dismissed EB-3 Case: Electrical Engineering

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
MATTER OF T-I-S- (USA), INC. 
Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
DATE: SEPT. 22, 2017 
APPEAL OF NEBRASKA SERVICE CENTER DECISION 
PETITION: FORM 1-140, IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR ALIEN WORKER 
The Petitioner, a company that provides customized engineering solutions, seeks to employ the 
Beneficiary as an electrical automation engineer. It requests his classification 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 category allows a U.S. business to 
sponsor a foreign worker with a bachelor's degree or its foreign equivalent for lawful permanent 
resident status. 
The Director of the Nebraska Service Center denied the petition. The Director concluded that the 
record did not establish (1) that the position qualifies as a professional position, and (2) that the 
Beneficiary possesses the minimum education required for the requested classification. 
On appeal, the Petitioner submits additional evidence and asserts that the Beneficiary has the 
required educational qualifications. Upon de novo review, we will dismiss the appeal. 
I. LAW 
Employment-based immigration generally constitutes a three-step process. First, a prospective U.S. 
employer must obtain an approved ETA Form 9089, Application for Permanent Employment 
Certification (labor certification), from the U.S. Department of' Labor (DOL). See section 
212(a)(5)(A)(i) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(5)(A)(i). Next, the employer files a Form 1-140, 
Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, with U.S. Immigration and Citizenship Services (USCIS). See 
section 204 of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1154. Finally, if USCIS approves the petition, a foreign national 
may apply for an immigrant visa abroad or, if eligible, adjustment of status in the United States. See 
section 245 ofthe Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1255. 
II. ANALYSIS 
A. Labor Certification Does Not Support Requested Classification 
For professional classification, the Petitioner must establish that the job offer portion of the labor 
certification requires at least a bachelor's degree or a foreign equivalent degree. 8 C.F.R. 
§ 204.5(1)(3)(i). The regulation uses a singular description of degree. Thus, the plain meaning of the 
Matter ofT-I-S- (USA), Inc. 
regulatory language concerning the professional classification sets forth the requirement that the 
position must require one degree that is a U.S. bachelor's degree or determined to be the foreign 
equivalert of a U.S. baccalaureate degree in order to qualify as a professional position. 
In this case, the labor certification states that the minimum educational requirements of the offered 
position of electrical
1
engineer are a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering or a "directly related" 
major field of study. The labor certification also states the Petitioner's alternate acceptance of "any 
suitable combination of education, work experience or training as determined by a professional 
credentials evaluation service to be equivalent to a U.S. Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering 
or a directly related field." 
USCIS may not ignore a term of the labor certification, nor may it impose additional requirements. 
See Madany v. Smith, 696 F.2d 1008 (D.C. Cir. 1983); K.R.K. Irvine. Inc v. Landon., 699 F.2d 1006 
(9th Cir. 1983); Stewart ln,fra-Red Commissary of Massachusetts. Inc. v. Coomey, 661 F.2d 1 (1st 
Cir. 1981 ). US CIS interprets the meaning of terms used to describe the requirements of a job in a 
labor certification by "examin[ing] the certified job offer exactly as it is completed by the 
prospective employer." Rosedale Linden Park Company v. Smith, 595 F. Supp. 829, 833 (D.D.C. 
1984) (emphasis added). USCIS' interpretation of the job's requirements, as stated on the labor 
certification must involve "reading and applying the plain language of the [labor certification]" even 
if the employer may have intended different requirements than those stated on the form. !d. at 834 
(emphasis added). 
Here, the plain language of the labor certification allows an applicant to qualify for the job with less 
than a U.S. bachelor's degree or a foreign equivalent degree because it permits an applicant to qualify 
for the proffered job with a combination of education, work, and experience in lieu of a bachelor's 
degree. Because the labor certification does not require at least a U.S. bachelor's degree or a foreign 
equivalent degree, the petition cannot be approved under the professional classification. See 8 C.F.R. 
§ 204.5(1)(3)(i) (the labor certification underlying a petition for a professional must require at least a 
U.S. bachelor's degree or a foreign equivalent degree). 
On appeal, the Petitioner maintains that its alternate language on the labor certification is a 
restatement of the bachelor's degree requirement and that the Director erroneously found that the 
Petitioner would accept less than a bachelor's degree from an applicant for the proffered position. 
