remanded EB-2 NIW Case: Unknown

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identifying data deleted to 
prevent clearly unwarranted 
invasion of personal privacy 
PUBLIC COpy 
DATE: OFFICE: TEXAS SERVICE CENTER 
IN JEB 2 7 ~Rltner: 
Beneficiary: 
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, 
~~~(\L, 
7PerryRhew 
. Chief, Administrative Appeals Office 
www.nscis.gov 
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Page 2 
DISCUSSION: The Director, Texas Service Center, denied the immigrant visa petition. The matter 
is now before the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) on appeal. The AAO will reject the appeal 
as untimely filed. The AAO will 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 September 29,2009. 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 
director informed the petitioner of her appeal rights, and advised: "The appeal may not be filed 
directly with the Administrative Appeals Office. The appeal must be filed at the address at the 
top of this page," i.e., the Texas Service Center (emphasis in original). 
Despite the director's instructions (repeated on the instructions to the Form I-290B Notice of 
Appeal), the petitioner sent the appeal directly to the AAO, which received the appeal on October 
29, 2009. The AAO returned the improperly filed appeal. The petitioner then sent the appeal to the 
Texas Service Center, which received it on November 12, 2009, 45 days after the director issued the 
decision. Accordingly, the appeal was untimely filed. 
In a letter dated November 5, 2009, the petitioner acknowledged having sent the appeal directly to 
the AAO, "contrary to [the director's] instructions," but asserted that she "did submit the Appeal on 
time." Every appeal must be filed at the location specified in the instructions on the form. See 
8 C.F.R. § 103.2(a)(1). 
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 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.