dismissed EB-3 Case: Construction Management

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
MATTER OF J-C-C- INC 
Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
DATE: MAR. 27,2018 
APPEAL OF NEBRASKA SERVICE CENTER DECISION 
PETITION: I-140, IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR ALIEN WORKER 
The Petitioner, a general contracting and construction company, seeks to employ the Beneficiary as a 
project manager. It requests classification of the Beneficiary as a professional under the third 
preference immigrant category. 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 for the job, under the terms of the labor certification, or 
for classification as a professional. 
On appeal, the Petitioner asserts that the Beneficiary has a foreign equivalent degree to a U.S. 
bachelor's degree, and thereby meets the educational requirement of the labor certification and the 
requested classification.
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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 from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). 2 See section 
212(a)(5)(A)(i) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(5)(A)(i). By approving the labor certification, DOL 
certifies that there are insufficient 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)(I)-(II) of the Act. Second, the employer files an immigrant visa petition with U.S. 
Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). See section 204 ofthe Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1154. Third, 
1 
We decline the Petitioner's request for oral argument. 8 C.F.R. § 103.3(b). 
2 The date the labor certification is filed, in this case March 24, 2017, is called the "priority date" of the petition. See 
8 C.F.R. § 204.5(d). 
Matter of J-C-C- Inc. 
if users approves the 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, 16 I&N Dec. 
158, 159 (Acting Reg'l 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 he does not. 
A. Minimum Educational Requirements ofthe 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). users 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 of the job's 
requirements must involve reading and applying the plain language of the alien employment 
certification application form. !d. at 834. 
Section H of the labor certification sets forth the minimum education, training, experience, and other 
requirements to qualify for the profTered position. In this case, section H states that the minimum 
level of education required for the job of project manager (construction) is a bachelor's degree in the 
field of construction management (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 
educational requirement of the job offered is a four-year U.S. bachelor's degree or a foreign 
equivalent degree. 
On appeal, the Petitioner asserts that a U.S. bachelor's degree need not necessarily require four years 
of tertiary education, that a baccalaureate level of education may include a work component, and that 
the Beneficiary has a bachelor's degree equivalent comprised ofless than four years of tertiary study 
plus experience. The Petitioner claims that the Director ignored its intent, as expressed in an 
academic equivalency evaluation and a statement from its principal, to accept the Beneficiary's 
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Maller of J-C-C- Inc. 
combination of education and experience as the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor's degree in fulfillment 
of the labor certification's minimum educational requirement. Our interpretation of the labor 
certification's requirements, however, is controlled by the language of the labor certification, not the 
language of extraneous documents. As discussed, the labor certification states in boxes H.4, H.4-B, 
and H.9 that the minimum educational requirement is a bachelor's degree or a foreign educational 
equivalent. The Petitioner had the opportunity in box H.8 to indicate whether an alternate 
combination of education and experience was acceptable and, if so, to specify in boxes H.8-A and 
H.8-B any alternate level of education that would be acceptable. It did not do so. Rather, the 
Petitioner indicated in box H.8 that no alternate combination of education and experience was 
acceptable , and made no entries in boxes H.8-A and H.8-B. As such, the language of the labor 
certification unambiguously requires a U.S. bachelor's degree or a foreign equivalent degree. 
Furthermore, 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 for 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 , users 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, users regulations require the beneficiary to possess a single four-year 
U.S. bachelor 's degree or foreign equivalent degree). 
Therefore, we find that the labor certification in this case requires a single U.S. bachelor's degree or 
a 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's degree in construction management in 2009 
As evidence of the Beneficiary's education the Petitioner 
submitted the following documents with the petition and in response to the Director 's request for 
evidence: 
• Copies of a diploma and transcripts from showing that the Beneficiary was awarded 
a bachelor of science in construction management in June 2009 after completing two years of 
coursework. 
• An "Evaluation of Training , Education, and Experience" 
which concluded that the Beneficiary's bachelor of science coursework 
plus some general studies at that institution were equivalent of three years of study at 
an accredited U.S. college or university, and that this education in addition to six years and 
four months of work experience in construction management and related areas amounted to 
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Matter of J-C-C-Inc. 
the equivalent of a bachelor of science degree m construction management from an 
accredited college or university in the United States. 
Thus , the record shows that the Beneficiary 's bachelor of science degree 
comprised two, or at most three, years of coursework. As noted by the Director, however , 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 (Comm'r 1977). The evaluation submitted by the 
Petitioner does not claim that the Beneficiary's degree from is equivalent to a U.S. 
bachelor's degree. It only claims that the degree is equivalent to three years of study at a U.S. 
college or universit y. The evaluation contends that the Beneficiary has the "educational 
equivalent" of a U.S. bachelor's degree in construction management based on a combination of 
lesser credentials consisting of his two- or three-year degree from Ireland and more than six years of 
experience in the field. As discussed above, however, the labor certification requires a single U.S. 
bachelor's degree or a foreign equival ent degree. The Petitioner may not rely on the combination of 
a lesser educational credential and work experience to meet the labor certification ' s minimum 
educational requirement. 
The Beneficiar y 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(l)(3)(ii)(C). As noted, 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. See Snapnames. com, Inc. v. Michael Chertoff, 2006 WL 3491 005; see also 
Maramjaya v. USCJS, Civ. Act No. 06-2158 (for professional classification, USCIS regulations 
require the beneficiary to possess a single four-year U.S. bachelor's degree or foreign equivalent 
degree). As discussed in this decision , the Beneficiary does not have a single U.S. bachelor's degree 
or a foreign equivalent degree. Therefore 
he 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 qualify for classification as a professional. 
ORDER: The appeal is dismissed. 
Cite as Matt er of J-C-C- Inc, 10# 1051990 (AAO Mar. 27, 2018) 
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