sustained EB-1A Case: Finance

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
MATTER OF J-M-C-&Co. 
Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
DATE: JUNE 25, 2019 
APPEAL OF NEBRASKA SERVICE CENTER DECISION 
PETITION: FORM I-140, IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR ALIEN WORKER 
The Petitioner, a global financial services firm, seeks classification of the Beneficiary as an individual 
of extraordinary ability. See Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act) section 203(b)(l)(A), 8 U.S.C. 
§ ll 53(b )(1 )(A). This first preference classification makes immigrant visas available to those who 
can demonstrate their extraordinary ability through sustained national or international acclaim and 
whose achievements have been recognized in their field through extensive documentation. 
The Director of the Nebraska Service Center denied the Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien 
Worker, concluding that the Petitioner had shown that the Beneficiary met only two of the ten initial 
evidentiary criteria, of which he must meet at least three. 
On appeal, the Petitioner submits additional evidence and contends that the Beneficiary qualifies as 
an individual of extraordinary ability. 
Upon de nova review, we will sustain the appeal. 
I. LAW 
Section 203(b )(1 )(A) of the Act makes visas available to immigrants with extraordinary ability if: 
(i) the alien has extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or 
athletics which has been demonstrated by sustained national or international 
acclaim and whose achievements have been recognized in the field through 
extensive documentation, 
(ii) the alien seeks to enter the United States to continue work m the area of 
extraordinary ability, and 
(iii) the alien's entry into the United States will substantially benefit prospectively the 
United States. 
Matter of J-M-C-&Co. 
The term "extraordinary ability" refers only to those individuals in "that small percentage who have 
risen to the very top of the field of endeavor." 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(h)(2). The implementing regulation 
at 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(h)(3) sets forth two options for satisfying this classification's initial evidence 
requirements. First, a petitioner can demonstrate that the beneficiary has a one-time achievement (that 
is a major, internationally recognized award). Alternatively, the petitioner must provide 
documentation showing that the beneficiary meets at least three of the ten categories of evidence listed 
at 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(h)(3)(i)-(x) (including items such as awards, memberships, and published material 
in certain media). 
Where a beneficiary meets these initial evidence requirements, we then consider the totality of the 
material provided in a final merits determination and assess whether the record shows sustained 
national or international acclaim and demonstrates that the individual is among the small percentage 
at the very top of the field of endeavor. See Kazarian v. USCIS, 596 F.3d 1115 (9th Cir. 2010) 
( discussing a two-part review where the documentation is first counted and then, if fulfilling the 
required number of criteria, considered in the context of a final merits determination); see also 
Visinscaia v. Beers, 4 F. Supp. 3d 126, 131-32 (D.D.C. 2013); Rijal v. USCIS, 772 F. Supp. 2d 1339 
(W.D. Wash. 2011). This two-step analysis is consistent with our holding that the "truth is to be 
determined not by the quantity of evidence alone but by its quality," as well as the principle that we 
examine "each piece of evidence for relevance, probative value, and credibility, both individually and 
within the context of the totality of the evidence, to determine whether the fact to be proven is probably 
true." Matter of Chawathe, 25 I&N Dec. 369, 376 (AAO 2010). 
II. ANALYSIS 
The Petitioner is a global financial services firm. As the Petitioner has not established that the 
Beneficiary has received a major, internationally recognized award, he must satisfy at least three of 
the ten criteria at 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(h)(3)(i)-(x). 
A. Evidentiary Criteria 
In denying the petition, the Director found that the Beneficiary met the criteria for the authorship of 
scholarly articles under 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(h)(3)(vi) and high salary under 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(h)(3)(ix) 
but not for awards, membership, published material, judging, original contributions of major 
significance, and leading or critical role under 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(h)(3)(i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), and (viii), 
respectively. On appeal, after conceding the point on the membership criterion, the Petitioner asserts 
that the Beneficiary meets these other criteria. 
