dismissed H-1B Case: Data Science

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
In Re: 8792022 
Appeal of Vermont Service Center Decision 
Form 1-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker (H-1B) 
Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
Date: AUG . 12, 2020 
The Petitioner, a custom computer programming service business, seeks to temporarily employ the 
Beneficiary as a "data scientist" under the H-1B nonimmigrant classification for specialty occupations. 
Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act) section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b), 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b). 
The H-1B 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 Director of the Vermont Service Center denied the petition, concluding that the record did not 
establish that proffered position qualified as a specialty occupation. The matter is now before us on 
appeal. 
The Petitioner bears the burden of proof to demonstrate el igibi I ity by a preponderance of the evidence. 
Section 291 of the Act; Matter of Chawathe, 25 l&N Dec. 369, 375 (AAO 2010). We review the 
questions in this matter de nova. See Matter of Christa's Inc., 26 l&N Dec. 537, 537 n.2 (AAO 2015). 
Upon de nova review, we will dismiss the appeal. 
I. LEGAL FRAMEWORK 
Section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b) of the Act defines an H-1B nonimmigrant as a foreign national "who is 
coming temporarily to the United States to perform services .. . in a specialty occupation described in 
section 214(i)(l) .. . "(emphasis added). Section 214(i)(I) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1184(i)(I), defines the 
term "specialty occupation" as an occupation that requires "theoretical and practical application of a 
body of highly specialized knowledge, and 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." The 
regulation at 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4)(ii) largely restates section 214(i)(I) of the Act, but adds a non­
exhaustive list of fields of endeavor. In addition, 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A) provides that the 
proffered position must meet one of four criteria to qualify as a specialty occupation position.1 Lastly, 
8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4)(i)(A)(1) states that an H-1B classification may be granted to a foreign national 
who "will perform services in a specialty occupation ... "(emphasis added). 
Accordingly, to determine whether the Beneficiary will be employed in a specialty occupation, we 
look to the record to ascertain the services the Beneficiary will perform and whether such services 
require the theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge attained 
through at least a bachelor's degree or higher in a specific specialty or its equivalent. Without 
sufficient evidence regarding the duties the Beneficiary will perform, we are unable to determine whether 
the Beneficiary will be employed in an occupation that meets the statutory and regulatory definitions of 
a specialty occupation and a position that also satisfies at least one of the criteria at 8 C.F.R. 
§ 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A). The services the Beneficiary will perform in the position determine: (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. 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A). 
By regulation, the Director is charged with determining whether the petition involves a specialty 
occupation as defined in section 214(i)(1) of the Act. 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4)(i)(B)(2). The Director 
may request additional evidence in the course of making this determination. 8 C.F.R. § 103.2(b)(8). 
In addition, a petitioner must establish eligibility at the time of filing the petition and must continue to 
be eligible through adjudication. 8 C.F.R. § 103.2(b)(1). 
11. PROFFERED POSITION 
The Petitioner seeks to employ the Beneficiary as a "data scientist." In a March 2019 letter submitted 
in support of the petition (Support Letter), the Petitioner describes the duties and responsibilities of 
the proffered position as follows2: 
(1) [l]mplementing automatic structured and unstructured data processing pipelines in 
AWS; (2) proposing and developing new KP ls to track progress and helping the product 
team to monitor product health; (3) communicating data-driven insights such as users' 
common behavioral patterns to the product teams to identify business opportunities; 
(4) performing feature selection on over 100 million pieces of user data with 200+ 
features using lasso regression and random forest in Python to predict user chum rate; 
(5) designing an efficient A/B test based on sufficient data samples for hypothesis 
1 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4)(iii){A) must be read with the statutory and regulatory definitions of a specialty occupation under 
section 214{i){1) of the Act and 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4)(ii). 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. Chertoff, 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 positiQ..ll'.l__ 
2 The Petitioner submitted some supporting documents with the letterhead c=:J" The Support Letter states that 
I tan ecosystem of mobile applications, is the Petitioner's flagship product.. 
2 
testing with shortened test length by blocking and propensity matching in order to 
reduce the variance of metrics; (6) developing various performance standards and 
evaluating ensuing work in light of established standards; (7) maintaining network 
hardware and software, directing network security measures, and monitoring networks 
to ensure availability to system users; and (8) conducting logical analyses of business, 
scientific, engineering, and other technical problems, formulating mathematical models 
of problems for solution. 
The Support Letter states that the position requires "at least a bachelor's degree in Mathematics, 
Analytics, Statistics, Engineering, or a related degree." 
