dismissed H-1B Case: Information Technology

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
MATTER OF B-, INC . 
APPEAL OF VERMONT SERVICE CENTER DECISION 
Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
DATE: SEPT. 26, 2019 
PETITION: FORM 1-129, PETITION FOR A NONIMMIGRANT WORKER 
The Petitioner , an information technology consulting firm, seeks to temporarily employ the Beneficiary 
as a "business analyst" under the H-lB nonimmigrant classification for specialty occupations. 
See 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-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 Director of the Vermont Service Center denied the petition, concluding that the Petitioner did not 
establish that the proffered position qualifies as a specialty occupation . On appeal, the Petitioner 
provides a brief and additional evidence, and asserts that the Director erred in denying the petition. 
Upon de nova review , we will dismiss the appeal. 1 
I. LEGAL FRAMEWORK 
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. 
1 We follow the preponderance of the evidence standard as specified in Matter of Chawathe, 25 I&N Dec. 369, 375-76 
(AAO 2010). 
Matter of B-, Inc. 
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. 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 
position"); Defensor v. Meissner, 201 F.3d 384, 387 (5th Cir. 2000). 
As recognized by the court in Defensor, 201 F.3d at 387-88, where the work is to be performed for 
entities other than the petitioner, evidence of the client companies' job requirements is critical. The 
court held that the former Immigration and Naturalization Service had reasonably interpreted the 
statute and regulations as requiring the petitioner to produce evidence that a proffered position 
qualifies as a specialty occupation on the basis of the requirements imposed by the entities using the 
beneficiary's services. Id. Such evidence must be sufficiently detailed to demonstrate the type and 
educational level of highly specialized knowledge in a specific discipline that is necessary to perform 
that particular work. 
II. PROFFERED POSITION 
The Petitioner indicated that it will assign the Beneficiary through a mid-vendor to work as a "business 
analyst" for an end-client for the duration of the validity period requested. 2 The Petitioner designated 
the proffered position under the occupational category "Management Analysts" corresponding to the 
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code 13-1111, at a Level II wage on the labor condition 
application (LCA)3 submitted in support of the H-lB petition. Within these proceedings the Petitioner 
2 The Petitioner most recently employed the Beneficiary through post-completion optional practical training, and has 
provided copies of wage statements for his employment with the Petitioner. 8 C.F.R. §§ 274a.12(c)(3)(i)(B), 
214.2(t)(l 0)(ii)(A)(3). 
3 A petitioner submits the LCA to the U.S. Department of Labor to demonstrate that it will pay an H-1 B worker the higher of 
2 
Matter of B-, Inc. 
has submitted several iterations of the duties of the proffered position. 4 For instance, the Petitioner 
provided a set of duties consisting of 11 items when it filed the petition. In response to the Director's 
request for evidence (RFE), it submitted a more expansive list of job responsibilities, as follows: 5 
70% of Time Allocated to: 
• Responsible for everyday analysis, reporting and reconciliation Team progress 
in Jira during daily team huddle. 
• Conduct Requirement gathering sessions using survey, interviews, JAD 
sessions, document analysis to gather requirements for farther sprints and 
upcoming releases. 
• Communicate with internal clients like [] to understand their reporting needs 
including Consumer Buying patterns, Consumer demographics, Store Traffic, 
Demand Chain Analytics, Omni Channel sales, Inventory, Customer 
Relationship Management, Loyalty and Customer retention to enable them to 
have a targeted marking strategy and inventory planning. 
• Work closely with developers and testers to create Level of Estimate (LOE) for 
new business requests[.] Conduct Joint Application Design (JAD) sessions 
with the end users/business and technical teams. 
• Identify data sources, open communication channels and negotiate timelines on 
successfully acquiring the data from the sources to the Unified Analytics 
Platform in a Scrum based environment. 
• Analyze data models, schemas and table structure of the source system and map 
them accordingly in the target systems. 
• Create and maintain source to target mapping documents for each brand. 
