dismissed EB-3 Case: Education

(b)(6)
MATTER OF 
/ Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
DATE: SEPT. 21,2016 
APPEAL OF NEBRASKA SERVICE CENTER DECISION 
PETITION: FOR1;f I-140, IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR ALIEN WORKER 
The Petitioner, a public school district, seeks to permanently employ the Beneficiary in the United 
States as a bilingual teacher. It requests classification of the Beneficiary as a professional under the 
third preference immigrant classification. 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, Nebraska Service Center, denied the petition on February 5, 2016, after concluding 
that the Beneficiary did not possess a bachelor's degree, as required by the job offer and by the 
professional classification. 
The matter is now before us on appeal. The Petitioner asserts on appeal that the Beneficiary had 
completed six years of college education and that two separate credentials evaluations confirm that 
the Beneficiary's education was equivalent to at least a U.S. bachelor's degree. Finally, the 
Petitioner pointed out that the Beneficiary had satisfied the state teacher licensing requirements and 
had been issued a Professional Education License by the state of Illinois. Upon de novo review, we 
will dismiss the appeal. 
I. LAW 
As required by statute, the petition is accompanied by an approved ETA Form 9089, Application for 
Permanent Employment Certification (labor certification), certified by the DOL. 1 The priority date 
ofthe petition is September 25, 2013.2 · 
The regulation at 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(1)(3)(ii)(C) states, in part: 
If the petition is for a professional, the petition must be accompanied by evidence 
that the alien holds a United States baccalaureate_ degree or a foreign equivalent 
1 See Section 212(a)(5)(D) ofthe Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(5)(D); see also 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(a)(2). 
2 The priority date is the date the DOL accepted the labor certification for processing. See 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(d). 
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degree and by evidence that the alien is a member of the professions. 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. 
Section 10l(a)(32) ofthe Act defines the term "profession"_to include, but is not limited to, "architects, 
engineers, lawyers, physicians, surgeons, and teachers in elementary or secondary schools, colleges, 
academies, or seminaries." If the offered position is not statutorily defined as a profession, "the 
petitioner must submit evidence showing that the minimum ofa baccalaureate degree is required for 
entry into the occupation." 8 C.P.R. § 204.5(1)(3)(ii)(C). 
In addition, the joo offer portion of the labor certification underlying a petition for a professional "must 
demonstrate that the job requires the minimum of a baccalaureate degree." 8 C.P.R. § 204.5(1)(3)(i). 
The beneficiary must also meet all of the requirements of the offered position set forth on the labor 
certification by the priority date of the petition. 8 C.P.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 ofKatigbak, 14 I&N 
Dec. 45,49 (Reg. Comm. 1971). 
Therefore, a petition for a professional must establish that the occupation of the offered position is listed 
as a profession at section 101(a)(32) of the Act or requires a bachelor's degree as a minimum for entry; 
the beneficiary possesses a U.S. bachelor's degree or foreign equivalent degree from a college or 
university; the job offer portion of the labor certification requires at least a bachelor's degree or foreign 
equivalent degree; and the beneficiary meets all of the requirements of the labor certification. 
It is noted that the regulation at 8 C.P.R. § 204.5(1)(3)(ii)(C) uses a singular description of the degree 
·required for classification as a professional.3 The regulation also requires the submission of ''an 
official college or university record showing the date the baccalaureate degree was awarded and the 
area of concentration of study." 8 C.P.R. § 204.5(1)(3)(ii)(C) (emphasis added). In another context, 
3 In 1991, when the final rule for 8 C.F.R. § 204.5 was published in the Federal Register, the Immigration and 
Naturalization Service (now USCIS or the Service), responded to criticism that the regulation required an alien to have a 
bachelor's degree as a minimum and that the regulation did not allow for the substitution of experience for education. 
After reviewing section 121 of the Immigration Act of 1990, Pub. L. I 01-649 (1990), and the Joint Explanatory 
Statement of the Committee of Conference, the Service specifically noted that both the Act and the legislative history 
indicate that an alien must have at least a bachelor's degree: "[B]oth the Act and its legislative history make clear that, 
in order to qualify as a professional under the third classification or to have experience equating to an advanced degree 
under the second, an alien must have at least a bachelor·s degree." 56 Fed. Reg. 60897, 60900 (November 29, 1991) 
(emphasis added). 
