An H-1B worker from China called to inform me that USCIS has denied his company’s Form I-140 immigrant visa petition to downgrade from his approved Form I-140 petition and also revoked the company’s first I-140 EB-2 petition on his behalf. USCIS claimed that he did not have the requisite education, among other things. His current H-1B status will be valid until 2019. This situation must be evaluated under the high skilled worker rule published in January 2017 regarding the retention of priority dates and validity of I-140s later revoked. In this case, if the Chinese H-1B’s I-140 remains valid for H-1B extension purposes, then he can restart the PERM labor certification process, possibly retain the priority date, and not worry about extending his H-1B status again until his priority date becomes current.
