dismissed H-1B Case: Accounting

U.S. Department of Homeland Security 
20 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Rm. A3042 
Washington, DC 20529 
U. S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
FILE: WAC 04 088 5079 1 Office: CALIFORNIA SERVICE CENTER Date: bk 3 - 
IN RE: 
PETITION: Petition for a Nonirnrnigrant Worker Pursuant to Section lOl(a)(lS)(H)(i)(b) of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. 5 1 lOl(a)(lS)(H)(i)(b) 
ON BEHALF OF PETITIONER: 
INSTRUCTIONS: 
This is the decision of the Administrative Appeals Office in your case. All materials have been returned 
to the office that originally decided your case. Any further inquiry must be made to that office. 
Robert P. Wiemann, Director 
Administrative Appeals Office 
WAC 04 088 50791 
Page 2 
DISCUSSION: The service center director denied the nonirnmigrant visa petition. The matter is now on 
appeal before the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO). The appeal will be dismissed. The petition will be 
denied. 
The petitioner is an employee leasing company. It seeks to employ the beneficiary as a budget accountant 
and to classify her as a nonimmigrant worker in a specialty occupation pursuant to section 
101 (a)(lS)(H)(i)(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act), 8 U.S.C. 5 1 lOl(a)(lS)(H)(i)(b). 
The director denied the petition on the ground that the record did not establish that the proffered position 
qualifies as a specialty occupation. 
Section 214(i)(l) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. 5 1184(i)(l), defines the term "specialty occupation" as an 
occupation that requires: 
(A) theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge, 
and 
(B) attainment of a bachelor's or higher degree in the specific specialty (or its 
equivalent) as a minimum for entry into the occupation in the United States. 
As provided in 8 C.F.R. 5 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A), to qualify as a specialty occupation the position must meet 
one of the following criteria: 
(I) A baccalaureate or higher degree or its equivalent is normally the minimum 
requirement for entry into the particular position; 
(2) The degree requirement is common to the industry in parallel positions among 
similar organizations or, in the alternative, an employer may show that its 
particular position is so complex or unique that it can be performed only by an 
individual with a degree; 
(3) The employer normally requires a degree or its equivalent for the position; or 
(4) The nature of the specific duties is so specialized and complex that knowledge 
required to perform the duties is usually associated with the attainment of a 
baccalaureate or higher degree. 
Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) interprets the term "degree" in the criteria at 8 C.F.R. 
5 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A) to mean not just any baccalaureate or higher degree, but one in a specific specialty 
that is directly related to the proffered position. 
The record of proceeding before the AAO contains (1) Form 1-129 and supporting documentation; (2) the 
director's request for evidence (RFE); (3) the petitioner's response to the RFE; (4) the notice of decision; 
and (5) Form I-29OB, an appeal brief, and supporting materials. The AAO reviewed the record in its 
entirety before issuing its decision. 
WAC 04 088 50791 
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In a letter accompanying Form 1-129 the petitioner described itself as an employee leasing company 
providing human resources functions to its clients. The petitioner indicated that its business, established 
in 2001, had gross annual income of $1.3 million and a staff of 21 employees at the time of filing in 
January 2004. Because of its rapid growth, the petitioner declared, it needed to hire a part-time budget 
accountant (30 hourslweek) "to provide budgeting, performance evaluation, cost management, and asset 
management to our organization." The duties of the proffered position were listed as follows: 
Analyze financial information of the company and work with the owner/adrninistrator in 
preparing budgets, cost and asset management. 
Develop, analyze and execute budgets to allocate current resources, find the most efficient 
distribution of funds and resources and estimate future financial requirements. 
Analyze operation trends, costs, revenues, financial commitments and obligations incurred to 
project future revenues and expenses. 
Examine, analyze and seek new ways to improve efficiency and increase profits and evaluate 
the company's priorities and financial resources. 
Develop, maintain, and analyze budgets and prepare periodic reports comparing budget costs 
to actual costs; prepare periodic and cash budgets and compute break-even points. 
1 Monitor the budget by reviewing reports and accounting records to determine if allocated 
funds have been spent as specified; recommend new or revised plans and procedures. 