It is significant that both section 203(b )(3)(A)(ii) of the Act and the relevant regulations use the word "degree" in 
relation to professionals. A statute should be construed und6r the assumption that Congress intended it to have purpose 
and meaningful effect. Mountain States Tel. & Tel. v. Pueblo of Santa Ana, 472 U.S. 237, 249 (1985); Sutton v. United 
States, 819 F.2d. 1289, 1295 (5th Cir. 1987). It can be presumed that Congress' requirement of a single "degree" for 
members of the professions is deliberate. 
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Congress has broadly referenced "the possession of a degree, diploma, certificate, or similar award 
from a college, university, school, or other institution of learning." Section 203(b )(2)(C) of the Act 
(relating to aliens of exceptional ability). However, for the professional category, it is clear that the 
degree must be from a college or university and the plain meaning of the Act and the regulations is 
that the beneficiary of a petition for a professional must possess a degree from a college or university 
that is at least a U.S. baccalaureate degree or a foreign equivalent degree. 
The required education, training, experience and skills for the offered position are set forth at Part H 
of the labor certification. In the instant case, the labor certification states that the position has the 
following minimum requirements: 
H.4. 
H.4-B. 
H.6. 
H.8. 
H.9. 
H.14. 
Education: minimum level required: Bachelor's degree. 
Major field of study: Any field. 
Is experience in the job offered required for the job? No. 
Is there an alternate combination of education and experience that is 
acceptable? No. 
Is a foreign educational equivalent acceptable? Yes. 
Specific skills or other requirements: Must be licensed as a teacher or 
bilingual teacher by the Illinois Department of Education. 
\ 
The educational background of the Beneficiary is set forth at Part J of the labor certification. In the 
instant case, the Beneficiary listed her education as a master's degree in bilingual and bicultural 
education from the completed in 2003. The Petitioner submitted the 
following documentation relating to the Beneficiary's educational background: 
• A copy of a diploma from the reflecting the Beneficiary was 
awarded a degree of "Maestra- Especialidad de Educaci6n Infantil" on September 20, 2002. 
• A copy of an English translation of the academic transcripts from the 
dated October 1, 2002, reflecting study from 1999 until 2002. 
• A copy of a diploma from the reflecting the Beneficiary was 
awarded a degree of "Master de Especializacion Docente en Contextos Multiculturales y 
Plurilingues en EE.UU" on June 19, 2003. 
• A copy of an unsigned letter from a teacher at the dated October 1, 
2002, describing the Beneficiary's course load from during the academic year 2002 to 2003. 
• A copy of a certificate (with English translation) from the reflecting 
the Beneficiary was awarded a degree of "Teacher: Specialized in Foreign Language 
(English)" on July 6, 2007. 
• A copy of an English translation of the academic transcripts from the 
dated July 3, 2007, reflecting study from 2006 until2007. 
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The Petitioner submitted an October 1, 2007, credentials evaluation from 
signed by The evaluation concluded that the Beneficiary's 2002 Maestra 
degree based on three years of study was the equivalent of a United States bachelor's degree with a 
major or specialization in early childhoodLeducation, that the Beneficiary's 2003 degree based on 
one year of study was the equivalent of a United States master's degree, and that the Beneficiary's 
2007 certificate based on three years of study was the equivalent of a United States bachelor's 
degree in foreign language education. In a letter dated September 30, 2015, 
Deputy Executive Director, Evaluations, for reaffirmed the previous evaluation, but 
acknowledged that "[fJoreign credential equivalencies may vary based on the methodology utilized 
in analyzing the credential." 
On August 31, 2015, the Director issued a request for evidence (RFE). The Director informed the 
Petitioner that he had reviewed the Electronic Database for Global Education (EDGE) created by the 
American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO). United States 
Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) considers EDGE to be a reliable, peer-reviewed 
source of information about foreign credentials equivalencies. 4 
The Director's RFE informed the Petitioner that according to EDGE, the Beneficiary's 2002 and 
2007 degrees each equated to three years of university study in the United States, and that neither 
was equivalent to a bachelor's degree in the United States. The RFE further advised that the 
Beneficiary's 2003 degree "is a one-year degree and is not equivalent to a [m]as~er's degree in the 
United States." 