With the Request for Evidence (RFE) response, the attorney provided an April 2019 response letter 
(Attorney RFE Letter) that states the position's duties are: 
(1) Build ETL pipeline to collect and process data from disparate sources using SQL, 
R, Python, or other scripting and statistical tools; (2) Coordinate with product, growth, 
and operation teams to translate business insights into decisions and action; (3) Design 
and build analytical dashboards to effectively report product performance using 
Tableau, Superset or other visualization tools; (4) Design and analyze product A/B 
experiments; (5) Communicate results to the product team lead; (6) Develop and 
maintain machine learning models to enhance user engagement and experience. 
Further, the Petitioner states that the Beneficiary's job duties can be divided into the following five 
categories: 
(1) ETL Data Pipeline, Third Party API Integration (20%): the Beneficiary is 
responsible for transforming and simplifying unreadable, complex data information 
into for [sic] product and data teams to perform analytics tasks efficiently; (2) Design 
A/B Hypothesis Test (15%): the Beneficiary is responsible for measuring the impact of 
product changes on user experience and the company's revenue; (3) Design 
Performance Dashboard (15%): the Beneficiary is required to visualize the key 
performance indicators to help other teams to monitor product health; (4) Analysis and 
Reporting Requests (30%): the Beneficiary has to use data to provide business insights 
for team members and help them answer business questions through objective data 
analysis; (5) Building Machine Learning Models-Retention Prediction, Ads Retention 
(20%): the Beneficiary has to use various machine learning models to help the company 
make intelligent decisions effortlessly. 
The Attorney RFE Letter further states the position's required education is a Ph.D. or Master's degree 
in a "quantitative field like applied analytics, information technology." 
Ill. ANALYSIS 
Upon review of the record in its totality and for the reasons set out below, we conclude that the 
Petitioner has not demonstrated that the proffered position qualifies as a specialty occupation. 
Specifically, we conclude that the record (1) does not establish that the job duties require an 
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educational background, or its equivalent, commensurate with a specialty occupation; and (2) does not 
describe the position's duties with sufficient detail.3 In particular, we find that the Petitioner has not 
established the substantive nature of the position, which precludes a determination that the proffered 
position qualifies as a specialty occupation under at least one of the four regulatory specialty­
occupation criteria enumerated at 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A)(1)-(4). 
The Petitioner's conflicting statements regarding the educational and experience requirements for the 
position raise significant questions as to the substantive nature of this position and cast doubt as to 
whether a bachelor's degree in a specific specialty, or the equivalent, is in fact required. The Support 
Letter states the position requires at least a bachelor's degree in "Mathematics, Analytics, Statistics, 
Engineering, or a related field." In support of their initial filing, the Petitioner provides a job posting 
of the proffered position (Job Posting 1) that only includes an experience requirement, but does not 
indicate an educational requirement.4 The Petitioner asserts in their appeal brief that a specific degree 
requirement in Job Posting 1 is "implied by the listing of advanced technical and quantitative analysis 
skills required for the role, which are unlikely to be obtained outside of a relevant degree program."5 
Further, the Petitioner's RFE response provides two other different sets of requirements for the 
position. The Attorney RFE Letter states the required education for the proffered position is a Ph.D. 
or Master's degree in a "quantitative field like applied analytics, information technology." The job 
posting submitted with the RFE (Job Posting 2) states the individual should also have two to five years 
of experience in addition to a Ph.D. or Master's degree. Therefore, the petition's documents do not 
indicate consistent educational or experience requirements throughout the record.6 
In addition, the record states the Petitioner would accept degrees that would provide "advanced 
technical and quantitative analysis skills" or that come from a "quantitative field." Requirements for 
degrees in a "quantitative field" or that would offer "advanced technical and quantitative analysis 
skills" are too broad and do not demonstrate how the position involves a "highly specialized body of 
knowledge" or requires at least a bachelor's degree, or the equivalent, in a "specific specialty." 
Numerous unrelated specialties would appear to fall within the Petitioner's requirement in a 
"quantitative field" or to provide "advanced technical and quantitative skills." The current record of 
proceedings does not establish how this wide, and divergent range of degrees could form either a body 
of highly specialized knowledge or a specific specialty. 7 
Moreover, it appears that the Petitioner is relying on the Beneficiary's educational background in 
applied analytics and related experience in data science and analysis to assist in establishing the 
3 The Petitioner submitted documentation to support the H-1B petition, including evidence regarding the proffered 
position. While we may not discuss every document submitted, we have reviewed and considered each one. 
