dismissed EB-3 Case: Business Consulting

MATTER OF K-1- INC. 
Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
DATE: JAN. 25,2018 
APPEAL OF NEBRASKA SERVICE CENTER DECISION 
PETITION: I-140, IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR ALIEN WORKER 
The Petitioner, a diamond and jewelry trading company, seeks to employ the Beneficiary as a business 
consultant. It requests classification of the Beneficiary as a professional under the third preference 
immigrant category. See Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act) section 203(b)(3)(A)(ii), 8 U.S.C. 
§ 1153(b)(3)(A)(ii). This employment-based immigrant classification allows a U.S. employer to 
sponsor a professional with a baccalaureate degree for lawful permanent resident status. 
The Director of the Nebraska Service Center denied the petition. The Director found that the 
Beneficiary does not have a U.S. bachelor's degree or a foreign equivalent degree, and therefore does 
not meet the minimum educational requirement of the labor certification. 
On appeal the Petitioner asserts that the Beneficiary has the foreign educational equivalent of a U.S. 
bachelor's degree, and thereby meets the educational requirement of the labor certification and qualities 
for classification as a professional. 
Upon de novo review, we will dismiss the appeal. 
I. LAW 
Employment-based immigration generally follows a three-step process. First, an employer obtains 
an approved labor certification (ETA Form 9089, Application for Permanent Employment 
Certification) from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). 
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See section 212(a)(5)(A)(i) of the AcL 
8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(5)(A)(i). By approving the labor certification, DOL certifies that there are 
insutlicient U.S. workers who are able, willing, qualified, and available for the offered position and 
that employing a foreign national in the position will not adversely affect the wages and working 
conditions of domestic workers similarly employed. See section 212(a)(5)(A)(i)(l)-(II) of the 
Act. Second, the employer tiles an immigrant visa petition with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration 
Services (USCIS). See section 204 of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1154. Third, if USCIS approves the 
1 
The date the labor certification is filed is called the "priority date." See 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(d). The Petitioner must 
establish that all eligibility requirements for the petition have been satisfied from the priority date onward. 
Matter of K-J- Inc. 
petition, the foreign national applies 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. 
The regulation at 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(1)(3)(ii)(C) states, in pertinent part: 
If the petition is for a professional, the petition must be accompanied by evidence that 
the [beneficiary] holds a United States baccalaureate degree or a foreign equivalent 
degree . . . . Evidence of a baccalaureate degree shall be in the form of an official 
college or university record showing the date the baccalaureate degree was awarded 
and the area of concentration of study. 
A beneficiary must meet all of the education, training, experience, and other requirements of the 
labor certification as of the petition's priority date. See Matter of Wing's Tea House, !6 l&N Dec. 
158, 159 (Acting Reg'! Comm'r 1977). 
II. ANALYSIS 
At issue in this case is whether the Beneficiary has the requisite educational degree to meet the 
requirements of the labor certification and to qualify for classification as a professional. For the 
reasons discussed in this decision, we conclude that she does not. 
A. Minimum Educational Requirements of the Labor Certification 
In order to determine what a job opportunity requires, we must examine "the language of the labor 
certification job requirements." Madany v. Smith, 696 F.2d 1008, 1015 (D.C. Cir. 1983). USCIS must 
examine the certified job offer exactly as it is completed by the prospective employer. See Rosedale 
Linden Park Company v. Smith, 595 F. Supp. 829,833 (D.D.C. 1984). Our interpretation ofthejob's 
requirements must involve reading and applying the plain language of the alien employment 
certification application form. ld at 834. 
Section H of the labor certification sets forth the minimum education, training. experience, and other 
requirements to qualify for the proffered position. In this case, section H states that the minimum 
level of education required for the job of business consultant is a bachelor's degree in the field of art 
(boxes 4 and 4-B) or a "foreign educational equivalent" (box 9). The Director found that, according 
to the language of the labor certification, the minimum requirement of the job offered is a U.S. 
bachelor's degree or foreign equivalent degree. 
On appeal, the Petitioner asserts that the Director misinterpreted the mm1mum educational 
requirement of the labor certification by not recognizing the Petitioner's intent, as expressed in box 
H.9 of the labor certification, to accept a combination of educational credentials, such as the 
Beneficiary's three-year bachelor's degree and one year of master's level study, as the equivalent of 
a U.S. bachelor's degree. However, acceptance of a foreign educational equivalent in Part H.9 of a 
labor certification simply indicates an employer's willingness to accept a foreign degree that is the 
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Matter of K-J- Inc. 
foreign equivalent to a U.S. degree and is issued by a foreign college or university. It does not 
express an employer's willingness to accept a combination of educational programs and/or 
experience determined to be equivalent to a degree unless the employer so indicates elsewhere on 
the labor certification. The Petitioner had the opportunity in Box H.8 of the labor certification to 
indicate whether an alternate combination of education and experience was acceptable and, if so, to 
specify in boxes H.8-A, H.8-B, and H.8-C any alternate level of education that may be considered 
acceptable. The Petitioner made no entries in any of these boxes on the labor certification. 
Moreover, the requested classification of professional requires a U.S. bachelor's degree or a foreign 
equivalent degree. See 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(1)(3)(ii)(C). If the Petitioner intended to allow a 
combination of lesser credentials to satisfy the minimum educational requirement tor the proffered 
position, the labor certification would not support the classification requested in this proceeding. 
The bachelor's degree requirement for professional classification cannot be met with a combination 
of lesser credentials which may add up to the equivalent of a bachelor's degree. In Snapnames.com. 
