dismissed H-1B Case: Accounting

U.S. Department of Homeland Security 
20 Mass Ave., N.W., Rm. A3042 
Washington, DC 20529 
U. S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
FILE: WAC 04 048 5033 1 Office: CALIFORNIA SERVICE CENTER Date: SEP ]I 6 2005 
PETITION: Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker Pursuant to Section lOl(a)(lS)(H)(i)(b) of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. tj 1 10 l(a)(l S)(H)(i)(b) 
ON BEHALF OF PETITIONER: 
INSTRUCTIONS: 
This is the decision of the Administrative Appeals Office in your case. All documents 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 04 048 5033 1 
Page 2 
DISCUSSION: The director of the service center denied the nonirnmigrant visa petition and the matter is now 
before the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) on appeal. The appeal will be dismissed. The petition will be 
denied. 
The petitioner operates a residential care facility and indicated in the initial petition that it had 12 employees. 
It seeks to employ the beneficiary as a full-time accountant. The petitioner, therefore, endeavors to classify the 
beneficiary as a nonimrnigrant worker in a specialty occupation pursuant to section lOl(a)(l5)(H)(i)(b) of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act), 8 U.S.C. $ 1 10 l(a)(l S)(H)(i)(b). 
The director denied the petition because the proffered position is not a specialty occupation. On appeal, the 
petitioner submits a brief and supporting documents. 
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. 
Pursuant to 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 inhvidual 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 baccalaweate 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 baccalaweate 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 additional evidence; (3) the petitioner's response to the director's request; (4) the 
director's denial letter; and (5) Form I-290B and supporting documentation. The AAO reviewed the record in 
its entirety before issuing its decision. 
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The petitioner is seeking the beneficiary's services as a full-time accountant. Evidence of the beneficiary's 
duties includes: the Form 1-129; the attachments accompanying the Form 1-129; the company support letter; 
and the petitioner's response to the director's request for evidence. According to this evidence, the 
beneficiary would perform duties that entail examining, analyzing, and interpreting the organization's 
accounting records and data for purposes of projecting and coping with the demands of its financial, 
budgetary, and all other relevant accounting requirements; interpreting the organization's financial data to 
advise management on matters involving effective use of resources and budget forecasts; analyzing 
organization's past and present financial operation, trends and costs as well as estimated and realized 
revenues, to appropriately prepare budget and project future revenues and expenses; preparing balance sheet, 
profit and loss statement, and other reports to summarize current and projected company financial position; 
auditing contracts, orders, vouchers, and preparing reports to substantiate individual transactions prior to 
settlement; establishing, modifying, and documenting the implementation of accounting control procedures; 
and performing all other bookkeeping and accounting tasks such as filing and documenting financial data and 
records which may be incidental to the beneficiary's duties as an accountant. The petitioner indicated that the 
proffered position requires a baccalaureate of higher degree in the field of accounting. 
The director requested additional evidence, specifically a more detailed description of the work done 
including specific job duties, and the percentage of time to be spent on each duty. The director requested 
evidence that the proffered position meets one of the enumerated criteria. Additionally, the director requested 
copies of the petitioner's federal incomes taxes, quarterly wage reports and an organizational chart. 
In response, the petitioner stated that the position of accountant is an organizational requirement brought 
about by the considerable business accounts on a daily basis. The petitioner noted that though it employed a 
bookkeeper it needed the services of a full-time accountant. The incumbent in the proffered position would 
supervise the bookkeeper. The petitioner provided a more detailed position description. The petitioner 
provided several internet job postings for the position of accountant. The petitioner provided a Form 1040 
Individual Income Tax Return with Schedule C attached for tax year 2002 that indicated gross receipts or 
sales of the petitioner at $596,676 and wages of $212,847. The petitioner provided Forms DE-6 indicating 
approximately 12 employees. The organizational chart indicated 16 employees plus the offered position. The 
organization chart included positions such as: president, vice presidentlinternal and external affairs, 
controller/fiscal management, administrative/operations manager, public relations officer, and administrative 
officer as well as several caregivers. 
The director determined that the proffered position was not a specialty occupation. The director noted that 
merely citing or paraphrasing a position from the Department of Labor's Occupational Outlook Handbook 
(the Handbook) does not establish that the beneficiary will perform work accordingly in a specified 
occupation. The director noted that the specific duties of the offered position combined with the nature of the 
petitioning entity's business operations are factors that CIS considers. The director found that the petitioner 
has not demonstrated sufficient organizational complexity to warrant a position of an accountant when the 
petitioner currently employs a Controller/Fiscal Management and an accountant that was approved by CIS 
under the name of which the petitioner did not mention in the organizational chart. Further, 
the director noted that there is no evidence that the position offered includes complex or advanced acmunting 
duties such as the preparation of detailed financial reports for outside agencies or stockholders. The director 
determined that the petitioner failed to establish that the proffered position requires a baccalaureate or higher 
degree or its equivalent. 
