institution (so that seems to be > fine) Yes, the degree's being from Excelsior College will be fine. The only thing you have to make sure is that your major is relevant to your job. You might want to go to an immigration forum and ask for people who got H1-B visas for similar jobs and ask what they majored in.
What an organization usually does is verify the name of your school against an accredited list of schools usually published annually. If your school is not listed, you may have a problem. Excelsior is fine because it is regionally accredited. Do not allow the talk of DL education being accepted or not in the work place discourage you. Although I earned all my current degrees from campus based program I can tell you that where you earned your degree is irrelevant as long as it is accredited and the market place demands your degree. Those who criticize DL education are probably not aware that DL education is the hall market of medicine. DL trains many medical providers daily. Medicine is being practiced via distance method called telemedicine. The medium by which education is delivered is irrelevant as long as you the holder of the diploma performs in the work place. When I was recently stationed in a remote part of Arizona, my wife earned most of her college credits through DL via video link. All of her credits were accepted by a Maryland College when we transferred and she graduated this past May and has taken and passed her Nursing board exam. Distance learning is well accepted and is here to stay.
Oko, May I ask, are you from Nigeria? I know that my question has nothing to do with DL and I hope that you would't mind. Ike Okonkwo
INS requires only that the degree be a degree, and that it have a reasonable nexus to your qualifications for employment as a nonimmigrant alien in a specialty occupation. Mode of delivery is completely irrelevant. Trend is to pursue a quick & dirty master's degree as a "work-around" for a particular restriction which would otherwise limit the ability of an "H-1B Dependent Employer" to hire you without first taking affirmative steps to recruit U.S. workers. See 8 CFR 214 for the very long, drawn-out-in-government-legalese explanation at the Government Printing Office site. PM me if you have a specific question in this regard that you just can't seem to run down an answer for. (Disclaimer to keep my employer happy: The views reflected in this message are my own, and do not represent the official policy or opinion of the government. )
Major of Degree for H-1-B I think if I have a BA in Business, it's pretty flexible in the job I would like to apply and have the H-1-B for....what do you guys think? Monika
Hey, me too! Nah, not really (but I get e-mail from there all the time and I have been to Ethiopia, Egypt, Eritrea, and Kenya -- does that count?). I just like to join clubs. As for this thread, I'm not sure a business degree will work. Would that be specialized enough that they would grant a visa? Tom Nixon