In response to the RFE the Petitioner submitted a credentials evaluation performed on November 22, 
2015, by for concluded that the 
coursework completed by the Beneficiary for her 2002, 2003, and 2007 degrees combined to form 
"the equivalent of a Bachelor of Education with a major in Multicultural Education from a 
Regionally Accredited College or University in the United States of America." 
The Petitioner also submitted a credentials evaluation printed on letterhead of the 
and signed on November 18, 2015, by who identified 
himself as a professor there. concluded that the coursework completed by the 
Beneficiary for her 2002 degree was the "equivalent of three years towards a Bachelor's degree as 
granted in the United States." states that the Beneficiary's one year of coursework 
for her 2003 degree combined with the 2002 studies "represents concentrated study in 
the major that 
is comparable to the final year or study within a bachelor's degree. It is equivalent to a United States 
bachelor's degree with major in Multilingual and Multicultural Education." 
Neither the or evaluations indicate that any of the degrees individually are the foreign 
equivalent of a U.S. bachelor's degree as required by the labor certification or the foreign equivalent 
4 In Confluence Intern., Inc. v. Holder, 2009 WL 825793 (D.Minn. March 27, 2009), the court determined that we 
provided a rational explanation for our reliance on information provided by AACRAO to support our decision. 
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(b)(6)
Matter of 
of a U.S. master's degree, as is asserted by the evaluation. Similarly, none of the evidence 
explains why the evaluation finds the education equivalent to a master's degree, while the 
evaluations by and only consider all the combined education as the equivalent of a 
bachelor's degree. It is incumbent on the petitioner to resolve any inconsistencies in the record by 
independent objective evidence. Matter ofHo, 19 I&N Dec. 582, 591-592 (BIA 1988). 
In his decision, the Director noted discrepancies between the credentials evaluations submitted by 
the Petitioner, and also discrepancies between the evaluations and the information found in the 
EDGE database. As these discrepancies were not resolved, the Director concluded that the 
Beneficiary's education did not satisfy the requirements of the labor certification. Therefore, the 
Director denied the petition. 
II. ANALYSIS 
On appeal, the Petitioner states that the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) issued a teaching 
certificate to the Beneficiary, and stressed that to "qualify for licensure in Illinois, the ISBE requires 
at least a U.S. bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution or its equivalent." The 
Petitioner submitted evidence that the ISBE granted the Beneficiary a provisional certificate in Early 
Childhood Teaching on 2008, valid until 2011. The certificate dated May 7, 2009, 
notes that "beginning on February 1, 2012, some certificate and endorsement requirements will 
change." The Petitioner further submitted documentation that on January 26, 2011, the ISBE 
granted approval to the Beneficiary as a Bilingual Education Teacher-Spanish, and Teacher of 
English as a Second Language. On 2013, the ISBE reissued a teaching certificate to the 
Beneficiary, valid until 2018. 
However, the Petitioner does not specify what documentation was sent to the ISBE for licensure, or 
whether that documentation was consistent with the documentation contained in the current record of 
proceedings. It is also not clear how the ISBE evaluated foreign education in 2008, 2011, and 2013 
when the Beneficiary's applications were considered. It is unclear whether ISBE relied on an 
evaluation that accorded higher weight to the beneficiary's education than the other evaluations that 
the petitioner submitted, which did not find any of her education individually to be the equivalent of 
a U.S. bachelor's degree. We note that USCIS is not required to treat errors as binding precedent. 
Sussex Engg. Ltd. v. Montgomery, 825 F.2d 1084, 1090 (61h Cir. 1987); cert. denied, 485 U.S. 1008 
(1988). 