The beneficiary is qualified for the position, the petitioner asserted, by virtue of her bachelor of science 
degree, with a major in banking and finance, from the University of the East in Manila, the Philippines, 
granted in October 1974, and her accounting experience. In response to the RFE the petitioner provided a 
more detailed description of the proffered position's duties, and the percentage of time required by each: 
30% Analyze financial information detailing assets, liabilities and capital and prepare balance 
sheet, financial statements, profit and loss statements and other reports to summarize 
current and projected company financial position using computer software. Prepare on a 
monthly basis income statement, balance sheet and statement of cash flow. Prepare on a 
semiannual basis an owner's equity statement. Prepare on a weekly basis a cash flow 
statement. Prepare bank reconciliation. Identify, compute and record determinable and 
estimated current liabilities. Compute periodic depreciation. Record property and 
equipment transactions. Apply the matching rule to the allocation of expired cost for 
capital and expenditures and revenue expenditures. Account for the disposal of 
depreciable assets. Apply the matching rule to goodwill. Classify variable costs, semi- 
variable costs and fixed assets. Compute the break-even points. Use contribution margin 
analysis to estimate levels of sales that will produce planned profits. Prepare periodic 
and cash budgets. Monitor the budget by reviewing reports and accounting records to 
determine if allocated funds have been spent as specified to recommend for new or revise 
plans and procedures. 
25% Analyze financial information to prepare entries to accounts. Construct special purpose 
journals, such as purchases journal, cash receipts journal, cash payment journal and 
others as needed by the company. Apply horizontal analysis, trend analysis and vertical 
analysis to financial statements. Apply ratio analysis to financial statements in the study 
of the company's liquidity, profitability, long-term solvency and market tests. 
WAC 04 088 50791 
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20% Set up voucher system to give documentary proof and written authorization for business 
transactions. Establish a petty cash fund and prepare petty cash vouchers for each 
expenditure. Reimburse petty cash fund at specific intervals. Track down losses on 
uncollectible accounts (bad debts) and match them against company's profits. Estimate 
uncollectible accounts expense. Write off uncollectible accounts. Account for cash and 
short-term investments. 
20% Analyze the forms, records, procedures, processing methods, and reports used by the 
business. Make minor or major revision where appropriate. Integrate control measures 
throughout the accounting system. Advise owner of the tax advantages and 
disadvantages of certain business decisions. 
5% Maintain budgeting systems which provide control of expenditures made to carry out 
activities, such as advertising and marketing, production, maintenance and to project 
activities of the company. Negotiate dental HMO and medical contracts, negotiate fee 
and prepare fee schedule for health services. 
The director found that the proffered position - based on such evidentiary factors as the nature and scale 
of the petitioner's business operations, the petitioner's organizational chart, and the particular duties of 
the position - was akin to that of a bookkeeping, accounting, or auditing clerk, as described in the 
Department of Labor (D0L)'s Occupational Outlook Handbook (Handbook). The director stated that the 
evidence was insufficient to show that the job duties could not be performed by an individual with a sub- 
baccalaureate level of training. The petitioner did not demonstrate that it had required a baccalaureate or 
higher degree in a specific specialty for the proffered position in the past, the director declared, or that 
such a degree was common to the petitioner's industry in parallel positions among similar organizations. 
Nor did the petitioner show that the duties of the proffered position were so specialized and complex that 
they required baccalaureate or higher-level knowledge to perform them. The director concluded that the 
proffered position did not qualify as a specialty occupation under any of the criteria enumerated at 
8 C.F.R. S, 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A). 
In determining whether a position meets the statutory and regulatory criteria of a specialty occupation, 
CIS routinely consults the DOL Handbook as an authoritative source of information about the duties and 
educational requirements of particular occupations. Factors typically considered are whether the 
Handbook indicates a degree is required by the industry; whether the industry's professional association 
has made a degree a minimum entry requirement; and whether letters or affidavits from firms or 
individuals in the industry attest that such firms "routinely employ and recruit only degreed individuals." 