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On appeal, the petitioner contends that the petitioner has a bona fide need for the specialty occupation of 
accountant as shown by the organizational complexity of the business. The petitioner stated that as an 
operator of a health care facility, it generates voluminous business accounts on a daily basis. The petitioner 
contends that the nature of the specific duties pertaining to the position is so specialized and complex that 
their performance must be associated with the attainment of a baccalaureate degree. 
Upon review of the record, the petitioner has established none of the four criteria outlined in 8 C.F.R. 
5 2 14.2(h)(4)(iii)(A). Therefore, the proffered position is not a specialty occupation. 
The AAO first considers the criteria at 8 C.F.R. $9 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A)(l) and (2): a baccalaureate or higher 
degree or its equivalent is the normal minimum requirement for entry into the particular position; a degree 
requirement is common to the industry in parallel positions among similar organizations; or a particular 
position is so complex or unique that it can be performed only by an individual with a degree. Factors often 
considered by CIS when determining these criteria include: whether the Handbook reports that the industry 
requires a degree; 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 1 15 1, 1 165 
@.Minn. 1999)(quoting Hird/Blakev Covp. v. Sava, 7 12 F. Supp. 1095, 1 102 (S.D.N.Y. 1989)). 
In determining whether a position qualifies as a specialty occupation, CIS looks beyond the title of the 
position and determines, from a review of the duties of the position and any supporting evidence, whether the 
position actually requires the theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge, 
and the attainment of a baccalaureate degree in a specific specialty as the minimum for entry into the 
occupation as required by the Act. The AAO routinely consults the Handbook for its information about the 
duties and educational requirements of particular occupations. 
A review of the Handbook reveals that specific job duties vary widely among the four major fields of 
accounting: public, management, government, and internal. The closest category to the proffered position is 
the management accountant. In the Handbook, 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. 
While it is true that not all accountants are part of an executive team, the Handbook's delineation of a 
management accountant as part of an executive team involved in strategic planning or new-product 
development illustrates the scope and complexity of a management accountant's responsibilities. Likewise, 
the role of the accountant to prepare financial reports for nonmanagement groups, including stockholders, 
creditors, regulatory agencies, and tax authorities also illustrates the level of a management accountant's 
responsibilities. Because the beneficiary will not be part of an executive team and will not prepare financial 
WAC 04 048 50331 
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reports for nonmanagement groups, including stockholders, creditors, regulatory agencies, and tax authorities, 
this indicates that the beneficiary's duties do not rise to the same level as a management accountant. 
The Handbook states: 
Accountants and auditors held about 1.1 million jobs in 2002. They worked throughout 
private industry and government, but 1 out of 5 wage and salary accountants worked for 
accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping, and payroll services firms. Approximately 1 out of 
10 accountants or auditors were self-employed. 
Many accountants and auditors are unlicensed management accountants, internal auditors, or 
government accountants and auditors; however, a large number are licensed Certified Public 
Accountants. Most accountants and auditors work in urban areas, where public accounting 
firms and central or regional offices of businesses are concentrated. 
The petitioner indicated that it had twelve employees and grossed $596,676 in receipts or sales. The 
petitioner's organizational chart indicates that its employees include: president, vice presidenthnternal and 
external affairs, controller/fiscal management, administrative/operations manager, public relations officer, and 
administrative officer, bookkeeper, caregivers and the proffered position. The petitioner's level of income 
has a direct and substantial bearing on the scope and depth of the beneficiary's proposed duties. The 
petitioner has not provided evidence that supports its contention that due to the size and complexity of its 
business the proffered duties are so complex and specialized that it is an accounting position requiring a 
baccalaureate level of education in a specialty occupation. 
The Handbook reveals that many of the beneficiary's duties are performed by bookkeeping, accounting, 
auditing and financial clerks: 
Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks are an organization's financial record keepers. 
They update and maintain one or more accounting records, including those that tabulate 
expenditures, receipts, accounts payable and receivable, and profit and loss. . . . post debits and 
credits, produce financial statements, and prepare reports and summaries for supervisors and 
managers. . . . handle the payroll, make purchases, prepare invoices, and keep track of 
overdue accounts. 
More advanced accounting clerks may total, balance, and reconcile billing vouchers; ensure 
completeness and accuracy of data on account. . . . They may also review invoices and 
statements to ensure that all information is accurate and complete. . . . Auditing clerks verify 
records of transactions posted by other workers. 
Financial clerks . . . record all amounts coming into or leaving an organization . . . keep track 
of a store's inventory. . . . 
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. 
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The petitioner stated that the beneficiary would perform all accounting functions including interpreting the 
organization's financial data to advise management on matters involving effective use of resources and 
budget forecasts; preparing balance sheet, profit and loss statement, and other reports to summarize current 
and projected company financial position; and auditing contracts, orders, vouchers, and preparing reports to 
substantiate individual transactions prior to settlement. 
