sustained EB-2 Case: Software Engineering

(b)(6)
Date: MAY 0 8 2013 Office: NEBRASKA SERVICE CENTER 
INRE: Petitioner: 
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 
FILE: 
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: 
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, 
Ron Rosenberg 
Acting Chief, Administrative Appeals 
Office 
(b)(6)
Page2 
DISCUSSION: The Director, Nebraska Service Center, denied the immigrant visa petition. The 
petitioner appealed the decision to the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO). The appeal will be 
sustained and the petition will be approved. 
The petitioner describes itself as a software development company. It seeks to employ the 
beneficiary permanently in the United States as a senior software engineer. The petitioner requests 
classification of the beneficiary as an advanced degree professional pursuant to section 203(b )(2) of 
the Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act), 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(2). 1 The petition is accompanied 
by an ETA Form 9089, Application for Permanent Employment Certification, approved by the U.S. 
Department of Labor (DOL). 
At issue on appeal is whether or not the beneficiary meets the minimum educational requirements of 
the offered position as set forth on the labor certification. 
The record shows that the appeal is properly filed and makes a specific allegation of error in law or 
fact. The procedural history in this case is documented by the record and incorporated into the 
decision. Further elaboration of the procedural history will be made only as necessary. 
The AAO conducts appellate review on a de novo basis. See Soltane v. DOJ, 381 F.3d 143, 145 (3d 
Cir. 2004). The AAO considers all pertinent evidence in the record, including new evidence 
properly submitted upon appeal? 
The beneficiary must meet all of the requirements of the offered position set forth on the labor 
certification by the priority date of the petition. 8 C.F.R. § 103.2(b)(l), (12). See Matter of Wing's 
Tea House, 16 I&N Dec. 158, 159 (Act. Reg. Comm. 1977); see also Matter of Katigbak, 14 I&N 
Dec. 45,49 (Reg. Comm. 1971). 
In the instant case, the labor certification states that the educational requirements of the offered 
position are a U.S. master's degree in software systems or 
a foreign equivalent degree. 
The labor certification also states that the beneficiary possesses a master's degree in software 
1 Section 203(b )(2) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b )(2), provides immigrant classification to members 
of the professions holding advanced degrees or their equivalent and whose services are sought by an 
employer in the United States. An advanced degree is a United States academic or professional 
degree or a foreign equivalent degree above the baccalaureate level. 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(k)(2). A 
United States baccalaureate degree or a foreign equivalent degree followed by at least five years of 
rrogressive experience in the specialty is considered the equivalent of a master's degree. !d. 
The submission of additional evidence on appeal is allowed by the instructions to Form I-290B, 
Notice of Appeal or Motion, which are incorporated into the regulations by 8 C.F.R. § 103.2(a)(l). 
The record in the instant case provides no reason to preclude consideration of any of the documents 
newly submitted on appeal. See Matter ofSoriano, 19 I&N Dec. 764 (BIA 1988). 
(b)(6)
Page 3 
systems from the 
contains copies of the beneficiary's di 
in software systems from the 
the India. 
India . 3 The record 
lomas and transcripts for his Master of Science (MS) degree 
and his four-year Bachelor of Engineering degree from 
The AAO has reviewed the Electronic Database for Global Education (EDGE) created by the 
American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO). According to 
its website, AACRAO is "a nonprofit, voluntary, professional association of more than 11,000 
higher education admissions and registration professionals who represent more than 2,600 
institutions and agencies in the United States and in over 40 countries around the world." See 
http://www.aacrao.org/About-AACRAO.aspx. Its mission "is to serve and advance higher education 
by providing leadership in academic and enrollment services." Id. EDGE is "a web-based resource 
for the evaluation of foreign educational credentials." See http://edge.aacrao.org/info.php. Authors 
for EDGE are not merely expressing their personal opinions. Rather, they must work with a 
publication consultant and a Council Liaison with AACRAO's National Council on the Evaluation 
of Foreign Educational Credentials. 4 If placement recommendations are included, the Council 
Liaison works with the author to give feedback and the publication is subject to final review by the 
entire Council. /d. USCIS considers EDGE to be a reliable, peer-reviewed source of information 
about foreign credentials equivalencies. 5 
According to EDGE, a Master of Science (MS) is an information technology degree which requires a 
four-year bachelor's degree for entry and is comparable to a U.S. master's degree. EDGE 
distinguishes this degree from the standard Master of Science from India, which only requires a 
three-year bachelor's degree for entry and is comparable to a bachelor's degree in the United States. 
3 is an institution deemed to be a university by India's University Grants Commission. 
See http://www.ugc.ac.in/oldpdf/plangrant.pdf(last accessed March 18, 2013). 
4 See An Author 's Guide to Creating AACRAO International Publications available at 
http:/ /www.aacrao.org/Libraries/Publications _Documents/GUIDE_ TO_ CREATING_ INTERN A TI 0 
NAL PUBLICATIONS l.sflb.ashx. 
5 In Confluence Intern.:Inc. v. Holder, 2009 WL 825793 (D.Minn. March 27, 2009), the court 
determined that the AAO provided a rational explanation for its reliance on information provided by 
AACRAO to support its decision. In Tiseo Group, Inc. v. Napolitano, 2010 WL 3464314 
(E.D.Mich. August 30, 2010), the court found that USCIS had properly weighed the evaluations 
submitted and the information obtained from EDGE to conclude that the alien's three-year foreign 
"baccalaureate" and foreign "Master's" degree were only comparable to a U.S. bachelor's degree. 
In Sunshine Rehab Services, Inc. 2010 WL 3325442 (E.D.Mich. August 20, 2010), the court upheld 
a USCIS determination that the alien's three-year bachelor's degree 
was not a foreign equivalent 
degree to a U.S. bachelor's degree. Specifically, the court concluded that USCIS was entitled to 
prefer the information in EDGE and did not abuse its discretion in reaching its conclusion. The 
court also noted that the labor certification itself required a degree and did not allow for the 
combination of education and experience. 
(b)(6)
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Based on the evidence in the record and the information contained in EDGE, it is concluded that the 
beneficiary possesses the foreign equivalent of a U.S. master's degree. The director's decision 
incorrectly concluded that the beneficiary possessed a Master of Science degree from India instead 
of a Master of Science (MS) degree. Accordingly, the director's decision is withdrawn. 
The AAO also concludes that it is more likely than not that the beneficiary possessed all the education, 
training, and experience specified on the ETA Form 9089 as of the priority date. Therefore, the 
petition is approved under section 203(b)(2) ofthe Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(2). 
The burden of proof in these proceedings rests solely with the petitioner. Section 291 of the Act, 
8 U.S.C. § 1361. The petitioner has met that burden. 
ORDER: The appeal is sustained, and the petition is approved.