4 Specifically, Job Posting 1 states the experience requirement is "2-5 years experience as a data scientist". 
5 The Petitioner does not support this assertion with probative evidence. The Petitioner does not provide (1) analysis to 
establish these broad "advanced technical and quantitative analysis" skills require a specialty degree or (2) evidence that 
these skills can only be attained through bachelor-level study in a specific specialty. 
6 These inconsistent requirements also raise significant questions as to whether the labor condition application corresponds 
to and supports the H-lB petition, as required. Specifically, the Petitioner's Level 11 wage designation may be 
inappropriate given the inconsistent range of requirements. Because the petition is not otherwise approvable we will not 
address the matter further, other than to advise the Petitioner that it should be prepared to address the issue in any future 
H-1B filings. 
7 "A position that requires applicants to have any bachelor's degree, or a bachelor's degree in a large subset of fields, can 
hardly be considered specialized." Caremax, Inc. v. Holder, 40 F.Supp.3d 1182, 1187-88 (N.D. Cal. 2014) 
4 
position as a specialty occupation. However, the test to establish a position as a specialty occupation 
is not the skill set or education of a proposed beneficiary, but whether the position itself qualifies as a 
specialty occupation. 
Next, the Petitioner's description of the proffered position lacks the detail necessary for us to determine 
what the Beneficiary would actually be doing. The job duties on the Support Letter include the task, 
"[m]aintaining network hardware and software, directing network security measures, and monitoring 
networks to ensure availability to system users." The support letters from,___ _______ _. 
and,___ ___ ___,.-~ also state this task as part of the position's duties. However, the Attorney 
RFE Letter, Job Posting 1, and Job Posting 2 do not include this task or a related task, and it is unclear 
from where, or from whom, these authors obtained it. 8 The petition's job duties are inconsistent 
throughout the petition's documents and do not clearly indicate whether this task is a duty of the 
position. The Petitioner must resolve this inconsistency with independent, objective evidence pointing 
to where the truth lies. Matter of Ho, 19 l&N Dec. 582, 591-92 (BIA 1988). Unresolved material 
inconsistencies may lead us to reevaluate the reliability and sufficiency of other evidence submitted 
in support of the requested immigration benefit. Id. 
Although not discussed in the Director's decision, these networking job duties do not correspond to 
the general duties of the occupation designated on the labor certification application (LCA). On the 
LCA submitted in support of the H-lB petition, the Petitioner designated the proffered position under 
the occupational category "Computer Occupations, All Other" corresponding to the Standard 
Occupational Classification (SOC) code 15-1199, at a Level 11 wage rate. In their appeal brief, the 
Petitioner indicates the underlying SOC is 15-1199.08, "Business Intelligence Analysts" is the 
appropriate sub-category for the proffered position. 
The Occupational Information Network (O*NET) summarizes the "Business Intelligence Analysts" 
occupation's responsibilities as to "[p]roduce financial and market intelligence by querying data 
repositories and generating periodic reports" and to "[d]evise methods for identifying data patterns 
and trends in available information sources."9 O*NET does not specifically list any duties involving 
maintaining network hardware and software, directing network security, or monitoring networks for 
"Business Intelligence Analysts." These network maintenance, security, and monitoring duties seem 
to be more consistent with SOC code 15-1142, "Network and Computer Systems Administrators," 
which include the tasks of "[m]aintain and administer computer networks and related computing 
environments including computer hardware, systems software, applications software, and all 
configurations" and "[p]lan, coordinate, and implement network security measures to protect data, 
software, and hardware."10 
In general, if the duties of a proffered position involve more than one occupational category (i.e., 
"Business Intelligence Analysts" and "Network and Computer Systems Administrator"), the U.S. 
8 Job Posting 1 does not include any specific job duties, but rather only experience required for the position. The experience 
requirements do not indicate the duties of maintaining network hardware and software, detecting network security, or 
monitoring networks. 
9 Occupational Information Network (O*NET) Summary Report for "Business Intelligence Analysts," 
https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/15-1199.08 (last visited Aug. 6, 2020). 
10 Occupational Information Network (O*NET) Summary Report for "Network and Computer Systems Administrators," 
https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/15-1142.00 (last visited Aug. 6, 2020). 
5 
Department of Labor's (DOL's) "Prevailing Wage Determination Policy Guidance" states that the 
employer "should default directly to the relevant O*NET-SOC occupational code for the highest 
paying occupation."11 In the instant case, SOC 15-1142, "Network and Computer Systems 
Administrator", would have the higher wage of $82,368 per year at wage level 11, than the offered 
wage of $77,444 per year.12 This raises yet more questions as to whether the LCA corresponds to and 
supports the H-1B petition, as required. 