As shown in the Handbook, bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks produce financial statements and 
prepare reports and summaries for supervisors and managers, which would be used by them to make sound 
business decisions. Further, the Handbook reports that employers require most financial clerks to have at 
least a high school diploma, and for bookkeepers and accounting clerks, they often require an associate's 
degree in business or accounting.' The Handbook also states that many graduates of junior colleges and 
business and correspondence schools, as well as some bookkeepers and accounting clerks, obtain positions as 
junior accountants. 
Based on the above discussion regarding the Handbook's information about management accountants and 
bookkeeping, accounting, auditing and financial clerks, the evidence in the record is insufficient to establish 
the regulation at 8 C.F.R. 5 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A)(I): that a baccalaureate or higher degree or its equivalent is the 
normal minimum requirement for entry into the particular position. 
To establish the second criterion - that a specific degree requirement is common to the industry in parallel 
positions among similar organizations - counsel submits various internet postings for the position of 
accountant from various companies. One deficiency in the postings is that the companies are either obviously 
dissimilar to the petitioner or their nature is undisclosed. For example, Roth Staffing and First Option 
Financial Recruiting do not indicate the type of service or product provided; Accounting Options indicates 
that the advertised position is with a health care provider but does not indicate the name or size of the 
company. However, the duties of the proffered position are not for those of an accountant, as discussed above. 
No evidence in the record establishes the regulation at 8 C.F.R. 3 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A)(2) which requires the 
petitioner to establish that a specific degree requirement is common to the industry in parallel positions 
among similar organizations. Nor can the petitioner establish that the particular position is so complex or 
unique that it can be performed only by an individual with a degree. As already discussed above, the 
Handbook reveals that many of the beneficiary's duties are performed by bookkeeping, accounting, and 
auditing clerks, occupations that do not require a bachelor's degree. 
I 
According to the website for Skyline College, a community college located in San Mateo, California, 
(www.skvlinecolleae.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, forecasting, budgeting, cost accounting, break even analysis, 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 would provide 
knowledge about the GAAP and accounting techniques which serve the needs of management and facilitate 
decision-making. 
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Nor is there evidence in the record to establish the third criterion at 8 C.F.R. tj 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A): that the 
petitioner normally requires a degree or its equivalent for the position. The director noted that the petitioner had 
previously petitioned for an H-1B visa for an accountant yet did not indicate this person on the organizational 
chart. The petitioner did not respond to the director's concerns that it had already petitioned for an H-1B 
accountant. It is incumbent upon the petitioner to resolve any inconsistencies in the record by independent 
objective evidence. Any attempt to explain or reconcile such inconsistencies will not suffice unless the 
petitioner submits competent objective evidence pointing to where the truth lies. Matter of Ho, 19 I&N Dec. 
582, 591-92 (BIA 1988). 
The regulation at 8 C.F.R. 5 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A)(4) requires that the petitioner establish that the nature of the 
specific duties is so specialized and complex that the knowledge required to perform the duties is usually 
associated with the attainment of a baccalaureate or higher degree. The petitioner states that the duties of the 
proffered position are so specialized and complex that a bachelor's degree is mandatory. The petitioner 
contends its day-to-day cash flows and business transactions "imperatively demand the services of a 
professional in-house accountant to effectively and competently deal with its business accounts, finances and 
cash flows." The petitioner's assertions are not substantiated by the facts of the record. The petitioner 
operates a residential care facility and employs 12 to 16 people. The petitioner asserts that it generates 
voluminous business accounts on a daily basis. The petitioner has not provided any information about the 
number of patients or residents it manages which would establish the volume of business. Going on record 
without supporting documentary evidence is not sufficient for purposes of meeting the burden of proof in 
these proceedings. Matter of SofJici, 22 1&N Dec. 158, 165 (Comm. 1998) (citing Matter of Treasure Craft of 
California, 14 I&N Dec. 190 (Reg. Comm. 1972)). 
Upon review of the record, the petitioner has not documented the duties of the proffered position in relation to 
the nature of its business and the positions of its current employees such as a president, vice presidentlintemal 
and external affairs, controller/fiscal management, administrative/operations manager, public relations officer, 
and administrative officer as well as caregivers. Many of the beneficiary's duties are performed by 
bookkeeping, accounting, auditing and financial clerks, occupations that do not require a bachelor's degree. 
The petitioner therefore fails to establish 8 C.F.R. 5 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A)(4). 
As related in the discussion above, the petitioner has failed to establish that the proffered position is a 
specialty occupation. Accordingly, the AAO shall not disturb the director's denial of the petition. 
The burden of proof in these proceedings rests solely with the petitioner. Section 291 of the Act, 8 U.S.C. 5 1361. 
The petitioner has not sustained that burden. 
ORDER: The appeal is dismissed. The petition is denied.