dismissed H-1B Case: Data Analysis

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
In Re: 6504128 
Appeal of California Service Center Decision 
Form I-129, Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker (H-lB) 
Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
Date : FEB. 21, 2020 
The Petitioner seeks to temporarily employ the Beneficiary under the H-IB nonimmigrant 
classification for specialty occupations. See Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act) section 
101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b) , 8 U.S.C. § 110l(a)(15)(H)(i)(b). The H-lB program allows a U.S. employer to 
temporarily employ a qualified foreign worker in a position that requires both: (a) the theoretical and 
practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge; and (b) the attainment of a bachelor's 
or higher degree in the specific specialty (or its equivalent) as a minimum prerequisite for entry into 
the position . 
The California Service Center Director denied the petition, concluding that the Petitioner had not 
established that the proffered position is a specialty occupation . 
On appeal, the Petitioner asserts that the Director erred and that the proffered position is a specialty 
occupation. 
Upon de nova review, we will dismiss the appeal. 1 
I. LEGAL FRAMEWORK 
Section 214(i)(l) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § l 184(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. 
1 A petitioner must establish that it meets each eligibility requirement of the benefit sought by a preponderance of the 
evidence. Matter ofChawathe , 25 I& N Dec. 369, 375-76 (AAO 2010). In other words, a petitioner must show that what 
it claims is "more likely than not" or "probably" true. To determine whether a petitioner has met its burden under the 
preponderance standard, we consider not only the quantity, but also the quality (including relevance, probative value, and 
credibility) of the evidence. Id. at 376; Matter of E-M-, 20 I&N Dec. 77, 79-80 (Comm'r 1989). 
The regulation at 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4)(ii) largely restates this statutory definition, but adds a 
non-exhaustive list of fields of endeavor. In addition, the regulations provide that the proffered 
position must meet one of the following criteria to qualify as a specialty occupation: 
(]) 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. 
8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A). We construe the term "degree" to mean not just any baccalaureate or 
higher degree, but one in a specific specialty that is directly related to the proposed position. See Royal 
Siam Corp. v. Chertojf, 484 F.3d 139, 147 (1st Cir. 2007) (describing "a degree requirement in a 
specific specialty" as "one that relates directly to the duties and responsibilities of a particular 
position"). 
II. PROFFERED POSITION 
The Petitioner provides corporations, government, and e-commerce organizations with a range of 
multi-lingual consumer communications services for their online business operations. The Petitioner 
is offering the Beneficiary a position 2 as a 'junior data analyst" and described the duties of the position, 
as follows: 
This position will require [the Beneficiary] to perform analysis to support strategic 
decision making, to manage reporting, and to work closely with our sales team to build 
data pipelines and statistical models. Specifically, [the Beneficiary's] duties will 
include: 
• Supporting data gathering and providing review and analysis of data; 
• Building statistical models such as logistic regressions to enhance market 
segmentation studies; 
• Performing sentiment analysis and text mining to discover key trends, key 
words and insights from our sales team phone call transcripts and other types 
of text documents; 
• Collaborating with marketing and sales teams to design and build automated 
solutions for business intelligence and reporting dashboards; 
2 The Petitioner most recently employed the Beneficiary through post-completion optional practical training pursuant to 
8 C.F.R. §§ 274a.12( c)(3)(i)(B), 214.2(t)(l 0)(ii)(A)(3). 
2 
• Extracting, analyzing, manipulating, and synthesizing data to measure and 
report differences in customer behavior; 
• Streamlining and modifying existing Excel models to visualize and compare 
the performance of our sales team over time; 
• Producing daily, weekly, monthly quarterly, and annual technical reports of 
data analysis; 
• Advising/providing training to internal stakeholders in the use of analytics 
tools, as needed; 
• Developing, implementing, and running statistical analysis, and reporting on 
A/B tests that are run by different teams (e.g. Sales, Product, Platform); and 
• Providing key business insights based on emerging business trends. 
III. ANALYSIS 
For the reasons set out below, we determine that the proffered position does not qualify as a specialty 
occupation. Specifically, the record provides inconsistent and insufficient information regarding the 
proffered position, which in tum precludes us from understanding the position's substantive nature 
and determining whether the proffered position qualifies as a specialty occupation. 3 
A. Minimum Requirements 
As a preliminary matter, we observe that the Petitioner has provided inconsistent information 
regarding the minimum requirements for the proffered position. 