Here, we agree with the Director that the Beneficiary meets the criteria for scholarly articles and high 
salary based on the evidence submitted showing his authorship of scholarly articles in the field of 
quantitative finance and his high salary in relation to others in his field. However, we disagree with 
the Director's conclusion regarding the leading or critical role criterion. We find that the record 
establishes that he meets this criterion for his role as a senior member of the Petitioner's prime services 
business, which generates significant income for the company, and as a member of the I I I I I the Petitioner's managing director ofl equit] finance, states in his letter 
that "[the Beneficiary] is currently an Executive Director within the Services business ... [and] 
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Matter of J-M-C-&Co. 
a senior member of the highly regarded and pivotal~-------~ formed from among a large 
pool of quantitative financial analysts at [the Petitioner's organization]." He states, "[t]hel I 
I lis a critical division ... and includes only the most accomplished senior executives 
with diverse quantitative backgrounds," noting that "[t]he people in this group are all mavens in their 
respective fields and together, they play a key role in managing the risk and profitability of thel I 
brokerage business." In a letter froml I the Petitioner's managing director ofl I 
brokerage, he states that the Beneficiary led the company in responding to new guidelines for capital 
requirements that were issued in 2013 following the credit crisis of 2008. I lnotes that the 
Beneficiary devised strategies to address the impacts of the guidelines on the company's businesses, 
optimized the use of capital, and repriced its client business, which resulted in an increase in market 
share and profitability over a five year period of his leadership. I O lalso indicates that "[the 
Beneficiary] is continuously tasked with business critical decision making that often form the basis of 
multibillion dollar transactions." When viewed together, the Beneficiary's senior executive position 
in thd.._ _______ ___.L the significant results he obtained leading the company through the new 
capital requirement guidelines in 2013, and his high level decision making establishes that he performs 
a leading or critical role for the Petitioner's organization, which the record demonstrates has a 
distinguished reputation. Accordingly, the Beneficiary meets three of the ten criteria listed at 8 C.F.R. 
§ 204.5(h)(3). We will evaluate the totality of his documentary evidence in the context of the final 
merits determination below. 
B. Final Merits Determination 
As the Petitioner has submitted the reqms1te initial evidence, we will evaluate whether it has 
demonstrated, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the Beneficiary has sustained national or 
international acclaim and is one of the small percentage at the very top of the field of endeavor, and 
that his achievements have been recognized in the field through extensive documentation. See section 
203(b)(l)(A)(i) of the Act; 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(h)(2)-(3); see also Kazarian, 596 F.3d at 1119-20. In this 
matter, we conclude that the Petitioner has established the Beneficiary's eligibility for this 
classification. 
The record reflects that the Beneficiary earned his bachelor's degree from thel !institute of 
TechnologyC::Jin 2002, his master of business administration degree from the University of~I -~ 
in 2005, and his master's degree in finance from I I University in 2006. The Beneficiary began 
his employment for the Petitioner in 2008, and in 2012, he joined its I !division where 
he now serves as an executive director. As mentioned above, he has authored scholarly articles, 
performed in a leading or critical role for an organization with a distinguished reputation, and has 
commanded a high salary in relation to others in his field. 
The Petitioner submitted evidence of several Institutional Investor awards, which demonstrates that 
the Beneficiary and his research team received the top rankings among I I teams inl 2010, I 
2011, and 2012, 1 among other awards. I l a professor of finance at the University of 
a~ !discusses these awards and states that "Institutional Investor is one of the world's foremost 
financial publications," noting that "[i]t is widely read and highly regarded by industry leaders and 
insiders and its awards and rankings are considered important and prestigious." I I the 
1 These first place awards are designated as being second team awards in 2010 and 2011 and a first team award in 2012. 
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Matter of J-M-C-&Co. 
Petitioner's executive director of global L I services, states that the Beneficiary "has 
been greatly instrumental in leading bo'-~--r--_____ __,_,,I and the I I business to the 
pinnacle of success." He subsequently noted that the publications the Beneficiary oversaw that were 
disseminated to thousands of clients played a significant role in the company receiving the first place 
ranking in thel !Strategies category within the Institutional Investor awards for 2012. 
This evidence, together with the documentation discussed further below, is indicative of the 
Beneficiary's acclaim and recognition in the field. 2 
In discussing the evidence of the Beneficiary's original contributions, the Petitioner cites his 
publications and presentations, noting the specific details contained in the letters in the record. In a 
letter froml I an associate director in the global markets division at he 
discusses one of the publications in particular authored by the Beneficiary and his team entitled, ~-~ 
I I and states that "[t]his was a oioneer~ng study of its time as no strategist 
had analyzed I l in that much detail before."ll notes that this was published on 
websites for the I O ]Board of Options Exchange, the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, 
and Reuters. He adds, "[i]n the subsequent few monthsJ ldid decline sharply as predicted 
by [the Beneficiary and his team] and led to a massive re-pricing of risk assets globally." He then 
concludes, "[a]s a L I on Wall Street, I was massively impressed by this breakthrough 
research, the depth of the analysis performed and the quality and accuracy of ~he Beneficiary's] 
recommendations." With respect to the Beneficiary's presentations, I J states that "[the 
Beneficiary] has been a key speaker on several panel discussions held by [the Petitioner] in cities such 
as I I for a number of years." He indicates, "[the Benefi~iary'sl I 
~ntations have not only educated and enhanced the knowledge of key personnel at majo 
L_J and I I companies they have also left a vivid impact on attendees and deeply influenced 
thought leadership in the financial services industry." This demonstrates that the Beneficiary's 
original contributions have been recognized by the field. 
