remanded EB-1C Case: Software Services

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
In Re: 5608851 
Appeal of Nebraska Service Center Decision 
Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
Date : OCT. 14, 2020 
Form 1-140, Immigrant Petition for Multinational Managers or Executives 
The Petitioner, a software services company, seeks to permanently employ the Beneficiary as its 
"President & Chief Executive Officer" under the first preference immigrant classification for 
multinational executives or managers. Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act) 
section 203(b)(l)(C), 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(l)(C). 
The Director of the Nebraska Service Center denied the petition, concluding that the record did not 
establish the existence of an employer-employee relationship between the Beneficiary and the U.S. 
entity for which he would work. Specifically, the Director concluded that the Beneficiary's ownership 
interest as the sole owner of the U.S. entity, the lack of oversight from someone who would assign 
projects and could terminate the Beneficiary's employment, and the Beneficiary's complete control 
over the U.S . entity, precluded a true employer-employee relationship . The Petitioner then filed a 
timely appeal. 
While this appeal was pending, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a decision in 
ITServeAlliance, Inc. v. Cissna, 443 F. Supp. 3d 14 (D.D.C. 2020). Subsequently, U.S. Citizenship and 
Immigration Services (USCIS) rescinded previously issued policy guidance and directed its officers to 
apply the existing regulatory definition at 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4)(ii) to assess whether a petitioner and a 
beneficiary have an employer-employee relationship . USCIS Policy Memorandum PM-602-0114 , 
Rescission of Policy Memoranda at 2 (June 17, 2020), http://www.uscis.gov /legal-resources/ policy­
memoranda . 
While this immigrant visa petition does not rely on any interpretation of the specific regulation that 
was subject to review in ITServe, nevertheless there is a broader similarity between that case and this 
proceeding. In ITServe , the Court cited the lack of a regulatory justification for imposing what the 
court believed were new restrictions on the employer-employee relationship. The present case raises 
a similar general issue: the denial of a petition for the lack of an employer-employee relationship 
when the applicable regulations contain no specific standards to govern the question. We also 
recognize that USCIS has rescinded the policy memoranda that addressed the common law principles 
that the Director applied to the present matter. 
Accordingly, we will remand the matter for the Director to consider the petition anew and to adjudicate 
in the first instance any additional issues as may be necessary and appropriate. 
ORDER: The decision of the Director is withdrawn. The matter is remanded for farther 
proceedings consistent with the foregoing analysis and entry of a new decision. 
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