• Evaluate and Synthesize current reporting mechanisms, processes, and 
recommend changes. 
• Create process flow documents and data flow diagrams in MS Visio depicting 
the flow of the project. 
• Create and maintain FDD (Functional Design Documents), IDD (Integration 
Design Documents), RDD (Reporting Design Documents), PDD (Process 
either the prevailing wage for the occupational classification in the area of employment or the actual wage paid by the employer 
to other employees with similar duties, experience, and qualifications. Section 212(n)(l) of the Act; 20 C.F.R. § 655.73l(a). 
4 We acknowledge that the Petitioner submitted additional information for the job duties, and have closely considered and 
reviewed this material, as with all evidence in the record. For instance, the Petitioner also included a listing of the 
Beneficiary's previous coursework for the purpose of correlating the need for the Beneficiary's education with the 
associated job duties of the position. However, we are required to follow long-standing legal standards and determine 
first, whether the proffered position qualifies for classification as a specialty occupation, and second, whether the 
Beneficiary was qualified for the position at the time the nonimmigrant visa petition was filed. Cf Matter of Michael 
Hertz Assocs., 19 T&N Dec. 558, 560 (Comm'r 1988) ('The facts of a beneficiary's background only come at issue after 
it is found that the position in which the petitioner intends to employ him falls within [ a specialty occupation]."). 
5 Also, the Petitioner provided letters from the mid-vendor and the end-client which substantially reiterate the various duties 
presented by the Petitioner. 
3 
Matter of B-, Inc. 
Design Documents) and DMDD (Data Mapping Design Documents) while 
working closely with the development and integration teams. 
• Coordinate data extraction from various data sources and conduct data 
interpretation by designing and implementing custom SQL queries in Athena 
for data validation. 
• Pull and analyze data independently, interpret results, provide 
recommendations for simplification of opportunities and implement changes as 
needed. 
• Create, improve and document Licensing Process tools like Alteryx, Tableau, 
etc. on the platform. 
• Create and maintain Communication plans and templates to clearly 
communicate business requirements, downtimes, server maintenance and 
delays in data loads. 
• Coordinate with scrum teams from other downstream impacted systems like 
Reporting teams, Analytics teams, Data scientists and Cognos reporting teams 
to identify and resolve dependencies and establish acceptance criteria to 
confirm capability delivery meets criteria. 
• Collaborate with my scrum master, product owner and business to prioritize the 
product features for delivery and clearly communicate product vision and 
requirements. 
• Solicit and incorporate customer, stakeholder, and end user feedback and 
provide direction and guidance to team members while serving as a product 
expert. 
30% of Time Allocated to: 
• Participation in project meetings and design groups with other team members 
in preparing Risk Analysis reports and project progress reports. 
• Provide On-going technical development project reports to [the Petitioner's] 
Manager. 
• Providing [the Petitioner] technical with bi-weekly project status updates, 
including any technical development needs. 
• Participate in technical education coursework and/or professional seminar 
training as directed by [the Petitioner's] Management. 
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. 6 
6 The Petitioner submitted documentation to support the H-1 B 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. 
4 
Matter of B-, Inc. 
We conclude that the Petitioner has not sufficiently established the Beneficiary's offsite employment 
at the end-client location for the period of intended H-1 B employment. 7 The Petitioner intends to 
assign the Beneficiary through a mid-vendor to work for an end-client, in North Carolina. The claimed 
contractual chain is as follows: 
Petitioner ➔ E-G- (mid-vendor) ➔ V- (end-client). 
The Petitioner initially provided documents to substantiate the Beneficiary's work assignment, 
including a February 2018 corporate agreement (CA) between the Petitioner and the mid-vendor. The 
CA is an agreement which provided, among other things: 
[The mid-vendor is in the business of providing information technology recruitment 
and staffing services (the "Services") and has contracted with [the end-client] to 
provide certain services to Client. .. [The mid-vendor's] success in its business depends 
to a great extent on its ability to place qualified, contingent workers (the "Personnel) 
with Client and receive from its Client payments greater than the compensations the 
[mid-vendor] pays to [the Petitioner]. 
