dismissed H-1B Case: Engineering

IdPntifyhgda-to 
prevent clearly unwanan ted 
invasion of personal privacy 
U.S. Department of Homeland Security 
20 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Rm. A3042 
Washington, DC 20529 
U. S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
PUBLIC COPY 
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 1 101(a)(l S)(H)(i)(b) 
ON BEHALF OF PETITIONER: 
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. 
/& Administrative ki?%diqe Appeals 
WAC 04 250 52423 
Page 2 
DISCUSSION: The service center director denied the nonimmigrant 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 is a civil and structural engineering company that seeks to employ the beneficiary as a cost 
accountant. The petitioner endeavors to classify the beneficiary as a nonimmigrant worker in a specialty 
occupation pursuant to section I0 l (a)(] S)(H)(i)(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act), 8 U.S.C. 
§ 1 101 (a>( 15)(H)(i)(b). 
The director denied the petition because the petitioner did not establish that the proffered position is a 
specialty occupation. On appeal, the petitioner submits a letter. 
Section 214(i)(l) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 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. 8 214.2(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 additional evidence; (3) the petitioner's response to the director's request; (4) the 
WAC 04 250 52423 
Page 3 
director's denial letter; and (5) Form I-290B and supporting documentation. The AAO reviewed the record in 
its entirety before issuing its decision. 
The petitioner is seeking the beneficiary's services as a cost accountant. Evidence of the beneficiary's duties 
includes: the Form 1-129; the attachments accompanying the Form 1-129; the September 7, 2004 letter in 
support of the petition; and the petitioner's response to the director's request for evidence. According to this 
evidence, the beneficiary would perform duties that entail: conducting studies which provide detailed cost 
information not supplied by general accounting systems; planning a study and collecting data to determine 
costs of construction activity, such as raw materials, purchases, inventory and labor; analyzing changes in 
construction design, raw materials, methods and services provided to determine effects on cost; analyzing 
actual construction costs and preparing periodic reports comparing standard costs to actual construction costs; 
performing bill of material standard cost and maintenance; assisting in the development of annual budgets and 
periodic forecasts, such as creating a budget for organization, including for construction, administration, 
capital investment and financial budgets; providing management with accurate, timely and insightful 
information relating to material costs, labor costs, and other costs related to construction services; preparing 
special analyses and studies, including cost projections, studies and account analysis; assisting in maintaining 
an adequate system of internal controls within cost accounting; identifying and measuring opportunity costs 
for making planning decisions; approximating activity costs using variable and fixed costs and using 
costhenefit analysis to make information choices; and maintaining a strong system of internal controls, which 
will insure the safeguarding of assets. The petitioner indicated that a qualified candidate for the job would 
possess a bachelor's degree in business administration. 
The director found that the petitioner did not establish that the proffered position was a specialty occupation 
because it was more like bookkeeping, accounting or auditing clerk than an accountant. The director found 
further that the petitioner failed to establish any of the criteria found at 8 C.F.R. 8 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A). 
On appeal, the petitioner states that it established that a bachelor's degree is the normal minimum requirement 
for entry into a position as an accountant. The petitioner also states that it established that the nature of the 
duties of the proffered position is so specialized and complex that the knowledge requirement to perform the 
duties is usually associated with the attainment of a bachelor's degree. The petitioner asserts that the director 
acknowledged that some of the duties of the proffered position were those of an accountant. The petitioner 
responds to that acknowledgement by stating the primary duties of the position are those of an accountant, 
even if the position may encompass some peripheral bookkeeping duties. The petitioner states that the 
director's assertion that the petitioner does not engage in the type of business that requires an accountant is a 
misstatement of the Handbook's premise. The petitioner states that it is engaged in multiple financial 
transactions on a daily basis, and that its management needs ready access to detailed financial information. 
To the extent that they are described in the record, some of the duties appear to involve some level of 
accounting. However, not all positions that involve accounting and are labeled by the employing firm as 
accountant positions are specialty occupations. The critical question is whether performance of the particular 
position in question involves the theoretical and practical application of highly specialized accounting 
knowledge that is attained only by at least a bachelor's degree or its equivalent in accounting or a related 
specialty. 
WAC 04 250 52423 
Page 4 
Not all accounting employment is performed by degreed accountants. Therefore, the performance of duties 
requiring accounting knowledge does not necessarily establish a proffered position as a specialty occupation. 
