dismissed EB-2 NIW Case: Unknown

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identifying data deleted to 
prevent clearly unwarr~nted 
invasion of persona~ pnvacy 
PUBLIC COpy 
DATE: fEB 1 5 2012 
INRE: Petitioner: 
Beneficiary: 
OFFICE: TEXAS SERVICE CENTER 
U.S. Department of Homeland Security 
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services 
Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) 
20 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., MS 2090 
Washington, DC 20529-2090 
U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
PETITION: Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker as a Member of the Professions Holding an Advanced 
Degree or an Alien of Exceptional Ability Pursuant to Section 203(b)(2) of the Immigration 
and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(2) 
ON BEHALF OF PETITIONER: 
SELF -REPRESENTED 
INSTRUCTIONS: 
Enclosed please find the decision of the Administrative Appeals Office in your case. All of the documents 
related to this matter have been returned to the office that originally decided your case. Please be advised that 
any further inquiry that you might have concerning your case must be made to that office. 
Thank you, 
PerryRhew 
Chief, Administrative Appeals Office 
www.uscis.gov 
DISCUSSION: The Director, Texas Service Center, denied the employment-based immigrant visa 
petition. The petitioner filed a motion to reopen the proceeding, and the director dismissed the motion. 
The matter is now before the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) on appeal. The AAO will reject 
the appeal as untimely filed and return the matter to the director for consideration as a motion to 
reopen and reconsider. 
In order to properly file an appeal, the regulation at 8 C.F.R. § 103.3(a)(2)(i) requires that the 
affected party or the attorney or representative of record must file the complete appeal within 30 
days of service of the unfavorable decision. If the decision was mailed, the petitioner must file the 
appeal within 33 days. See 8 C.F.R. § 103.5a(b). The date of filing is not the date of mailing, but 
the date of actual receipt. See 8 C.F.R. § 103.2(a)(7)(i). 
The record indicates that the service center director issued the decision on January 11, 2011. The 
service center director properly gave notice to the petitioner that it had 33 days to file the appeal. 
Neither the Act nor the pertinent regulations grant the AAO authority to extend this time limit. 
The petitioner signed and mailed the Form I-290B Notice of Appeal on February 10, 2011. On that 
form, the petitioner claimed an address in Rockville, Maryland. The mailing envelope, however, 
shows a return address with a Royal Mail postmark and postage 
paid in British pounds. serVIce center did not receive the appeal until February 28, 2011, or 48 
days after the director issued the decision. Accordingly, the appeal was untimely filed. 
The petitioner filed the appeal with an incorrect fee, the director having misstated the fee amount on 
the January 11, 2011 dismissal notice. The service center received the correct fee on March 11, 
2011. Even if the initial fee had been correct, the appeal was untimely. 
The regulation at 8 C.F.R. § 103.3(a)(2)(v)(B)(2) states that, if an untimely appeal meets the 
requirements of a motion to reopen or a motion to reconsider, the appeal must be treated as a motion, 
and a decision must be made on the merits of the case. The official having jurisdiction over a 
motion is the official who made the last decision in the proceeding, in this case the Director of the 
Texas Service Center. See 8 C.F.R. § 103.5(a)(1)(ii). 
The director erroneously marked the appeal as timely filed and forwarded the matter to the AAO. 
The AAO will therefore return the matter to the director. If the director determines that the late 
appeal meets the requirements of a motion, the director shall grant the motion and issue a new 
decision. 
Because the appeal was untimely filed, the AAO must reject the appeal. 
ORDER: The appeal is rejected.