remanded EB-3 Case: Religious Work

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
Non-Precedent Decision of the
Administrative Appeals Office 
Date: JUN. 09, 2023 In Re: 27191702 
Appeal of Nebraska Service Center Decision 
Form 1-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers (Other Worker) 
The Petitioner, a church, seeks to employ the Beneficiary as a pastoral assistant. It requests 
classification of the Beneficiary as an unskilled worker under the third preference immigrant 
classification . See Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act) section 203(b )(3)(A)(iii), 8 U.S .C. 
§ 1153(b)(3)(A)(iii). This employment-based immigrant classification allows a U.S. employer to 
sponsor a noncitizen for lawful permanent resident status to work in a position that requires less than 
two years of training or experience. 
The Director of the Nebraska Service Center denied the petition, concluding that the record did not 
establish that the Petitioner had the continuing ability to pay the wage offered to the Beneficiary as of 
the priority date of this petition. The Petitioner subsequently filed a motion to reopen, which the 
Director dismissed as untimely filed. The matter is now before us on appeal. 8 C.F.R. § 103.3. 
The Petitioner bears the burden of proof to demonstrate eligibility by a preponderance of the evidence. 
Matter ofChawathe, 25 I&N Dec. 369, 375-76 (AAO 2010). We review the questions in this matter 
de novo. Matter of Christo 's, Inc., 26 I&N Dec . 537, 537 n.2 (AAO 2015). Upon de novo review, 
we will withdraw the Director's decision and remand the matter for entry of a new decision consistent 
with the following analysis. 
I. LAW 
A motion to reopen must state new facts and be supported by documentary evidence. 
8 C.F.R. § 103.5(a)(2). It must be filed within 30 days of the decision the motion seeks to reopen (33 
days if the decision was sent by mail), but failure to file within this period may be excused in the 
discretion of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) if the delay was reasonable and 
beyond the control of the petitioner. 8 C.F.R. § 103.5(a)(l)(i). 
II. ANALYSIS 
The sole issue before us on appeal is whether the Director properly dismissed the Petitioner's motion 
to reopen as untimely filed . The record indicates that the Director's decision was issued on August 1, 
2022, and that the Petitioner's motion to reopen was received by USCIS 88 calendar days later on 
October 28, 2022. Although this is outside of the 33 days allowed by regulation, USCTS announced 
filing flexibilities related to the COVID 19 pandemic in March 2020. In the announcement of the final 
extension to these flexibilities on January 24, 2023, USCIS confirmed that a Form I-290B, Notice of 
Appeal or Motion, would be considered if it was filed up to 90 days from the issuance of a decision 
made between November 1, 2021 and March 23, 2023. 1 Therefore, since the decision was issued 
during this timeframe and the Petitioner's motion was received within 90 days of the decision, the 
Director improperly dismissed the motion as untimely. We therefore withdraw the Director's decision 
and remand this matter for his consideration of the entirety of the record, including the Petitioner's 
motion and supporting documentation. 
ORDER: The Director's decision is withdrawn. The matter is remanded for the entry of a new 
decision consistent with the foregoing analysis. 
1 https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/ale11s/uscis-extends-covid- l 9-related-flexibilities- l 
2