Record of Degree Requirement Experience Requirement Proceeding 
Knowledge of Excel, Python 
Petitioner's for data science, knowledge of 
Letter None statistical theories, concepts, 
methods, and best practices, as 
well as SQL programming. 
Bachelor's degree in an analytical field 
Petitioner's ( econometrics, finance, economics, engineering, 1 + years of experience in an 
Job Posting mathematics, applied sciences, statistics or job- analytical role. 
related discipline or equivalent experience.) 
Professor Bachelor's degree in applied statistics, 
M's mathematics, applied social science, or related None 
Letter field. 
Professor Bachelor's degree in applied statistics, or a None L's Letter related area, or the equivalent. 
3 The Petitioner submitted documentation to supp01t the H- IB petition, including evidence regarding the proffered position 
and its business operations. While we may not discuss every document submitted, we have reviewed and considered each 
one. 
3 
The Petitioner has not consistently stated the minimum educational requirement for this position. It 
initially did not specify that any degree was required for the proffered position, just "knowledge of 
Excel, Python for data science, knowledge of statistical theories, concepts, methods, and best practices, 
as well as SQL programming." In response to the Director's request for evidence (RFE) it submitted 
a document which it described as "[the Petitioner's] job posting for the [p]osition of Junior Data 
Analyst which contains the official position description and requirements," which required a wide 
range of degrees in disparate fields, such as finance, engineering, or applied sciences, or in the 
alternative - an unspecified amount of "equivalent work experience. "4 The Petitioner 
contemporaneously submitted opinion letters from Professors "M" and "L", who each present 
differing position requirements; for Professor M - a bachelor's degree in applied statistics, 
mathematics, applied social science, or related field; for Professor L - a bachelor's degree in applied 
statistics, or a related area, or the equivalent. The Petitioner does not explain why the position 
requirements in these opinion letters differ from the position requirements that it put forth, nor does it 
explain the reasons for its own variances in position requirements within the record. 5 The Petitioner 
must resolve these inconsistencies and ambiguities in the record with independent, objective evidence 
pointing to where the truth lies. Matter of Ho, 19 I&N Dec. 582, 591-92 (BIA 1988). 
We conclude that these inconsistencies erode the Petitioner's ability to demonstrate the substantive 
nature of the proffered position. Unresolved material inconsistencies may lead us to reevaluate the 
reliability and sufficiency of other evidence submitted in support of the requested immigration 
benefit. 6 As the record contains numerous and material inconsistencies relative to the Petitioner's 
minimum requirements for entry into the proffered position, the documentation submitted in this 
regard to establish eligibility for the classification sought lacks probative value and overall credibility. 7 
As explained above, we interpret the degree requirement at 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A) to require a 
degree in a specific specialty that is directly related to the proposed position. The Petitioner's stated 
minimum requirements, for instance - that possession of knowledge of various software analytical 
tools, and statistical theories, concepts, methods, and best practices is sufficient to perform the duties 
of the position - alone indicate that the proffered position is not in fact a specialty occupation. For 
these reasons, the petition may not be approved. 
4 We observe that this 'job posting" document bears no indication that the Petitioner has actually utilized this material, 
either on-line or in print as a job advertisement for the proffered position. The Petitioner did not identify the medium 
through which this job posting was used to hire employees, nor did the document contain information telling prospective 
applicants how to apply for the position. Therefore, notwithstanding the inconsistencies in the record, the Petitioner has 
not sufficiently substantiated its requirements for the position through the submission of this document. 
5 Notably, Professors Mand L also do not address the variances between the minimum requirements for the position as 
stipulated by the Petitioner relative to their own conclusions regarding the position requirements. Therefore, we find the 
professors" opinion letters lends little probative value to the matter here. Matter of Caron Int'!, 19 I&N Dec. 79L 795 
(Comm'r 1988) (The service is not required to accept or may give less weight to an advisory opinion when it is "not in 
accord with other information or is in any way questionable."). For the sake of brevity, we will not address other 
deficiencies within the professors' analyses of the proffered position. 