The Petitioner has also provided additional evidence of the Beneficiary's scholarly articles in his field 
o~~-----~~hat the Petitioner ublishes within its I I publications that reaches 
its clients and investors in the field. the director and th E e head of financial 
resources group in the~-----~division at Bank of America in states in his letter, 
"One such area in which [the Beneficiary] has made great inroads is ... " He 
indicates, "[the BeneficiaryJ has pullished numerous such I I ideas and structured I I 
I Ion the basis of these many of which have been widely followed and read, and several 
have been talked about in the media." In addition, the record contains a letter froml I 
the Petitioner's U.S. head of equity I I sales and execution, attesting to the 
Beneficiary's authorship of scholarly articles that were "distributed to thousands of individuals at 
thousands of institutional clients globally, and were followed closely by the investor community." D 
~------ head of asset allocation and risk management atl ~ also 
adds that the Beneficiary "brings a wealth of knowledge to the financial industry and is excellent at 
disseminating his well-formed ideas and opinions to market participants and the general public." This 
2 See USCIS Policy Memorandum PM-602-0005 .1, Evaluation of Evidence Submitted with Certain Form 1-140 Petitions; 
Revisions to the Adjudicator's Field Manual (AFM) Chapter 22.2, AFM Update ADJ 1-14 13 (Dec. 22, 2010), 
https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Laws/Memoranda/i- l 40-evidence-pm-6002-005- l .pdf. 
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Matter of J-M-C-&Co. 
further establishes that the Beneficiary has sustained national or international acclaim and that his 
achievements have been recognized in the field of expertise. 
As discussed above, the evidence pertaining to the Beneficiary's leading or critical roles reflects that 
he has served as a senior member of the Petitioner'sLJservices business and thd d 
17that the record establishes is a key division of only the most expert senior executives. 
c==]indicates that "[the Beneficiary] is responsible for negotiating key commercial terms in 
various legal agreements that govern the attribute! of larr hundreds of millions of dollars of bilateral 
financing transactions between the bank and its fund customers." I I states that the 
Beneficiary routinely makes critical decisions, many of which "often form the basis of multibillion 
dollar transactions." He further adds that the Beneficiary "is a key contributor in driving new business 
whether organically or through origination." Each of these aspects of the Beneficiary's roles within 
the Petitioner's organization demonstrate that his achievements are commensurate with this 
classification. 
Finally, the record contains evidence of the Beneficiary's high salary, which includes his annual 
compensation summaries from the Petitioner for 2001 through 2017, his W-2 forms and pay 
statements, including documentation from the U.S. Department of Labor and salary surveys from 
www.salary.com. This evidence demonstrates that his earnings are at a level reflecting that he is one 
of the small percentage who has risen to the very top of the field. 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(h)(2). 
In the totality of the evidence, we conclude that the record sufficiently establishes that the Beneficiary 
has sustained national or international acclaim and that his achievements have been recognized in the 
field of expertise, indicating that he is one of that small percentage who has risen to the very top of 
the field of endeavor under 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(h)(2)-(3). 
III. CONCLUSION 
The Petitioner has shown that the Beneficiary meets at least three of the evidentiary criteria listed at 
8 C.F.R. § 204.5(h)(3)(i)-(x). The record also reflects that the Beneficiary has sustained national and 
international acclaim and that his achievements have been recognized through extensive 
documentation. He therefore qualifies for classification as an individual of extraordinary ability. 
In visa petition proceedings, it is the petitioner's burden to establish eligibility for the immigration 
benefit sought. Section 291 of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1361; Matter of Skirball Cultural Ctr., 25 I&N 
Dec. 799, 806 (AAO 2012). Here, that burden has been met. 
ORDER: The appeal is sustained. 
Cite as Matter of J-M-C-&Co., ID# 2990281 (AAO June 25, 2019) 
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