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IMMIGRATION MAY 15, 2026 | The Indian Eye 40

Navigating the Downgrade of the Indian

LL.B in Green Card Sponsorships for Lawyers

BY CYRUS D MEHTA AND DAMI- in employment-based second ed States,” while also noting, and argue that it should like- likely to apply the bachelor’s-
RA ZHANATOVA* preference (EB-2) cases for in the author comments, that wise cover law. However, given plus-five-years track laid out
foreign lawyers, particularly this credential “functions as a the current LLB wording, that in 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(k)(3)(i)(B).
ver the last few years, where earlier credential evalu- first professional degree in law is a weak argument today and That approach is consistent
many U.S. employ- ations had treated the LLB as in India”. The LLB degree can unlikely to be persuasive on its with the regulation’s text, but
Oers sponsoring Indi- JD-equivalent. This blog ex- be attained after three years own. The qualifiers “functions it requires petitioners to pay
an-trained lawyers for perma- plains what is happening, why or four years of college fol- as” and “in India” signal that close attention to how they
nent residence have begun USCIS is issuing RFEs, and lowed by three years of study EDGE is deliberately not say- document both education and
seeing a new kind of I-140 how careful framing of the job in a law college or the LLB is ing that the LLB is compara- experience.
Request for Evidence (RFE). requirements and the benefi- also attained after five years ble to a first professional law At the same time, re-
The problem is not usually ciary’s credentials can still lead of study in a law college after degree in the United States. sources like AACRAO
the lawyer’s experience, bar to I-140 approval. twelve years of high school. In the EB-2 context, the EDGE are not binding sourc-
admission, or the substantive The EDGE update mat- Both the three year and five- core legal standard is set out es of law. Officers are ought
need for foreign law exper- ters because USCIS officers year LLB degrees have been in the regulations at 8 C.F.R. to treat such tools as aids, but
tise. Instead, the RFE often often consult EDGE to eval- downgraded by EDGE as § 204.5(k). Under that provi- to base final determinations
focuses almost entirely on how uate foreign educational cre- being comparable to a bache- sion, an I-140 can be approved on the totality of the evidence
AACRAO EDGE now clas- dentials. In older cases, cre- lor’s degree in the US. RFEs for a “member of the profes- and the regulatory standards
sifies the Indian Bachelor of dential evaluations concluded have begun quoting only the sions holding an advanced in 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(k). Where
Laws (LLB) degree. that a three-year Indian LLB, “bachelor’s-degree-equiva- degree” if the beneficiary has a foreign degree is only at the
Sometime around 2022, earned after a prior bache- lent” language to argue that either an advanced degree (or bachelor’s level, adjudicators
EDGE updated its guidance lor’s degree, was equivalent to a beneficiary does not have a foreign equivalent) or a U.S. must examine whether the
to treat the Indian LLB as a U.S. JD. Now, the updated the equivalent of a U.S. JD or bachelor’s degree (or a for- record establishes at least five
comparable in level to a U.S. EDGE entry states that the “equivalent professional de- eign equivalent) followed by at years of progressive post-bac-
bachelor’s degree rather than Indian Bachelor of Laws “rep- gree” that the officer believes least five years of progressive calaureate experience in the
a U.S. first professional law resents attainment of a level the position requires, while post-baccalaureate experience specialty, rather than allowing
degree (JD). That shift has of education comparable to a ignoring the “first professional in the specialty. The regula- EDGE alone to determine the
created serious complications bachelor’s degree in the Unit- degree” function in the Indian tion explicitly recognizes that outcome.
legal system. a foreign degree equivalent In practice, effective re-
That EDGE lan- to a U.S. bachelor’s degree sponses to the Indian LLB-re-
guage places the Indian plus five years of progressive lated RFEs have emphasized
LLB in a very different experience can satisfy the “ad- several key points. One key
position than certain vanced degree” requirement, point is the distinction be-
other Indian profession- even if the foreign degree itself tween EDGE’s “level” de-
al degrees. For example, is not equivalent to a U.S. mas- scription and the LLB’s actual
EDGE’s entry for the ter’s or JD. professional function. Even
MBBS states: “The Bach- Agency guidance inter- if EDGE now describes the
elor of Medicine & Bach- preting 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(k) re- LLB as comparable to a U.S.
elor of Surgery represents iterates that where the foreign bachelor’s degree, the same
attainment of a level of education is found to be only entry acknowledges that it
education comparable to equivalent to a U.S. bachelor’s functions as a first profession-
a first professional degree degree, the petitioner may still al degree in law in India. Pe-
in medicine in the United satisfy the advanced-degree titioners substantiate this by
States.” In other words, standard by documenting at submitting evidence that the
for medicine EDGE is least five years of progressive LLB is the credential required
willing to say directly post-baccalaureate experience for enrollment as an advocate
that the foreign degree is in the specialty occupation. with an Indian bar council,
comparable to a U.S. first That guidance further explains and that without it, an individ-
professional degree. For that “progressive” experience ual cannot practice law in that
law, it stops short, say- must reflect increasing levels jurisdiction. Enrollment cer-
ing the LLB “represents of responsibility, complexity, tificates and bar-council doc-
attainment of a level of and judgment over time, rath- umentation demonstrate that
education comparable er than simply time served in the LLB is, in fact, the profes-
m of to a bachelor’s degree in an unchanging role. sional law qualification in the
This is where the EDGE
CYRUS D. MEHTA & PARTNERS PLLC the United States” and shift collides with long-stand- foreign system, not a generic
academic credential.
only that it “functions
as a first professional ing EB-2 standards. When Another key point is the

degree in law in India.” credential evaluators previ- importance of the certified
The situation for ously described the LLB as job requirements. Where the

  LLBs from India has re- JD-equivalent, many EB-2 labor certification permits an
   
­ mained unsettled as a re- filings for Indian-trained law- LLB or an “equivalent pro-
€
‚  
sult. One theoretical ap- yers were framed as if the fessional degree” among the
proach is to try to extend beneficiary already held a acceptable qualifications, US-
the “First Professional foreign professional law de- CIS’s role at the I-140 stage
is to determine whether the
gree at the U.S. graduate lev-
Degree” language that
EDGE applies to Indian el. With EDGE now labeling beneficiary possesses that for-
2 6th Floor

    credentials in fields like the LLB as bachelor’s-level, eign professional law degree
medicine and dentistry adjudicators are much more and any other DOL-certified
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