Additionally, upon review of the various iterations of the proposed duties, we conclude that they do 
not provide sufficient consistent detai I 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. 
While these generic descriptions of duties may appear (in some instances) to comprise the duties of a 
specialty occupation, they cannot be correlated to any actual services the Beneficiary is expected to 
provide. Here, the Petitioner has not provided sufficient details regarding the nature and scope of the 
Beneficiary's employment or substantive evidence regarding the actual work that the Beneficiary 
would perform. For example, the Petitioner's RFE duties, such as, "[c]oordinate with product, growth, 
and operation teams to translate business insights into decisions and action"; "[c]ommunicate results 
to the product team lead"; or "[d]evelop and maintain machine learning models to enhance user 
engagement and experience," provide only a general idea of what the Beneficiary is doing but do not 
provide enough information to identify the Beneficiary's role within the organization and his 
responsibility within the groups. Without a more meaningful job description, the record lacks 
sufficiently probative and informative evidence to demonstrate that the proffered position requires a 
specialty occupation's level of knowledge in a specific specialty. 
Further, the Petitioner attempts to provide an explanation of the Beneficiary's job duties by providing 
additional description, purpose, related skills, and required education for each duty category.13 For 
example, the additional description include statements, such as, "[r]un analysis to understand cost and 
benefits of the product changes;" "[d]efining and developing key metrics for products and 
monetization teams;" or "[w]orking with various teams and leveraging data analysis to answer 
business questions as needed." However, the added duty descriptions are so broad and provide so 
little context that they do not illuminate the substantive application of knowledge involved or any 
particular educational requirement associated with such duties. It is not possible to ascertain the nature 
and level of responsibility of the proposed position. In addition, the Petitioner cites a few courses as 
essential to the performance of the proffered position. While a few related courses may be beneficial 
in performing certain duties of the position, the Petitioner has not demonstrated how an established 
curriculum of such courses leading to a baccalaureate or higher degree in a specific specialty, or its 
equivalent, is required to perform the duties of the proffered position. The Petitioner also includes 
11 U.S. Dep't of Labor, Emp't & Training Admin., Prevailing Wage Determination Policy Guidance, Nonagric. 
Immigration Programs (rev. Nov. 2009), available at 
http://www.foreignlaborcert.doleta.gov/pdf/NPWHC Guidance_Revised _11_2009.pdf. 
12 The Petitioner provided an LCA tori I New York that was certified by the Department of Labor on 
February 27, 2019. The wages for SOC 15-1142, Network and Computer Systems Administrators, at the time of the 
LCA's certification can be found on the Foreign Labor Certification Data Center Online Wage Library: 
https://www.flcdatacenter.com/OesQuickResults.aspx?code=15-1142&area==e=J&year=19&source=1 (last visited on 
Aug. 6, 2020) 
13 The document, "Detailed Job Description of the Beneficiary", was submitted with the Petitioner's RFE Response. It 
appears the document may have been written, in part, by the Beneficiary as first-person pronouns are used to refer to the 
Beneficiary's coursework. 
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examples of the Beneficiary's work product. Although these work products provide samples of the 
computer skills involved in the proffered position, these examples do not provide probative evidence 
that the position indeed requires a bachelor's or higher in specific specialty. Upon review, the record 
lacks sufficiently detailed information to distinguish the proffered position as more complex or unique 
from other positions that can be performed by persons without at least a bachelor's degree in a specific 
specialty, or its equivalent. 
Without more specific and persuasive evidence regarding the nature of the proffered position's duties, 
and in the absence of a sufficiently reliable job description, the Petitioner has not demonstrated the 
substantive nature of the work to be performed by the Beneficiary. This, therefore, precludes analysis 
of whether the proffered position satisfies any criterion at 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A). The record 
also does not demonstrate that performing the general duties described would require the theoretical 
and practical application of highly specialized knowledge and attainment of at least a bachelor's degree 
in a specific specialty or its equivalent. See section 214(i)(1) of the Act; 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4)(ii) 
(defining the term "specialty occupation). 
111. CONCLUSION 
As the Petitioner has not satisfied at least one of the criteria at 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A), it has 
not demonstrated that the proffered position qualifies as a specialty occupation. Moreover, the record 
does not establish that the Petitioner satisfied the statutory and regulatory definitions of specialty 
occupation. 
ORDER: The appeal is dismissed. 
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