6 Id. 
7 Mattero(Chawathe, 25 T&NDec. 369,376 (AAO 2010) (citing MatterofE-M-, 20 T&N Dec. 77, 79-80 (Comm'r 1989)). 
4 
B. Nature of the Position 
On the labor condition application (LCA) submitted in support of the H-lB petition, the Petitioner 
designated the proffered position under the occupational category "Operations Research Analysts" 
( corresponding to the Standard Occupational Category code 15-2031 ), with a Level I wage. 8 
A crucial aspect of this matter is whether the Petitioner has sufficiently described the duties of the 
proffered position such that we may discern the nature of the position and whether the position actually 
requires the theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge attained 
through at least a baccalaureate degree in a specific discipline. When determining whether a position 
is a specialty occupation, we look at the nature of the business offering the employment and the 
description of the specific duties of the position as it relates to the performance of those duties within 
the context of that particular employer's business operations. 
On a fundamental level, the Petitioner has not provided sufficient material about the specific data 
analytical projects and initiatives that the Beneficiary will be assigned to during the course of his 
proposed H-lB employment. Again, the Petitioner is engaged in providing multi-lingual consumer 
communications services for the online business operations of its customers. Within these business 
confines, the Petitioner indicates that as a junior data analyst, the Beneficiary "will perform analysis 
to support strategic decision making, to manage reporting, and to work closely with our sales team to 
build data pipelines and statistical models," and has provided a listing ofjob duties that the Beneficiary 
will perform in furtherance of that role. 
Notably, the Director requested evidence in her RFE, to include an explanation of how the 
Beneficiary's specific job duties relate to the Petitioner's products and services, as well as organization 
charts and other material that would delineate the Petitioner's divisional organization, and staffing 
hierarchy. In its RFE response, the Petitioner did not provide (1) evidence of its organizational 
hierarchy, or other material sufficient to illustrate Beneficiary's relative placement therein, e.g. the 
actual division, teams, or working groups to which he will be assigned; or (2) the specific analytical 
initiatives that are currently underway within the organization that require his services, sufficient to 
establish the scope and nature of the Beneficiary's role as a junior data analyst within the context of 
the Petitioner's business. 9 The Director denied the petition, in part, concluding that the Petitioner had 
not established that the position involves duties so unique, complex, or specialized that only an 
individual with a bachelor's degree in a specific specialty could perform them. We agree. 
8 In general, a petitioner must distinguish its proffered position rrom others within the same occupation through the proper 
wage level designation to indicate factors such as the relative complexity of the job duties, the level of judgment, the 
amount and level of supervision, and the level of understanding required to perform the job duties. DOL, Emp't & Training 
Admin., Prevailing Wage Determination Policy Guidance, Nonagric. Immigration Programs (rev. Nov. 2009) (DOL 
guidance), available at http://t1cdatacenter.com/download/NPWHC _Guidance_ Revised_ 11 _ 2009 .pdf 
9 "Failure to submit requested evidence which precludes a material line of inquiry shall be grounds for denying the 
[petition]." 8 C.F.R. § 103.2(b)(14). 
5 
Importantly, the Petitioner emphasizes that the Beneficiary "will study and analyze data phenomena 
related to psychological factors influence, cognition, interests, customer journeys, relationships, 
natural language processing, and decision making," and towards that end will liaise or interact with 
various personnel and stakeholder groups, to include: 
• Support[ing] data gathering and provide review and analysis of data; 
• Collaborat[ing] with marketing and sales teams to design and build automated 
solutions for business intelligence and reporting dashboards; 
• [G]uiding each team through the vast reaches of our data lake to understand what 
questions we can answer empirically together with data and also iterate our 
investigations; 
• Serv[ing] as a resource for the department in regard to analytics implementation 
and analysis; and 
• Advis[ing]/provid[ing] training to internal stakeholders in the use of analytics tools, 
as needed. 