The question is not whether the petitioner's position requires knowledge of accounting principles, which it 
does, but rather whether it is one that normally requires the level of accounting knowledge that is signified by 
at least a bachelor's degree, or its equivalent, in accounting or a related specialty. 
The 2005-2006 Handbook's discussion of the occupation of accountants clearly indicates that accounting 
positions may be filled by individuals holding associate degrees or certificates, or who have acquired their 
accounting expertise through experience: 
Capable accountants and auditors may advance rapidly; those having inadequate academic 
preparation may be assigned routine jobs and find promotion difficult. Many graduates of 
junior colleges or business or correspondence schools, as well as bookkeepers and accounting 
clerks who meet the education and experience requirements set by the employers, can obtain 
junior accounting positions and advance to positions with more responsibilities by 
demonstrating their accounting skills on the job. 
The Handbook also notes in its description of the work performed by bookkeeping, accounting and auditing 
clerks that: 
Demand for full-charge bookkeepers is expected in increase, because they are called upon to 
do much of the work of accountants, as well as perform a wider variety of financial 
transactions, from payroll to billing. Those with several years of accounting or bookkeeper 
certification will have the best job prospects.1 
Further proof of the range of academic backgrounds that may prepare an individual for accounting 
employment is provided by the credentialing practices of the Accreditation Council for Accountancy and 
Taxation (ACAT), an independent accrediting and monitoring organization affiliated with the National 
Society of Accountants. The ACAT does not require a degree in accounting or a related specialty to issue a 
credential as an Accredited Business Accountant@/Accredited Business Advisor@ (ABA). Eligibility for the 
eight-hour comprehensive examination for the ABA credential requires only three years of "verifiable 
experience in accounting, taxation, financial services, or other fields requiring a practical and theoretical 
knowledge of the submitted matter covered on the ACAT Comprehensive Examination." Up to two of the 
required years of work experience may be satisfied through college credit. 
2 
To determine whether the accounting knowledge required by the proffered position rises above that which 
may be acquired through experience or an associate's degree in ac~ountin~,~ the AAO turns to the record for 
1 
 Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2006-2007 Edition, at www.bls.gov/oco/ocos144.htm. 
Information provided by the ACAT website (http://www.acatcredentia1s.org/index.html). The Handbook 
identifies the ACAT website as one of several "Sources of Additional Information" at the end of its 
discussion of the occupation of accountants. 
According to the website for Skyline College, a community college located in San Mateo, CA 
WAC 04 250 52423 
Page 5 
information regarding the nature of the petitioner's business operations. While the size of a petitioner's 
business is normally not a factor in determining the nature of a proffered position, both level of income and 
organizational structure are appropriately reviewed when a petitioner seeks to employ an H-1B workers as an 
accountant. In cases where a petitioner's business is relatively small, the AAO reviews the record for 
evidence that its operations are, nevertheless, of sufficient complexity to indicate that it would employ the 
beneficiary in an accounting position requiring a level of financial knowledge that may be obtained only 
through a baccalaureate degree in accounting or its equivalent. 
In the director's request for evidence, he asked the petitioner to provide evidence to establish that the 
proffered position was a specialty occupation. In reply, counsel stated that the petitioner established that the 
position was a specialty occupation by virtue of the evidence submitted with the petition, and that "it would 
be entirely redundant to reiterate the petitioner's explanation concerning the position's description and just as 
repetitive to repeat its justification for the position requirements, may we then refer the Service to the 
enclosed copy of the petitioner's letter dated September 7, 2004." The purpose of the request for evidence is 
to elicit further information that clarifies whether eligibility for the benefit sought has been established. 
8 C.F.R. fj 103.2(b)(8). The information provided by the petitioner in its response to the director's request for 
further evidence did not clarify or provide more specificity to the original duties of the position. 
Consequently, the petitioner chose to limit the record to generic descriptions of the proposed duties, such as 
"Conduct studies which provide detailed cost information not supplied by general accounting systems"; 
"Plans study and collects data to determine costs of construction activity, such as raw materials, purchases, 
inventory and labor"; and "Maintains a strong system of internal controls. which will insure the safeguarding 
of assets." The petitioner provides no explanation of the processes and knowledge that the beneficiary would 
apply in the performance of these or any other duties. Nor does the petitioner describe or provide examples of 
specific matters of the petitioner's business and explain how the beneficiary's work on such matters correlates 
with highly specialized knowledge only attained by achieving a bachelor's degree, or its equivalent, in a 
specific specialty. Consequently, as evident in the discussion below, the record contains insufficient 
information to satisfy any criterion of 8 C.F.R. fj 214,2(h)(4)(iii)(A). 