However, the Petitioner does not explain how its acceptance of any "combination of education, work 
experience, or training" in lieu of a bachelor's degree can simultaneously establish that the proffered 
position requires a bachelor's degree. Based on the plain language on the labor certification, the 
Petitioner has not established that it requires at least a bachelor's degree for the proffered position. 
The evidence submitted does not establish that the offered position requires at least a U.S. bachelor's 
degree or a foreign equivalent degree. As such, the labor certification does not support the requested 
professional classification and, therefore, the petition cannot be approved under the professional 
classification. 
2 
.
Matter ofT-I-S- (USA), Inc. 
B. Beneficiary's Education 
The second issue is whether the Beneficiary meets the education requirements of the requested 
classification. A petition for a professional must document that a beneficiary holds a U.S. bachelor's 
degree or a foreign equivalent degree. 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(1)(3)(ii)(C). 
On the labor certification, the Beneficiary attested to his receipt of an "other'' degree in electrical 
engineering from the 
in Germany in 2000. The Petitioner submitted a copy of a 2000 certificate from the 
school, awarding the Beneficiary the professional title of state-certified technician based on his 
completion of a two-year course of study in electrical engineering and passage of the final 
examination; however, a U.S. bachelor's degree generally reflects the completion of four years of 
studies. Matter of Shah, 17 I&N Dec. 244, 245 (Reg'l Comm'r 1977). The Petitioner also provided 
certificates of individualized , special training from the the and 
The Petitioner submitted a credentials evaluation prepared by an associate 
professor of computer applications and information systems at the 
Connecticut. noted that the Beneficiary has a 15-year work history of progressively 
increasing responsibility and stated tha:t after reviewing the Beneficiary's certificates and 
professional training, the Beneficiary had attained the equivalent of a bachelor's degree in 
electronics engineering technology from an accredited institution of higher education in the United 
States. did not suggest or conclude that any one of the Beneficiary's training or 
educational certificates was equivalent to a U.S. bachelor 's degree. As such, the Director found that 
the evidence did not demonstrate that the Beneficiary has a U.S. bachelor ' s degree or foreign 
equivalent degree. The Beneficiary therefore does not qualify for professional classification. 
On appeal, the Petitioner contends that the Director did not adequately explain why the Beneficiary ' s 
education and experience are not equivalent to a U.S. bachelor's degree and suggests that the 
Director erroneously concluded that the education and experience formula for H -1 B nonimmigrant 
workers does not apply in the immigrant worker context; however, the Petitioner does not explain 
how the formula for H-lB worker petitions applies to this, or any other, immigrant classification. 
The H-1 B classification permits the alternate equation of three years of relevant experience for one 
year of education. See 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(D)(5). Consequently , the agency may approve an 
H-lB petition based on a review of a beneficiary's relevant experience in a Cel1ain occupation in 
addition to their education, but that equivalence applies solely to the adjudication of H-1 B 
nonimmigrant worker petitions and not to immigrant worker petitions such as this. Although the 
Petitioner suggests that the regulation "does not specify that this formula is limited to the 
nonimmigrant context," in fact the regulation specifies that this formula is for purposes of 
establishing the H-1 B beneficiary qualifications listed at 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(iii)(C)( 4). 
Moreover, the Petitioner cannot establish that the Beneficiary satisfies the requirements of the 
professional classification With a combination of education, work experience, and training. The 
3 
Matter ofT-I-S- (USA), Inc. 
regulation at 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(1)(3)(ii)(C) uses a singular description of the degree required for 
classification as a professional. In 1991, when the final rule for 8 C.F.R. § 204.5 was published in 
the Federal Register, the former 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. 101-649 ( 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 lf!ast a bachelor's degree." 56 Fed. Reg. 60897, 60900 
(Nov. 29, 1991) (emphasis added). 
Moreover, in Snapnames.com, Inc. v. Michael Chertqff, 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 four-year U.S. bachelor's degree or foreign equivalent degree). 
Therefore, the Beneficiary's combination of education and work experience cannot qualify him for 
classification as a professional, which requires a minimum of a single U.S. bachelor's degree or 
foreign equivalent degree. 
III. CONCLUSION 
The record does not establish that the proffered position is eligible for professional classification, nor 
does it demonstrate that the Beneficiary possesses the minimum education required for the requested 
classification. 
ORDER: The appeal is dismissed. 
Cite as Matter q[T-I-S- (USA), Inc., 10# 704030 (AAO Sept. 22, 2017) 
4