dismissed EB-3 Case: Sports Management

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
MATTER OF G-A-, INC. 
Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
DATE: OCT.27,2017 
APPEAL OF NEBRASKA SERVICE CENTER DECISION 
PETITION: I-140, IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR ALIEN WORKER 
The Petitioner, an elementary and secondary school, seeks to employ the Beneficiary as director of 
sports activities. 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 of the Nebraska Service Center denied the petition. The Director found that the 
Beneficiary does not have a bachelor's degree or a foreign equivalent degree and therefore was not 
eligible for classification as a professional and did not meet the minimum educational requirement of 
the labor certification. The Director also found that the Petitioner could not amend the petition to 
change the requested employment-based classification to skilled worker. 
On appeal the Petitioner submits a brief and supporting documents. The Petitioner asserts that the 
Director erred in finding that the Beneficiary lacked the requisite education because the Department of 
Labor (DOL) accepted the Beneficiary's educational qualifications when it approved the labor 
certification. The Petitioner also asserts that we should accept the amended petition to change the 
classification request. 
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 DOL. 1 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 
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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 rrom the priority date onward. 
Matter ofG-A-, Inc. 
Act. Second, the employer files 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 
petition, the foreign national applies 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. 
A petition requesting professional classification "must be accompanied by evidence that the alien 
holds a United States baccalaureate degree or a foreign equivalent degree.'' 8 C.F.R. 
§ 204.5(1)(3)(ii)(C). "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." !d. A beneficiary must also meet all of the education, training, experience, 
and other requirements specified on the labor certification as of the petition's priority date. See 
Matter ofWing's Tea House, 16 I&N Dec. 158, 159 (Acting Reg'! Comm'r 1977). 
II. ANALYSIS 
In its Form 1-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, the Petitioner checked the box at part 2.1.e. 
which specified that the petition was being filed for "[a] professional (at a minimum, possessing a 
bachelor's degree or a foreign degree equivalent to a U.S. bachelor's degree)." The accompanying 
labor certification stated that the offered position requires a bachelor's degree in sports management and 
that no alternate combination of education and experience was acceptable. 
In section J of the labor certification the Beneficiary asserted that he achieved a bachelor's level of 
education in sports management by virtue of 14 years of professional experience which he 
completed by 2009. The Beneficiary did not claim to have a degree from any college, university, or 
other post-secondary educational institution. 
In denying the petition the Director cited the regulatory requirement of a bachelor's degree or a 
foreign equivalent degree for an individual to be eligible for classification as a professional, and also 
referred to the labor certification's minimum educational requirement of a bachelor's degree. The 
Director did not accept the Petitioner's contention that the Beneficiary's job experience in the field 
of sports could substitute for a degree because the regulation at 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(1)(3)(ii)(C) 
expressly requires a degree for the professional classification. The Petitioner's submission of an 
"amended" Form 1-140 changing the requested classification to skilled worker could not be accepted 
in this proceeding, the Director determined, because it represented a material change to the petition. 
On appeal the Petitioner asserts that the Beneficiary's educational qualifications were accepted by 
the DOL during the labor certification process, and that USCIS should not reverse DOL 
determinations that are part of the labor certification. The Petitioner misconstrues the scope of the 
labor certification, and the respective roles of DOL and USC IS in the employment-based immigrant 
visa process. It is clear under applicable law that the DOL's responsibility in the labor certification 
process is to determine whether there are qualified U.S. workers available to perform the offered 
position, and whether the employment of the beneficiary will adversely affect similarly employed 
U.S. workers. It is the responsibility of USCIS, not DOL, to determine if the beneficiary has the 
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Matter of G-A-. Inc. 
requisite qualifications (education, experience, etc.) to qualify for the offered position, and whether 
the offered position and the beneficiary are eligible for the requested employment-based immigrant 
classification. See section 212(a)(5)(A)(i) of the Act; 20 C.P.R.§ 656; Madany v. Smith, 696 F.2d 
1008, 1012-13 (D.C. Cir. 1983); K.R.K. Irvine. Inc. v. Landon, 699 F.2d 1006, 1008 (9th Cir. 1983). 
Thus, the DOL's labor certification did not include any determination as to the Beneficiary's 
educational qualifications, and the Director'.s finding that the Beneficiary did not have the requisite 
educational degree to qualify for classification as a professional and the job offered under the terms 
of the labor certification did not reverse any DOL determination. 
Furthermore, we agree with the Director that experience cannot be substituted for a degree in this 
case. The Act, in its section on the allocation of immigrant visas, defines the "professional" 
classification as "[ q]ualified immigrants who hold baccalaureate degrees." The regulations 
applicable to petitions for employment-based immigrants specifically require a bachelor's degree for 
classification as a professional, and do not allow experience, or a combination of education and 
experience, to be substituted for a degree. "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 degree .... " 8 C.P.R. § 204.5(1)(3)((ii)(C). Moreover, if a bachelor's degree is 
statutorily required for the requested classification, as in this case, and the labor certification requires 
a bachelor's degree or a foreign equivalent, it is proper for USCIS to conclude that the degree 
requirement cannot be met with a combination of education and experience and that a single U.S. or 
foreign equivalent degree is required. See Snapnames. com. Inc. v. Michael Cherto_(f; 2006 WL 
341005 at 11-13, 17, 19 (D.Or. Nov. 30, 2006); see also Maramjaya v. USC IS, Civ. Act No. 06-2158 
(RCL) (D.C. Cir. March 26, 2008). 
The Petitioner also asserts that an "amended" Form I-140 petition requesting skilled worker 
classification for the Beneficiary, which was submitted with its response to the Director's request for 
evidence, should be accepted as replacing the original request for professional classification. We 
cannot accept the amended petition. A petitioner may not make material changes to a petition that 
has already been filed in an effort to conform a deficient petition to USCIS requirements. See 
Matter o.f Izummi, 22 I&N Dec. 169, 176 (Assoc. Comm'r 1988). Even if we did accept the 
amended petition, it would not make the petition approvable because the Beneficiary would still not 
qualify for the job offered under the terms of the labor certification, which specifies that the 
minimum educational requirement is a bachelor's degree. 
II. CONCLUSION 
The Beneficiary does not have a bachelor's degree or a foreign equivalent degree. Therefore, he is not 
eligible for classification as a professional and does not meet the minimum educational requirement of 
the labor certification. 
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Matter ofG-A-, Inc. 
ORDER: The appeal is dismissed. 
Cite as Matter ofG-A-, Inc., ID# 745127 (AAO Oct. 27, 2017) 
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