Upon review of the record, the petitioner has established none of the four criteria outlined in 8 C.F.R. 
fj 2 14.2(h)(4)(iii)(A). Therefore, the proffered position is not a specialty occupation. 
The AAO turns first to the criteria at 8 C.F.R. fj 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 
- - 
(www.skylinecollege.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. Thus an associate's degree would provide knowledge about the 
GAAP and accounting techniques that serve the needs of management and facilitate decision-making. 
WAC 04 250 52423 
Page 6 
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 HirdBlaker Corp. 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. Counsel states that the beneficiary's duties are those performed by a cost 
accountant, which the Handbook identifies as one of the titles used for management accountants. 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, and cost 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. 
The AAO notes that many of the duties described in the Handbook do not apply to the proffered position. 
According to the Handbook, accountants prepare financial reports for nonmanagement groups, including 
stockholders, creditors, regulatory agencies, and tax authorities, and usually, they are part of executive teams. 
The beneficiary will not be part of an executive team. Nor will the beneficiary prepare financial reports for 
nonmanagement groups such as stockholders, creditors, or regulatory agencies. As described in the record, the 
general scope and complexity of the beneficiary's duties and responsibilities do not align with the 
Handbook's general description of management accountants. Consequently, the Handbook's reporting that 
the management accountant occupation, as therein described, generally requires a bachelor's degree in 
accounting or a related field does not support the proffered position as requiring such a degree. 
The record shows that the petitioner, an engineering firm, employs five persons, and earns a gross annual 
income of $434,798. While the petitioner stated that it had numerous daily financial transactions that 
necessitate the hiring of a person with a bachelor's degree in accounting, there is no evidence in the record to 
support this assertion. 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 I&N Dec. 158, 165 
(Comm. 1998) (citing Matter of Treasure Crafr of California, 14 I&N Dec. 190 (Reg. Comm. 1972)). The 
record does not establish that the beneficiary would perform actual work that requires at least a bachelor's 
degree in accounting. While the size of the petitioning entity is not relevant in determining whether a position 
qualifies as a specialty occupation, the level of income generated by the petitioner has a direct and substantial 
bearing on the scope and depth of the beneficiary's proposed duties. Responsibility for income of $435,000 
differs vastly from responsibility associated with a far larger income or from a firm that is responsible for the 
WAC 04 250 52423 
Page 7 
accounting work of many clients. Consequently, the petitioner fails to establish that a baccalaureate or higher 
degree or its equivalent is the normal minimum requirement for entry into the particular position. 
Accordingly, the petitioner has not established 8 C.F.R. 5 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A)(l). 
The first alternative prong of the second criterion requires the petitioner to establish that a specific degree 
requirement is common to the industry in parallel positions among similar organizations. The petitioner 
submitted numerous Internet job listings for cost accountants, some of which were with engineering firms. 
There is no evidence, however, to show that the employers issuing those postings are similar to the petitioner, 
or that the advertised positions are parallel to the instant position. As noted previously, the petitioner has not 
established that the duties of the proffered position require at least a bachelor's degree level of knowledge in 
accounting. Thus, the advertisements have little relevance. 
The petitioner has not established that the particular position is so complex or unique that it can be performed 
only by an individual with a degree, as required to satisfy the second alternative prong of 8 C.F.R. 
5 2 14.2(h)(4)(iii)(A)(2). 
Because the proffered position is newly created, the petitioner cannot establish that it normally requires a degree 
or its equivalent for the position. 8 C.F.R. 5 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A)(3). 
The fourth criterion at 8 C.F.R. 
 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A) 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. As indicated in the earlier discussion of 
the petitioner's exclusively generic description of the proffered duties, the record does not develop the duties 
with sufficient specificity to evidence the level of specialization and complexity required by this criterion. 
Consequently, the petitioner fails to establish 8 C.F.R. 8 2 14.2(h)(4)(iii)(A)(4). 
As related in the discussion above, the petitioner has failed to establish that the petitioner will employ the 
beneficiary in 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.