dismissed EB-3 Case: Automotive Manufacturing

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
In Re : 21462476 
Appeal of Nebraska Service Center Decision 
Form 1-140, Immigrant Petition for Professional 
Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
Date : JUL. 7, 2022 
The Petitioner, an automotive glass manufacturing company, seeks to employ the Beneficiary as an 
"assistant manager, lamination assembly equipment maintenance ." The company requests his 
classification under the third-preference , immigrant visa category for professionals. See Immigration and 
Nationality Act (the Act) section 203(b)(3)(A)(ii), 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(3)(A)(ii). 
The Director of the Nebraska Service Center denied the petition, concluding that the Petitioner did not 
establish the Beneficiary possesses the minimum educational requirements of the offered position. On 
appeal, the Petitioner asserts that the Director erred. 
The Petitioner bears the burden of establishing eligibility for the requested benefit by a preponderance 
of evidence. Section 291 of the Act, 8 U .S.C. § 1361; Matter ofChawathe, 25 I&N Dec. 169, 175 
(AAO 2010). Upon de nova review, we will dismiss the appeal. 
I. EMPLOYMENT-BASED IMMIGRATION 
Immigration as a professional generally follows a three-step process. First, a prospective employer 
must apply to the U.S . Department of Labor (DOL) for certification that: (1) there are insufficient U.S. 
workers able, willing, qualified , and available for an offered position; and (2) the employment of a 
noncitizen in the position won't harm wages and working conditions of U.S. workers with similar jobs. 
See section 212(a)(5) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(5) . Second, an employer must submit an approved 
labor certification with an immigrant visa petition to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services 
(USCIS). See section 204 of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1154. Among other things, USCIS determines 
whether a beneficiary meets the requirements of a certified position and a requested immigrant visa 
category . 8 C .F.R. § 204.5(1). Finally, if USCIS approves a petition , a designated noncitizen may 
apply for an immigrant visa abroad or, if eligible, "adjustment of status" in the United States. See 
section 245 of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1255. 
II. THE EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS 
A petition for a "professional" must demonstrate that a beneficiary holds at least a U .S. bachelor's 
degree or a foreign equivalent degree. 8 C.F.R . § 204.5(1)(3)(ii)(C). The evidence must include "an 
official college or university record showing the date the baccalaureate degree was awarded and the 
area of concentration of study." Id. 
A petitioner must also establish a beneficiary's possession of all DOL-certified job requirements of an 
offered position by a petition's priority date. Matter of Wing's Tea House, 16 I&N Dec. 158, 160 
(Acting Reg'l Comm'r 1977). In assessing a beneficiary's qualifications, USCIS must examine the 
job-offer portion of an accompanying labor certification to determine a position's minimum 
requirements. USCIS may neither ignore a certification term, nor impose additional requirements. 
See, e.g., Madany v. Smith, 696 F.2d 1008, 1015 (D.C. Cir. 1983) (holding that "DOL bears authority 
for setting the content of the labor certification") ( emphasis added). 
The accompanying labor certification, Form ETA 9089, Application for Permanent Employment 
Certification (ETA 9089), states the minimum educational requirements of the offered position are a 
U.S. bachelor's degree, or a foreign equivalent degree, in engineering technology or a closely related 
field. Furthermore, the certification provides that experience in an alternate occupation is acceptable, 
and that 24 months experience is required as an alternate occupation. Thus, the Petitioner's ETA 9089 
requires the minimum of a bachelor's degree in engineering technology and 24 months of experience 
to perform the job duties of the position. The petition's priority date is July 29, 2020, the date DOL 
accepted the labor certification application for processing. See 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(d) (explaining how 
to determine a petition's priority date). 
On the labor certification, the Beneficiary attested that, by the petition's priority date, he had attained 
an unspecified degree in engineering technology from an institution in China. The Petitioner 
submitted an independent, professional evaluation (first evaluation) equating the Beneficiary's fifteen 
years of work experience to a U.S. bachelor's degree in engineering technology. The Petitioner also 
submitted: (1) a copy of the Beneficiary's "Higher Education Graduation Certificate" indicating he 
took correspondence courses in business management from September 2014 to January 201 7 from a 
university in China; (2). a copy of the Beneficiary's certificate indicating the Beneficiary took courses 
at a three-year program in "Electrical Study" at a college in China; (3) A copy of the Beneficiary's 
resume; and ( 4) Two letters verifying his prior employment. 
In a request for additional evidence (RFE), the Director asked the Petitioner to provide evidence that 
the Beneficiary's qualifications met the minimum academic requirements specified on the ETA 9089, 
which were a bachelor's degree, or its foreign equivalent, in engineering technology or closely related 
field, and 24 months of experience. The Director also explained that the formula used in the first 
evaluation, which equated three years of work experience to one year of university-level studies, only 
applied in the context of nonimmigrant visa petitions, and not immigrant visa petitions. The 
Petitioner's RFE response included another independent, professional evaluation (second evaluation), 
which equated the Beneficiary's higher education coursework to a U.S. bachelor's degree in business 
administration. The Petitioner also provided copies of the same educational certificates submitted 
prior, a July 15, 2003 register from the Beneficiary's Chinese program verifying his diploma in 
"Electrical," as well as information regarding his academic courses and grades he received during his 
six-semesters at that same institution. 
The Director's denial noted the evidence ofrecord and quoted extensively from the Petitioner's second 
evaluation. Furthermore, the Director reiterated that the first evaluation relied on the Beneficiary's 
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work experience to equate his experience to a bachelor-level education, which is not permissible in 
the context of an immigrant visa petition. The Director also examined the educational programs that 
the Beneficiary attended in China and found the evidence insufficient to establish he qualified for the 
position as noted in Section Hof the Petitioner's ETA-9089. A U.S. bachelor's degree usually requires 
at least four academic years of study. Matter of Shah, 17 I&N Dec. 244, 245 (Reg'l Comm'r 1977). 