See Shanti, Inc. v. Reno, 36 F.Supp. 2d 1151, 1165 (D.Minn. 1999) (quoting HirdBEaker COT. v. Suva, 
712 F.Supp. 1095, 1102 (S.D.N.Y. 1989)). CIS also analyzes the specific duties and complexity of the 
position at issue, with the Handbook's occupational descriptions as a reference, as well as the petitioner's 
past hiring practices for the position. See Shanti Inc. v. Reno, id., at 1165-66. 
On appeal counsel asserts that the director erred in finding that the duties of the proffered position 
reflected those of bookkeeping clerk because the evidence submitted by the petitioner demonstrated its 
need for a "budget accountant to analyze records of present and past operation, trends and costs, estimated 
and realized revenues, administrative commitments and obligations incurred to project future revenues 
WAC 04 088 50791 
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and expenses." Counsel contends that the petitioner's organizational chart included "the name of its 
accountant with a bachelor's degree in accounting or a related field," thereby showing that it normally 
requires a degree for the position. Submitted with the appeal is an expert opinion letter from a university 
professor who states that the duties of the proffered position require at least a bachelor's degree. Counsel 
asserts that the proffered position qualifies as a specialty occupation under each alternative criterion 
enumerated at 8 C.F.R. 5 214,2(h)(4)(iii)(A). 
According to the Handbook there are four major fields of accounting - public, management, government, 
and internal auditors - of which management accountant appears closest to the proffered position in this 
case. As described in the Handbook, 2004-05 edition, at 68-69: 
Management accountants - also called cost, managerial, industrial, corporate, or private 
accountants - record and analyze the financial information of the companies for which 
they work. Other responsibilities include budgeting, performance evaluation, cost 
management and asset management. Usually, management accountants are part of 
executive teams involved in strategic planning or new-product development. They 
analyze and interpret the financial information that corporate executives need to make 
sound business decisions. They also prepare financial reports for nonmanagement 
groups, including stockholders, creditors, regulatory agencies, and tax authorities. 
Within accounting departments, they may work in various areas including financial 
analysis, planning and budgeting and cost accounting. 
Most accounting positions, as indicated in the Handbook, require a bachelor's degree in accounting or a 
related field. See id. at 70. Accountants, therefore, qualify as a specialty occupation under the Act. By 
comparison, the Handbook describes the occupation of bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks as 
follows: 
Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks are an organization's financial 
recordkeepers. They update and maintain one or more accounting records, including 
those which tabulate expenditures, receipts, accounts payable and receivable, and profit 
and loss. They have a wide range of skills and knowledge from full-charge bookkeepers 
who can maintain an entire company's books to accounting clerks who handle specific 
accounts. All of these clerks make numerous computations each day and increasingly 
must be comfortable using computers to calculate and record data. 
In small establishments, bookkeeping clerks handle all financial transactions and 
recordkeeping. They record all transactions, post debits and credits, produce financial 
statements, and prepare reports and summaries for supervisors and managers. 
Bookkeepers also prepare bank deposits by compiling data from cashiers, verifying and 
balancing receipts, and sending cash, checks, or other forms of payment to the bank. 
They also may handle payroll, make purchases, prepare invoices, and keep track of 
overdue accounts. 
In large offices and accounting departments, accounting clerks have more specialized 
tasks . . . such as accounts payable . . . or accounts receivable . . . . Entry-level accounting 
clerks post details of transactions, total accounts, and compute interest charges. They 
WAC 04 088 5079 1 
Page 6 
also may monitor loans and accounts, to ensure that payments are up to date. More 
advanced accounting clerks may total, balance, and reconcile billing vouchers; ensure 
completeness and accuracy of data on accounts; and code documents, according to 
company procedures. 
Auditing clerks verify records of transactions posted by other workers. They check 
figures, postings, and documents to ensure that they are correct, mathematically accurate, 
and properly coded. They also correct or note errors for accountants or other workers to 
adjust. 
