sustained EB-3 Case: Education

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
Non-Precedent Decision of the
Administrative Appeals Office 
Date: SEP. 25, 2024 In Re: 33402908 
Appeal of Texas Service Center Decision 
Form 1-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers (Professional) 
The Petitioner, a public school district, seeks to employ the Beneficiary as an "elementary PK-5 
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. Id. 
The Director of the Texas Service Center denied the petition, concluding the Beneficiary did not 
possess the foreign equivalent of a U.S. bachelor's degree in any major academic field as required by 
the labor certification and was not eligible for classification as a professional. The matter is now 
before us on appeal. 8 C.F.R. § 103.3. 
The Petitioner bears the burden of establishing eligibility for the requested benefit by a preponderance 
of evidence. Matter ofChawathe, 25 I&N Dec. 369, 375-76 (AAO 2010). We review the questions 
in this matter de novo. Matter of Christa's, Inc. , 26 I&N Dec. 537, 537 n.2 (AAO 2015). Upon de 
novo review, we will sustain the appeal. 
I. EMPLOYMENT-BASED IMMIGRATION 
Immigration as a professional generally follows a three-step process. First, a prospective employer 
must apply to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) for certification that: (1) there are insufficient U.S. 
workers able, willing, qualified, and available for an offered position; and (2) the employment of a 
noncitizen in the position won't harm wages and working conditions of U.S. workers with similar jobs. 
See section 212(a)(5) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § l 182(a)(5). 
Second, an employer must submit an approved labor certification with an immigrant visa petition to 
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). See section 204 of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1154. 
Among other things, USCIS determines whether a noncitizen beneficiary meets the requirements of a 
certified position and a requested immigrant visa category. 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(1). 
Finally, ifUSCIS approves a petition, a designated noncitizen may apply for an immigrant visa abroad 
or, if eligible, "adjustment of status" in the United States. See section 245 of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1255. 
II. ANALYSIS 
A petition for a professional must demonstrate that a beneficiary holds at least a U.S. bachelor's degree 
or a foreign equivalent degree. 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(1)(3)(ii)(C). The evidence must include "an official 
college or university record showing the date the baccalaureate degree was awarded 
and the area of 
concentration of study." Id. 
A petitioner must also establish a beneficiary's possession of all DOL-certified job requirements of an 
offered position by a petition's priority date. Matter of Wing's Tea House, 16 I&N Dec. 158, 160 
(Acting Reg'! Comm'r 1977). In assessing a beneficiary's qualifications, USCIS must examine the 
job-offer portion of an accompanying labor certification to determine a position's minimum 
requirements. USCIS may neither ignore a certification term, nor impose additional requirements. 
See, e.g., Madany v. Smith, 696 F.2d l 008, lO15 (D.C. Cir. 1983) (holding that "DOL bears authority 
for setting the content of the labor certification") ( emphasis added). 
The accompanying labor certification stated that the minimum educational requirement of the offered 
position was a bachelor's degree in "any academic major field." On the labor certification, the 
Beneficiary attested that by the petition's priority date, he had earned the equivalent of a U.S. 
bachelor's degree in the field of food science in 2012. The Petitioner submitted a copy of a diploma 
from a university in Mexico, indicating the Beneficiary's receipt of a "Licenciado en Administraci6n 
Gastron6mica," translated to a bachelor's degree in gastronomic administration. Further, the 
Petitioner submitted a transcript from the Mexican university indicating that he completed his degree 
under a trimester format, as opposed to the typical fall and spring semester model followed in the 
United States (usually totaling eight semesters in four years). The Beneficiary's university transcript 
reflects that he completed ten semesters of university coursework under this trimester format. The 
Petitioner also submitted an independent, academic credentials report concluding that the 
Beneficiary's degree is equivalent to a U.S. bachelor of science degree in gastronomic management, 
equating to 132 hours of undergraduate coursework. 
In denying the petition, the Director concluded the Petitioner did not establish that the Beneficiary 
possessed a U.S. bachelor's degree or the foreign equivalent as of the priority date. The Director 
reasoned that according to Electronic Database for Global Education (EDGE), 1 the Beneficiary's 
foreign degree represented a professional license to practice in his field and was not the foreign 
equivalent of a four-year U.S. bachelor's degree. 
On appeal, the Petitioner contends that the Beneficiary's foreign degree is the equivalent of four years 
of U.S. undergraduate study since it was completed under a tri-semester format. The Petitioner points 
1 Federal courts consider EDGE to be a reliable source of information about foreign credentials equivalencies. EDGE was 
created by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO), a non-profit, voluntary 
group of more than 11.000 higher-education professionals representing about 2,600 institutions in more than 40 countries. 
See AACRAO, "Who We Are," https://www.aacrao.org/who-we-are (last visited Sept. 25, 2024); see also. e.g.. Viraj. LLC 
v. U.S. Att'y Gen., 578 Fed. Appx. 907, 910 (11th Cir. 2014) (describing EDGE as "a respected source of information"). 
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to the Beneficiary's transcript asserting this supports he completed the equivalent of four years of 
undergraduate study. The Petitioner also stated that a typical U.S. bachelor's degree program requires 
120 credit hours and emphasizes that the Beneficiary's transcripts and academic equivalencies reflect 
that he completed over 132 credit hours. 
Upon review, we conclude that it is more likely than not that the Beneficiary earned the foreign 
equivalent of a U.S. bachelor's degree in "any academic major field." The information in EDGE 
indicates that the Beneficiary's degree, awarded after the equivalent of four years of study in the 
United States, represents attainment of a level of education comparable to a bachelor's degree in the 
United States.2 The Beneficiary's university transcript reflects that he completed ten semesters of 
university coursework under the trimester format, equating in this case to four years of university study 
in the United States. Further, the Petitioner provided credible educational equivalency evaluations 
indicating that the Beneficiary completed the equivalent of 132 semester hours of U.S. university 
coursework. Therefore, based on the guidance from EDGE and the credible evidence in the record, it 
appears more likely than not that the Beneficiary completed the equivalent of four years of U.S. 
university coursework and earned the foreign equivalent of a U.S. bachelor's degree. 
The Petitioner has sufficiently demonstrated the Beneficiary holds the foreign equivalent of a U.S. 
bachelor's degree in "any academic major field," and therefore, that he meets the requirements of the 
labor certification and the regulatory definition of a professional. For this reason, the Petitioner has 
established that the Beneficiary is eligible for the benefit sought. 
ORDER: The appeal is sustained. 
See AACRAO EDGE, Mexico Credentials, "Licenciatura/Titulo de Licenciado(a)/Titulo de ... ," 
https: //www.aacrao.org/ edge/ country Icredentials/ credential/mexico/licenciatura-t%C3 %ADtulo-de- licenciado( a)-
t%C3 %ADtulo-de-( i)(licentiate) (last visited Sept. 25, 2024). 
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