sustained EB-2 Case: Software Engineering

(b)(6)
DATE: SEP 1 9 2014 OFFICE: TEXAS SERVICE CENTER 
INRE : Petitioner: 
Beneficiary: 
U.S. Department of Homeland Security 
U.S. Citizen ship and Immigratio n Services 
Administr ative Appeals Office (AAO) 
20 Mass achusetts 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, 
L,/(f, ,, 
Ron Rosenberg 
Chief, Administrative Appeal s Office 
www.uscis.gov 
(b)(6)
NON-PRECEDENT DECISION 
Page 2 
DISCUSSION: The employment-based immigrant visa petition was denied by the Director, Texas 
Service Center (Director). It is now on appeal before the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO). 
The director's decision will be withdrawn and the appeal will be sustained. 
The petitioner describes itself as an application development and integration company . It seeks to 
permanently employ the beneficiary in the United States as a Software Engineer pursuant to section 
203(b)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act), 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(2). 1 As required by 
statute, the petition is accompanied by an Application for Permanent Employment Certification, 
ETA Form 9089, certified by the United States Department of Labor (DOL) . 
The Director denied the petition on February 3, 2014, finding that the petitioner failed to establish 
that the beneficiary had the requisite educational degree for classification as an advanced degree 
professional. 
The petitioner filed a timely appeal, along with a brief from counsel and supporting documentation . 
We conduct appellate review on a de novo basis. See Soltane v. DOJ, 381 F.3d 143, 145 (3d Cir. 
2004)~ 
Section 203(b )(2) of the Act provides for the granting of preference classification to members of the 
professions holding advanced degrees whose services are sought by employers in the United States. 
The regulation at 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(k)(3)(i) states that a petition for an advanced degree professional 
must be accompanied by: 
1 Section 203(b) of the Act states in pertinent part that: 
(2) Aliens who are members of the professions holding advanced degrees or aliens of 
exceptional ability. --
(A) In general. -- Visas shall be made available ... to qualified immigrants who are 
members of the professions holding advanced degrees or their equivalent or who 
because of their exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business, will 
substantially benefit prospectively the national economy, cultural or educational 
interests, or welfare of the United States, and whose services in the sciences, arts, 
professions, or business are sought by an employer in the United States. 
The regulation at 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(k)(2) defines an advanced degree as follows: 
[A ]ny United States academic or professional degree or a foreign equivalent 
degree ·above that of baccalaureate. A United States baccalaureate degree 
followed by at least five years of progressive experience in the specialty shall be 
considered the equivalent of a master's degree . If a doctoral degree is customarily 
required by the specialty, the alien must have a United States doctorate degree or 
a foreign equivalent degree. 
(b)(6)
Page 3 
NON-PRECEDENT DECISION 
(A) An official academic record showing that the alien has a United States advanced 
degree or a foreign equivalent degree; or 
(B) An official academic record showing that the alien has a United States 
baccalaureate degree or a foreign equivalent degree, and evidence in the form of 
letters from current or former employer(s) showing that the alien has at least five 
years of progressive post-baccalaureate experience in the specialty. 
To be eligible for approval, a beneficiary must have all the education, training, and experience specified 
on the labor certification as of the petition's priority date. See Matter of Wing's Tea House, 16 I&N 
158 (Act. Reg. Comm. 1977). The petitioner must also establish its continuing ability to pay the 
proffered wage to the beneficiary from the priority date up to the present. See 8 C.F.R. 
§ 204.5(g)(2). The priority date of the instant petition is July 18, 2012, which is the date the 
underlying labor certification was accepted 
for processing by the DOL. See 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(d). 
Upon review of the entire record, we find that the petitioner has overcome the ground for denial in the 
director's decision. We also find that the petitioner has established that the beneficiary possesses the 
required education specified on the ETA Form 9089 as of the priority date of July 18, 2012, consisting 
of the foreign equivalent of a bachelor's degree in engineering, electronics or any related equivalent 
field as well as five full years of progressive experience following this degree. Based on a review of the 
record, we conclude that the beneficiary is eligible for classification as an advanced degree professional 
under section 203(b)(2) ofthe Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(2). 
In view of the foregoing, the director's decision will be withdrawn and the appeal will be sustained. 
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 ofOtiende, 26 I&N Dec. 127, 128 
(BIA 2013). Here, that burden has been met. 
ORDER: The director's decision is withdrawn. The appeal is sustained and the petition is 
approved.