Handbook, id., at 437. According to the Handbook, at 434, a two-year associate's degree in business or 
accounting is often required for bookkeeping and accounting clerk positions. A four-year bachelor's degree is 
not required for entry-level positions, the Handbook indicates, though many such degree-holders accept 
bookkeeping and accounting clerk positions to get into the field or a particular company with the aim of 
being promoted to professional or managerial positions. See id. Many graduates of junior colleges as well 
as business and correspondence schools can obtain junior accounting positions. See id. at 71. The most 
significant source of education or training for tax preparers is moderate-term on-the-job training. See id. at 
649. 
In determining the nature of a particular position, and whether it qualifies as a specialty occupation, the 
duties that will actually be performed are determinative, not the title of the position. The petitioner must 
show that the performance demands of the position compel its degree requirement. The critical issue is 
not the employer's self-imposed standard, but whether the position actually requires the theoretical and 
practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge and the attainment of a baccalaureate or 
higher degree in the specific specialty as a minimum for entry into the occupation. C$ Defensor v. 
Meissner, 201 F.3d 384,387-88 (5th Cir. 2000). 
The record in this case does not establish that the performance demands of the proffered position require a 
baccalaureate degree in accounting or a related specialty. While the position may include some duties 
that involve accounting functions, the AAO is not persuaded that they are at a level of specialization or 
complexity that they require the theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized 
knowledge and a baccalaureate degree or its equivalent in accounting or a related specialty field. The 
proffered position lacks crucial attributes of a management accounting position, as described in the 
Handbook. For example, the Handbook indicates that management accountants are involved in strategic 
planning or new-product development, usually as part of an executive team, and prepare financial reports 
for nonrnanagement groups like stockholders, creditors, regulatory agencies, and tax authorities. These 
functions are not reflected in the petitioner's description of the proffered position's duties. Thus, the 
scope of the proffered position lacks both the breadth and the depth of a management accounting position. 
Furthermore, the record indicates that the petitioner already employed one or two accountants, in addition 
to a bookkeeper, by the spring of 2004. In the organizational chart it submitted in April 2004, as part of 
its response to the RFE, the petitioner identified one accountant already in its employ as well as a vacant 
"budget accountant" position, which is the subject of the instant H-1B petition. At the same time, 
however, the petitioner submitted a list of its employees as of March 31, 2004 that includes two 
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1 accountants, one of whom is not identified anywhere on the organizational chart. The petitioner has not 
explained that discrepancy. It is incumbent upon a petitioner to resolve any inconsistencies in the record 
by independent objective evidence. Attempts to explain or reconcile such inconsistencies will not suffice 
without competent evidence pointing to where the truth lies. See Matter of Ho, 19 I&N Dec. 582,591-92, 
(BIA 1988). Moreover, doubt cast on any aspect of a petitioner's proof may lead to a reevaluation of the 
reliability and sufficiency of the remaining evidence. Id. The petitioner has not distinguished the duties 
to be performed by the budget accountant from those being performed by the accountant(s) already in its 
employ. Nor has the petitioner established that a company of its nature, with gross annual income of $1.3 
million, which already employs two accountants according to its employee list, will employ the services 
of a third accountant. While the size of the company does not, in and of itself, determine its need for an 
additional accountant, the petitioner's income level and scale of operations does have a direct and 
substantial bearing on the scope of the duties the beneficiary would perform in the proffered position. 
On appeal the petitioner has submitted a letter from a professor of finance at Seattle Pacific University 
(SPU) who states his opinion that "[blased on a comparison of similar companies and a review of the 
principal duties and responsibilities of the position," the budget accountant position would require a 
baccalaureate degree in business administration, accounting, or a related field. The professor's letter does 
not address any of the evidentiary shortcomings and inconsistencies discussed above, however, and 
provides no details about the "similar companies" he claims to have compared to the petitioner. CIS may, 
in its discretion, use as advisory opinions statements from universities, professional organizations, or 
other sources submitted in evidence as expert testimony. When an opinion is not accord with other 
information or is in any way questionable, however, CIS is not required to accept or may give less weight 
to that evidence. See Matter of Caron International, Inc., 19 I&N Dec. 791, 795 (Cornm. 1988). The 
AAO determines that the letter from the SPU professor is not persuasive evidence that the proffered 
position requires the services of an individual with a baccalaureate degree in a specific specialty. 
