每年H-1B的补件通知中，“职业专业性(Specialty Occupation)”是移民局给出的最常见补件理由。当移民官发现现有的资料无法直接判断这个职业是否满足专业性的要求，便会要求申请人补充更多支持文件来证明职业专业性。
由于“职业专业性”没有特定的说明标准，移民局通常参考美国劳工统计局提供的职业展望手册(Occupational Outlook Handbook，简称OOH）里的职业分类来判断H-1B申请是否满足职业专业性要求。职业展望手册(OOH)，是美国劳工统计局(Bureau of Labor Statistics, BLS)提供的职业指南。手册中提供了广泛的就业信息，对于每个职业描述了所要求的职责，所需的培训和教育，以及预期的收入和工作前景。
OOH能否作为衡量标准？
美国劳工统计局(BLS)接到了多起来自雇主、申请人或是律师的针对H-1B签证的请求，要求BLS为某一特定职业的专业性提供更清晰的声明。BLS认为，尽管多年来美国移民局一直将OOH作为判断H-1B职业专业性的标准，但该做法是对OOH的误用，并不提倡。
BLS表示，OOH中提供的职业描述为十年间在全美范围内的统计，地区差异和短期内的劳动市场波动在手册中不做讨论。OOH仅提供了每个职业的综合性信息，不能反映特定机构和地区的工作情况。因此，OOH不适用于任何法律目的，例如商定工薪和工时，代表员工权益等。
美国劳工统计局在2017年10月发表的免责申明中指出：
"BLS has no role in establishing educational, licensing, or practicing standards for any occupation; any such standards are established by national accrediting organizations and are merely reported by BLS in the OOH. The education information in the OOH presents the typical requirements for entry into the given occupation and does not describe the education and training of those individuals already employed in the occupation...Therefore, the information in the OOH should not be used to determine if an applicant is qualified to enter a specific job in an occupation."
如上述声明中描述，任何职业培训标准、执照要求及执业标准应由国家认证组织建立，仅由BLS在OOH中进行报告。OOH仅提出了进入特定职业的一般性要求，该要求会应时间的变化而改变，且存在着雇主和地区的差异。因此，OOH仅为职业发展的一个参考，不应使用OOH中的信息来衡量申请人是否有资格进入特定职业。
职业专业性到底如何证明？
实际上，对于H-1B职业专业性的一般性要求，美国移民局官网对“职业是否满足专业性要求”和“受益人是否满足专业性职业要求”分别做出了清晰定义。
对于职业是否满足专业性要求，可通过以下四项之一证明：
学士或更高学位为该职业的入门要求：Bachelor’s or higher degree or its equivalent is normally the minimum entry requirement for the position；
该职业的学位要求为行业内通用标准：The degree requirement for the job is common to the industry or the job is so complex or unique that it can be performed only by an individual with a degree；
雇主通常对该职业的学位要求：The employer normally requires a degree or its equivalent for the position；
具体工作职责的专业性和复杂性，所需的知识能力通常需满足学士或更高学位：The nature of the specific duties is so specialized and complex that the knowledge required to perform the duties is usually associated with the attainment of a bachelor’s or higher degree。
雇员为满足相应的职业专业性，则需符合以下四项之一：
已获得满足职业要求的美国学士学位或更高学历：Have completed a U.S. bachelor’s or higher degree required by the specific specialty occupation from an accredited college or university；
拥有与美国学位相当的外国学位：Hold a foreign degree that is the equivalent to a U.S. bachelor’s or higher degree in the specialty occupation；
持有无地域限制的执照，注册或证明，具备相应专业工作的资质：Hold an unrestricted state license, registration, or certification which authorizes you to fully practice the specialty occupation and be engaged in that specialty in the state of intended employment；
具有相应的教育背景、培训经历或工作经验，可等同于相应学位要求或满足该职业专业要求：Have education, training, or progressively responsible experience in the specialty that is equivalent to the completion of such a degree, and have recognition of expertise in the specialty through progressively responsible positions directly related to the specialty。
移民官在实际案件的审理过程中，通常会存在对于学历要求“过度关注”的情况，OOH对相应职业的学历要求也常在移民局补件要求中作为标准被引用。而根据上述移民局官方说明，职业专业性并不局限于这一单一标准，而是根据自身实际情况针对可满足条件做细致说明即可，说明方式也可以是多种多样的。
（移民局引用OOH质疑Public Relations Specialist 职业专业性）
（移民局引用OOH质疑Market Research Analyst 职业专业性）
虽然OOH不能被作为判断标准，但其仍然是重要的参考资料，可以考虑补充其他相关文件来证明职业专业性，如：专家意见书（Exper Opinion Letter）、雇主证明信、公司产品及服务的详细介绍、同行业招聘广告等。
网络上有关H-1B的介绍越来越多，其中很多只停留于对文件和流程的介绍，因此给大家留下了H-1B申请并不难、流程很程序化的概念。但实际上，正如本文所介绍的，申请背后对于职业专业性等的论证说明，才是极具个性化的申请重点和难点，也是最需要律师的专业能力和实践经验来支持的。
新一年的H-1B申请季在即，欢迎点击右下角聊天窗口留言告诉我们您感兴趣的话题，或点击此处与专业律师预约咨询。
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