remanded
EB-3
remanded EB-3 Case: Finance
Decision Summary
The Director's decision to revoke the petition was withdrawn and the case was remanded. The AAO determined that the Director first needed to establish whether the beneficiary qualified as an 'affected party' with legal standing in the revocation proceedings, based on the job portability provisions of the law, before ruling on the merits of the case.
Criteria Discussed
Beneficiary As An Affected Party Portability Eligibility (Ac21) Beneficiary'S Education Requirements Petitioner'S Ability To Pay Bona Fides Of The Job Offer Material Misrepresentation
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services MATTER OF C-F-G-, INC. APPEAL OF TEXAS SERVICE CENTER DECISION Non-Precedent Decision of the Administrative Appeals Office DATE: JAN. 23.2018 PETITION: FORM 1-140. IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR ALIEN WORKER The Petitioner, a financial services company, sought to employ the Beneficiary as an international financial analyst. It requested his classification as a professional under the third preference immigrant category. See Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act) 203(b)(3)(A)(ii), 8 U.S.C. ยง 1153(b)(3)(A)(ii). This category allows an employer to sponsor a foreign national with a baccalaureate degree for lawful permanent resident status. After first granting the tiling, the Director of the Texas Service Center revoked 1 the petition's approval. The Director concluded that the record did not establish, as required, that the Beneficiary met the minimum education requirements of the labor certification and that the Petitioner had the ability to pay the proffered wage. The Director also found that the record contained unresolved inconsistencies regarding the identity of the Petitioner, the corporate position of the individual who signed the petition. and the Beneficiary's employment experience which cast doubt on the honafides of the offered position. Finally, the Director invalidated the labor certification based on a finding that the Petitioner and the Beneficiary willfully misrepresented material facts concerning the Beneficiary's qualifications as well as the honafides of the Petitioner and its job offer. The matter is now before us on the Beneficiary's appeal. Although normally not the case. under certain circumstances described below, a beneficiary may be considered to be an atlectcd party in immigrant petition revocation proceedings. In this case, because the Director did not determine the Beneficiary"s eligibility to participate in the revocation proceedings. we will withdraw the Director"s decision and remand this matter for further proceedings consistent with the following decision. I. WHETHER THE BENEFICIARY IS AN AFFECTED PARTY U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) regulations do not generally allow a beneficiary to appeal a petition's revocation. See 8 C.F.R. ยง 103.3(a)(l )(iii)(B) (stating that a beneficiary is not an ยท'affected party"' with legal standing in a proceeding). However. certain --portability-eligible'" 1 At any time before a beneficiary obtains lawful permanent residence USCIS may revoke a petition's approval for ''good and sut1icient cause.ยทยท Section 205 of the Act. 8 U.S.C. ~ 1155. A petition's erroneous approval may in and of itself justify its revocation. Mutter of'Ho. 19 I&N Dec. 582. 589 (BIA 1988). Matter olC-F-Ci. Inc. beneficiaries of revoked I-140 visa petitions are treated as affected parties in revocation proceedings. Section 204U) of the Act 8 U .S.C. ยง 1154(j). See Matter of V-S-G- Inc., Adopted Decision 2017-06 (AAO Nov. 1 L 20 17). Under the portability provision of section 204(j) of the Act approved petitions may remain valid under certain conditions even after eligible beneficiaries change jobs or employers. A beneficiary of a valid visa petition, whose application tor adjustment of status remains pending for at least 180 days, may "port" the petition to a new job ifthatjob is in the same or similar occupational classification as the position offered in the petition. Thus. even though the petitioner tor the visa classification and its beneficiary are no longer in an employment relationship. the underlying petition may remain valid tor purposes of the beneficiary's adjustment of status application. In Malter of V-S-G- Inc., we held that "[b ]eneticiaries of valid employment-based immigrant visa petitions who are eligible to change jobs or employers and who have properly requested to do so [under section 204(j)]. are 'affected parties' under DHS regulations tor purposes of revocation proceedings .... " Matter of V-5'-G- Inc .. Adopted Decision 2017-06 at *I. Here. the Beneficiary asserts his eligibility for portability, but, because the revocation decision predated Matter of V-S-Gยญ Inc., the Director did not determine whether the Beneficiary had properly ported and thus should be treated as an affected party in the revocation proceedings. We will therefore withdraw the Director's decision and remand this matter. On remand. the Director should determine whether the Beneficiary properly ported under section 204(j) of the Act. This determination involves considering whether the Beneficiary's adjustment of status application had been pending for at least 180 days at the time of the request to port. See 8 C.F.R. ยง 245.25(a)(2). It also involves considering whether USCIS received sutlicient notice of the Beneficiary's new job and whether the job is in "the same or similar occupational classification" as the position offered in the petitiOn. /d.: see also USC IS Policy Memorandum PM-602-0152. Guidance on Notice to. and Standin;;fiJr. A( '21 Beneficiaries ahout I-I.JO Approvals Be in;; Re\'liked A(ier Malter of l'-5,'-G- Inc. (Nov. II. 2017). http://www.uscis.gov/laws/policy-memoranda. If the Beneficiary is found to have properly ported, the Director will issue a new notice of intent to revoke (NOIR) to the Petitioner and the Beneficiary. If the Beneficiary did not properly port the Director should issue a new NOIR to the Petitioner only. Upon receipt of a timely rcsponsc(s) to a new NOIR. the Director should review the entire record and enter a new decision. II. CONCLUSION Based on the foregoing, we remand this matter to the Director to determine the Beneficiary's eligibility to participate in revocation proceedings as an affected party. 2 Mal/er of C-F-Ci, Inc. ORDER: The decision of the Director is withdrawn. The matter is remanded for further proceedings consistent with the foregoing opinion and for the entry of a new decision. If the Beneficiary is deemed to be an atlected party. and the new decision is adverse. the new decision shall be certified to us for review. Cite as Maller ofC-F-G, Jnc.,lD# 1049959 (AAO Jan. 23. 2018)
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