The AAO agrees with the director that the record fails to establish that the beneficiary would be 
performing the duties of an accountant in the proffered position, or that the duties of the position are so 
specialized and complex that they could not be performed by an experienced bookkeeping or accounting 
clerk. As discussed in the Handbook, a baccalaureate or higher degree is not the normal minimum 
requirement for entry into a bookkeeping and accounting clerk position, though employers often require a 
2 two-year associate's degree in business or accounting. Since bookkeeping and accounting clerks do not 
1 Both the organizational chart and the employee list identify a total of 42 employees, twice the number indicated by 
the petitioner in Form 1-129. No explanation is provided by the petitioner. 
2 According to the website for Skyline College, a community college located in San Mateo, California, 
(wu~w.skylinecolleee.net), an associate's degree in business or accounting would involve learning the fundamentals 
about financial accounting principles and concepts, balance sheets, income statements, cash flow statements, the 
GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles), forecasting, budgeting, cost accounting, and break even analysis, 
as well as developing and operating a computerized accounting system using tools such as QuickBooks, 
QuickBooks Pro, or Peachtree, an integrated commercial accounting software package that is used to review, 
differentiate, and interpret accounting concepts and data in a multitude of business situations. Thus, an associate's 
degree provides basic knowledge about accounting that can be applied on the job by bookkeeping and accounting 
clerks. Considering the nature of the petitioner's business and the scale of its operations, the AAO concludes that a 
bookkeeping or accounting clerk could perform the services of the proffered position. 
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require a baccalaureate degree in accounting or a related specialty, the proffered position does not meet 
the first alternative criterion of a specialty occupation at 8 C.F.R. 5 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A)(l). 
As for the second alternative criterion of a specialty occupation, there is no evidence in the record that a 
bachelor's degree in a specific specialty is a common industry requirement in parallel positions anlong 
organizations similar to the petitioner, as required for the proffered position to qualify as a specialty 
occupation under the first prong of 8 C.F.R. 5 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A)(2). Nor does the record establish that 
the proffered position is so complex or unique that it can only be performed by an individual with a 
bachelor's degree in a specific specialty, as required for the position to qualify as a specialty occupation 
under the second prong of 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A)(2). 
As for the third alternative criterion of a specialty occupation, the petitioner claims that it normally 
requires a baccalaureate degree for the proffered position because its previously hired accountants have 
such a degree. Though the petitioner's employee list identifies two accountants with bachelor of science 
degrees in accounting, there is no corroborating evidence in the record of such degrees. Moreover, as 
previously discussed, the AAO is not persuaded by the evidence of record that the beneficiary would 
actually be performing the services of an accountant in the proffered position. Accordingly, the petitioner 
has not demonstrated that it normally requires a baccalaureate or higher degree in a specific specialty for 
the proffered position, as required for the position to meet the third alternative criterion of a specialty 
occupation at 8 C.F.R. 5 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A)(3). 
Lastly, the proffered position does not meet the fourth alternative criterion of a specialty occupation, at 
8 C.F.R. 5 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A)(4), because the record does not establish that the duties of the position are 
so specialized and complex that the knowledge required to perform them is usually associated with a 
baccalaureate or higher degree in a specific specialty. As previously discussed, the AAO is not persuaded 
by the evidence of record that the duties of the position exceed the occupational scope of an experienced 
bookkeeping or accounting clerk, a position which does not require specialized knowledge at a 
baccalaureate level. 
Thus, the proffered position does not meet any of the qualifying criteria of a specialty occupation 
enumerated at 8 C.F.R. 5 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A). The petitioner has not established that the beneficiary will 
be coming temporarily to the United States to perform services in a specialty occupation, as required 
under section lOl(a)(lS)(H)(i)(b) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1 lOl(a)( 15)(H)(i)(b). 
The petitioner bears the burden of proof in these proceedings. See section 291 of the Act, 8 U.S.C. 5 1361. 
The petitioner has not sustained that burden. Accordingly, the AAO will not disturb the director's decision 
denying the petition. 
ORDER: The appeal is dismissed. The petition is denied.