The Director therefore concluded that the record did not demonstrate the Beneficiary's possession of 
the foreign equivalent of a U.S. baccalaureate degree in engineering technology or closely related field 
of study and 24 months experience in an alternate occupation. 
On appeal, the Petitioner argues in a document titled "Motion to Reconsider" that the Director 
disregarded the second evaluation, which equates the Beneficiary's foreign degree to a U.S. bachelor's 
degree. The Petitioner additionally argues that the two certificates of graduation, along with the other 
evidence of the Beneficiary's coursework, establish the necessary underpinnings of the second 
evaluation, which concluded the Beneficiary had the foreign degree equivalent of a U.S. bachelor's 
degree in business administration. 
In evaluating the evidence, we have consulted the Electronic Database for Global Education (EDGE). 
Federal courts consider EDGE a reliable source of information about foreign credentials 
equivalencies. 1 According to EDGE, a Zuanke ( or Zhuanke) certificate corresponds to 2 to 3 years of 
study and does not reflect a bachelor's degree; and a Benke certificate reflects 4 to 6 years of study 
and would correspond to a bachelor's degree if the actual degree certificate is submitted. EDGE 
clarifies that the graduation certificate (Zhuanke or Benke) is given when the required coursework is 
completed. However, the degree certificate is awarded when all other requirements (such as foreign 
language requirements, a thesis requirement, etc.) are met in addition to the coursework required for 
the program. 
The Petitioner's evidence is insufficient to determine whether the Beneficiary has completed the 
foreign equivalent of a U.S. bachelor's degree. The Petitioner submitted documents titled 
"certificates" to establish that the Beneficiary completed two higher education programs, which the 
submitted evaluations equate to a Benke and Zhuanke degree, respectively. However, the certificate 
froml I Industry College of does not evidence completion of a Zhuanke 
degree program. Instead, it states "[u]pon completing and passing all the required courses of the three­
year program, he is granted graduation." This language is ambiguous and does not denote completion 
of a degree program. The Petitioner's second evaluation uses similarly ambiguous language to 
describe his studies atl I stating: 
("[the Beneficiary] completed university-level coursework which included specialized 
studies in the field of Electrical Study. Concentrated coursework in the above­
mentioned areas, coupled with other specialized studies, comprise the required 
curriculum for a candidate seeking to complete the Zhuanke program atl 
1 EDGE was created by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO), a non­
profit, voluntary group of more than 11,000 higher-education professionals representing about 2,600 institutions in more 
than 40 countries. See AACRAO. "Who We Are," https://www.aacrao.org/who-we-are (last visited June 28, 2022); see 
also, e.g., Viraj, LLC v. U.S. Att'y Gen., 578 Fed. Appx. 907, 910 (11th Cir. 2014) (describing EDGE as "a respected 
source of information"). 
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The studies are comparable to the standard curriculum required for completion of a 
university degree from an accredited institution of higher education in the [U.S.]." 
Similarly, the certificate froml luniversityl I does not identify completion of 
a Benke degree. It states that the Beneficiary "completed and passed all the courses required by the 
associate program, and is hereby granted graduation." However, this certificate is also insufficient to 
establish completion of a Benke degree because it is not, according to EDGE, sufficient evidence of 
completion ofa degree. See Matter ofO-A, Inc., Adopted Decision 2017-03, slip op. *4 (AAO Apr. 
17, 2017) (in the context of a provisional certificate, requiring a petitioner to demonstrate that "all of 
the substantive requirements for the degree were met and the degree was in fact approved by the 
responsible college or university body"). 
USCIS may reject or afford lesser evidentiary weight to expert testimony that conflicts with other 
evidence or "is in any way questionable." Matter of Caron Int'l, Inc., 19 I&N Dec. 791, 795 (Comm'r 
1988). As such, we decline to accord the second evaluation much weight because it does not accord 
with reliable information about educational equivalencies found in EDGE. 
A second and related issue is that the Petitioner has not demonstrated the Beneficiary's possession of 
a degree in the field of study required for the offered position. As stated earlier, the Petitioner's ETA 
9089 specifies that the position requires a U.S. bachelor's degree, or its foreign equivalent, in 
Engineering Technology or a closely related field. Importantly, the ETA 9089 does not specify an 
acceptable alternate field of study except to state "closely related." Furthermore, the ETA 9089 states 
that there is no alternate combination of education and experience acceptable to meet the requirements 
of the certification. 
As previously indicated, the second evaluation determined the Beneficiary has a foreign education 
equivalent to a baccalaureate in business administration. Even assuming, arguendo, that the Petitioner 
has met its burden of showing that the Beneficiary's education is equivalent to a U.S. bachelor's degree 
(which as explained above, they have not done), the Petitioner has also not demonstrated how a 
business administration degree is "closely related" to engineering technology. Moreover, the second 
evaluation does not discuss the coursework undertaken by the Beneficiary or explain how his degree 
in "business administration" equates to a U.S. baccalaureate in "engineering technology." The record, 
therefore, does not establish the Beneficiary's possession of a baccalaureate in the offered position's 
required field of study. 
III. CONCLUSION 
A preponderance of evidence does not establish the Beneficiary's education and work experience meet 
the requirements as set forth in the Petitioner's labor certification and the requested immigrant visa 
classification. Furthermore, the Petitioner has not demonstrated the Beneficiary's possession of a 
degree in the field of study required for the offered position. 
ORDER: The appeal is dismissed 
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