It is further unclear whether the ISBE accepted a combination of lesser degrees to form the "equivalent" 
to a bachelor's degree in the context of foreign education. However, as noted previously, combined 
educational credentials cannot· be accepted to meet the requirement of a bachelor's degree for the 
professional category, or here to meet the terms of the labor certification. 
f 
Also on appeal, the Petitioner stresses that the Beneficiary has completed over 6 years of post-
secondary education. The Petitioner cites the credentials evaluation performed by 
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who relies on the Beneficiary's combined academic studies as, together, being equivalent to a U.S. 
bachelor's degree. '-
The evaluation from concludes that the Beneficiary possesses the 
equivalent of two bachelor's degrees and one master's degree in the United States, while the 
evaluations from and conclude that the Beneficiary possesses the 
equivalent of only one bachelor's degree in the United States based on a combination of studies. 
The Director noted these inconsistencies within the documentation submitted by the Petitioner in his 
decision; however, the Petitioner did not submit any evidence to resolve these significant 
discrepancies on appeal. It is incumbent on the petitioner to resolve any inconsistencies in the 
record by independent objective evidence. Matter of Ho, 19 I&N Dec. 582, 591-592 (BIA 1988). 
The Petitioner has not resolved this discrepancy. 
Furthermore, USCIS uses an evaluation by a credentials evaluation organization of a person's 
foreign education as an advisory opinion only. Where an evaluation is not in accord with previous 
equivale~cies or is in any way questionable, it may be discounted or given less weight. Matter of 
Sea, Inc., 19 I&N Dec. 817 (Comm'r 1988). Matter ofCaron International, 19I&N Dec. 791 
(Comm. 1988). See also Matter of D-R-, 25 I&N Dec. 445 (BIA 2011) (expert witness testimony 
may be given different weight depending on the extent of the expert's qualifications or the relevance, 
reliability, and probative value of the testimony); Viraj, LLC v. Mayorkas, 2014 WL 4178338 *4 
(C.A.ll Ga. Aug. 25, 2014) (the AAO is entitled to give letters from professors and academic 
credentials evaluations less weight when they differ from the information provided in EDGE). 
Like the Director, we have reviewed ED,GE. EDGE states that a Maestro degree in Spain is 
"[a]warded after 3 years of university study" and represents attainment of a level of education 
comparable to three years of university study in the United States. This summary is supported by the 
Beneficiary's academic transcripts for her 2002 degree. EDGE states that a Master or Magister 
degree in Spain represents "attainment of a level of education comparable to 6 mont~s I 1 semester 
or up to 2 years of graduate study in the United States" and notes that "[t]hese post-graduate titles .. 
. exist outside the official titles sanctioned by the Ministry of Education and Science." As these 
titles are not official, the exact entry. requirements of the program are unclear, and would not 
represent either a completed master's degree or evidence that the Beneficiary had the foreign 
equivalent of a completed bachelor's degree in the U.S. Nothing shows that the Beneficiary had the 
foreign equivalent of a completed U.S. bachelor's degree based on any of the individual programs of 
study to meet the terms of the labor certification. The Petitioner suggests that these degrees should 
be counted as sequential academic studies, and that the Beneficiary's 2003 degree should be 
considered the final year of a 4-year bachelor's degree. However, as noted previously, educational 
programs cannot be combined to form the equivalent of a bachelor's degree in the professional 
category. The beneficiary must have a completed bachelor'.s degree that is the foreign equivalent to 
a U.S. bachelor's degree. 
I 
While the Petitioner is correct that the Beneficiary has accumulated more than 4 years of university 
study, the Petitioner has not established that those years of study actually form the foreign equivalent 
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to a U.S. bachelor's degree as is required by the labor certification and by the professional category. 
The terms of the labor certification require a completed U.S. bachelor's degree or a foreign 
equivalent degree. The professional category requires a bachelor's degree. The Beneficiary does 
not possess such a degree. Thus, the , Petitioner did not establish that the Beneficiary met the 
minimum educational requirements of the offered position set forth on the labor certification by the 
priority date. 
III. CONCLUSION 
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; See Matter of Brantigan, 11 I&N Dec. 493 
(BIA 1966); Matter ofOtiende, 26 I&N Dec. 127, 128 (BIA 2013). The Petitioner has not l_!let that 
- burden. 
ORDER: The appeal is dismissed. 
Cite as Matter of ID# 12055 (AAO Sept. 21, 2016)