Inc. v. Michael Chertoff, 2006 WL 3491005 (D. Or. Nov. 30, 2006), the court held that. in 
professional and advanced degree professional cases, where the beneficiary is statutorily required to 
hold a baccalaureate degree, USCIS properly concluded that a single foreign degree or its equivalent 
is required. See also Maramjaya v. USCIS, Civ. Act No. 06-2158 (D.D.C. Mar. 26, 2008) (for 
professional classification, USCIS regulations require the beneficiary to possess a single tour-year 
U.S. bachelor's degree or foreign equivalent degree). 
As such, we find that the labor certification in this case requires a single U.S. bachelor's degree or 
foreign equivalent degree. Having determined the minimum education required by the labor 
certification, we now turn to the question of whether the Beneficiary has the required degree. 
Section J of the labor certification states that the Beneficiary's highest level of education relevant to 
the job offered is a bachelor of arts degree in 201 0 from the in India. As 
evidence of the Beneficiary's educational credentials the Petitioner submitted the following 
documents with the petition and in response to the Director's request tor evidence: 
• A diploma and transcripts from the showing that the Beneficiary 
completed a three-year degree program was awarded a bachelor of arts degree. 
• Additional academic records from the showing that the Beneficiary 
completed one year of a two-year Master of Arts degree program in the field of sociology. 
• Evaluations of the Beneficiary's education from the 
and which 
concluded that the Beneficiary's three-year bachelor's degree and one year of master's level 
studies at the were equivalent to a four-year bachelor's degree from an 
accredited college or university in the United States. 
According to the documents submitted by the Petitioner, the Beneficiary graduated from a three-year 
bachelor's degree program. As was noted by the Director, a bachelor's degree in the United States is 
generally found to require four years of education. See Matter of Shah, 17 I&N Dec. 244. 245 
.
Matter of K-J- Inc. 
(Comm'r 1977). The three-year bachelor's degree from India, like the bachelor of science at issue in 
Shah, is not considered equivalent to a U.S. bachelor's degree.2 The evaluations submitted by the 
Petitioner agree that the Beneficiary's three-year bachelor's degree is not equivalent to a U.S. 
bachelor's degree. Rather the evaluators contend that the Beneficiary had the "equivalent" of a 
bachelor's degree based on a combination of lesser credentials- a three-year bachelor's degree and 
one year of additional post-graduate study. However, as discussed above, the labor certification 
requires a single U.S. bachelor's degree or foreign equivalent degree. The Petitioner may therefore 
not rely on a combination of education to meet the labor certification requirements. 
On appeal the Petitioner does not contest the finding that the Beneficiary's three-year bachelor's 
degree from the is not equivalent to a U.S. bachelor's degree, but asserts that 
the Beneficiary's additional year of study in the university's master's degree program elevated the 
Beneficiary's Indian education to the equivalent of a four-year U.S. bachelor's degree. In support of 
this assertion the Petitioner claims that the "New Country Index" published by the International 
Education Research 
Foundation (IERP) referred to a three-year bachelor's degree plus a one-year 
master's degree in India as comparable to a U.S. bachelor's degree. The Petitioner has not submitted 
any excerpt from this publication, however, or even a citation. Thus, we cannot analyze the validity 
of its equivalency claim. Even if pertinent documentation were submitted, the credentials discussed 
in the New Country Index are not the same as the Beneficiary's in this case. The four years of study 
discussed in the New Country Index involve a three-year bachelor's degree plus a one-year master"s 
degree, whereas the Beneficiary has a three-year bachelor's degree and one year of master's level 
study that did not result in a degree. 
The Beneficiary does not have a single U.S. bachelor's degree or a foreign equivalent degree. We 
conclude, therefore, that the Beneficiary does not meet the minimum educational requirement of the 
labor certification. 
B. Eligibility for Professional Classification 
A petition requesting professional classification "must be accompanied by evidence that the 
beneficiary holds a United States baccalaureate degree or a foreign equivalent degree." 8 C.F.R. 
§ 204.5(1)(3)(ii)(C). On appeal the Petitioner points out that the Director made no specific tinding as 
to whether the Beneficiary qualifies for classification as a professional. 
2 
In order to evaluate the Beneficiary's education, the Director also referred to the Educational Database for Global 
Education (EDGE), created by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO), 
whose credential advice states that a three-year bachelor of arts degree in India is comparable to three years of university 
study in the United States , and that a master of arts degree requires two years of study beyond a three-year bachelor's 
degree and is comparable to a U.S. bachelor's degree. AACRAO is described on its website as ''a nonprofit, voluntary. 
professional association of more than II ,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." 
AACRAO, http ://www.aacrao.org /about (last visited Dec. 8, 20 17). EDGE is "a web-based resource for the evaluation 
of foreign educational credentials." AACRAO EDGE, http://aacrao.org /aacrao-solutions (last visited Dec. 8. 20 17). 
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Matter of K-J- Inc. 
As discussed in this decision, the Beneficiary does not have a single U.S. bachelor's degree or a 
foreign equivalent degree. Therefore she does not qualify for classification as a professional. 
III. CONCLUSION 
The Petitioner has not established that the Beneficiary has the requisite degree to meet the minimum 
educational requirement of the labor certification and to quality for classification as a professional. 
ORDER: The appeal is dismissed. 
Cite as Matter of K-J- Inc., ID# 931248 (AAO Jan. 25, 2018)