Though the Petitioner provided narrative about the job duties of the position, the evidence does not 
show the operational structure within the Petitioner's business operations in a manner that would 
establish the Beneficiary's substantive role. 10 Also, without more, the submitted job duties do not 
demonstrate the claimed complexity, uniqueness, or specialization of the work performed by the 
Beneficiary. 11 The general statements in the record in conjunction with the lack of description and 
material about the nature of the projects and initiatives to which the Beneficiary will be assigned, do 
not provide sufficient insight into the Beneficiary's duties. For instance, on appeal the Petitioner 
discusses the previously submitted position description which indicates that the Beneficiary job duties 
will include: 
• Performing sentiment analysis and text mining to discover key trends, key 
words and insights from our sales team phone call transcripts and other types 
of text documents; 
• Extracting, analyzing, manipulating, and synthesizing data to measure and 
report differences in customer behavior; 
• Streamlining and modifying existing Excel models to visualize and compare 
the performance of our sales team over time; 
• Producing daily, weekly, monthly quarterly, and annual technical reports of 
data analysis; 
1° For instance, we observe that the Petitioner initially noted on the petition that the Beneficiary in his current occupation 
"[ s ]erves as a Marketing Data Science Intern with our company .... In this position, he completes text mining and sentiment 
analysis projects and is currently working on a logistical regression model to predict success in sales opportunities." The 
Petitioner has not delineated the relative scope and complexity of the tasks that the Beneficiary performed as a "marketing 
data science intern" relative to his new proposed role as a 'junior data analyst." 
11 We must review the actual duties the Beneficiary will be expected to perfonn to ascertain whether those duties require 
at least a baccalaureate degree in a specific specialty, or its equivalent, as required for classification as a specialty 
occupation. To accomplish that task in this matter, we review the duties in conjunction with the specific project(s) or 
initiatives to which the Beneficiary will be assigned. To allow otherwise, results in generic descriptions of duties that, 
while they may appear (in some instances) to comprise the duties of a specialty occupation, are not related to any actual 
services the Beneficiary is expected to provide. 
6 
• Developing, implementing, and running statistical analysis, and reporting on 
A/B tests that are run by different teams (e.g. Sales, Product, Platform); and 
• Providing key business insights based on emerging business trends. 
While these descriptions identify generic analytical job functions, they do not give context to the 
specific tasks that the Beneficiary will perform. The Petitioner does not provide sufficient detail 
regarding the work these duties will entail, and how these tasks merit recognition of the proffered 
position as a specialty occupation. Further, the Petitioner has not established which job duties will 
encompass the predominant job functions of the proffered position, and which duties, will be 
incidental to the Beneficiary's employment. In summary, the duties as described do not communicate 
(1) the actual work that the Beneficiary would perform, (2) the complexity, uniqueness, or 
specialization of the tasks, and (3) the correlation between that work and a need for a particular level 
education of highly specialized knowledge in a specific specialty. 
Upon review of the totality of the record, we determine it is insufficient to establish the substantive 
nature of the work to be performed by the Beneficiary, which therefore precludes a conclusion that the 
proffered position satisfies any criterion at 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A), because it is the substantive 
nature of that work that determines ( 1) the normal minimum educational requirement for entry into 
the particular position, which is the focus of criterion 1; (2) industry positions which are parallel to the 
proffered position and thus appropriate for review for a common degree requirement, under the first 
alternate prong of criterion 2; (3) the level of complexity or uniqueness of the proffered position, which 
is the focus of the second alternate prong of criterion 2; (4) the factual justification for a petitioner 
normally requiring a degree or its equivalent, when that is an issue under criterion 3; and ( 5) the degree 
of specialization and complexity of the specific duties, which is the focus of criterion 4. 12 
The Petitioner has not presented evidence or argument sufficient to establish that, more likely than 
not, the proffered position is a specialty occupation as defined by the regulations and the statute. 
III. CONCLUSION 
The appeal will be dismissed for the above stated reasons, with each considered an independent and 
alternative basis for the decision. In visa petition proceedings, it is the petitioner's burden to establish 
eligibility for the immigration benefit sought. Section 291 of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1361. The Petitioner 
has not met that burden here, and the petition will remain denied. 
ORDER: The appeal is dismissed. 
12 As the lack of probative and consistent evidence in the record precludes a conclusion that the proffered position is a 
specialty occupation and is dispositive of the appeal, we will not further discuss the Petitioner's assertions on appeal 
regarding the criteria under 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A). 
7