[I]n consideration of the mutual covenants contained herein, [the Petitioner] desires to 
provide the Personnel listed on the attached Addendum A to provide Services to Client 
through [the mid-vendor]. .. 
[] [The Petitioner] enters into this Agreement with the understanding that [the mid­
vendor's] Client desires to retain the Services of [the Petitioner's] Personnel and that 
the existing terms between [the mid-vendor] and Client supersede all other agreements. 
[The Petitioner] also acknowledges that Client will determine the scope and acceptance 
of Services rendered. 
Completeness and acceptability of Services will be determined by Client in its sole 
discretion and will be confirmed through weekly, timecard approval. .. 
The CA did not further describe the "services" to be performed, but simply noted that the assignment 
of the Petitioner's personnel with the end-client would commence in February 2018. The Petitioner 
also initially provided the mid-vendor's "Addendum A," which was presented on mid-vendor 
letterhead, and was signed on February 8, 2018 by the "company representative" who also signed the 
7 The Petitioner employed the Beneficiary through post-completion optional practical training, and has provided copies of 
wage statements for his employment with the Petitioner. 8 C.F.R. §§ 274a.12(c)(3)(i)(B), 214.2(f)(10)(ii)(A)(3). 
5 
Matter of B-, Inc. 
CA. The addendum identified the Beneficiary, noted the position title as "Business Analyst," with a 
February 12, 2018 start date, but did not describe the services that the Beneficiary would perform, or 
the duration of his assignment. 
Notably, the Director requested the contractual documentation between the parties for the 
Beneficiary's employment at the end-client location in her RFE. In response, the Petitioner provided 
a different version of the mid-vendor's Addendum A. This new version was also dated and signed by 
the mid-vendor's "company representative" on February 8, 2018, but was not presented on mid-vendor 
letterhead, and contained a notation that the Beneficiary's assignment was for a "24 month duration." 
In contrast, the end-client and the mid-vendor letters submitted by the Petitioner initially, and in 
response to the Director's RFE, each maintained that "[t]he duration of this project is for the full 
requested validity period and the project can be extended indefinitely as the requirement is of an 
ongoing nature." The Petitioner requested that the instant H-lB petition be approved from October 1, 
2018 through August 19, 2021, a period of time extending well beyond the stated 24 month duration 
specified on the subsequently submitted mid-vendor Addendum A. Also, the end-client letters each 
state that "we have contracted the services of [the Beneficiary] as a Business analyst for our Unified 
Analytics Platform," but do not mention the claimed contractual relationship with the mid-vendor. 
The Petitioner must resolve these inconsistencies and ambiguity 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). Unresolved material inconsistencies may lead us to reevaluate the reliability and sufficiency 
of other evidence submitted in support of the requested immigration benefit. Id. Further, the record 
is not supported by the contractual documentation between the mid-vendor and the end-client, though 
such documentation was requested by the Director in her RFE. 8 
Considering this material collectively, we conclude there is insufficient and inconsistent evidence of 
an obligation on the part of the end-client to provide work for the Beneficiary, let alone work of 
specialty occupation caliber for the requested validity period. In other words, the evidence of record 
is currently insufficient to establish the terms and conditions of the proffered position at the end-client 
location. 9 It is the Petitioner's burden to prove by a preponderance of evidence that it is qualified for 
the benefit sought. Matter of Chawathe, 25 I&N Dec. at 3 76. In evaluating the evidence, eligibility 
is to be determined not by the quantity of evidence alone but by its quality. Id. Here, the 
documentation provided is not probative towards establishing the terms and conditions of the 
Beneficiary's assignment as imposed by the end-client. See Defensor, 201 F.3d at 387-88 (where the 
work is to be performed for entities other than the petitioner, evidence of the client companies' job 
requirements is critical). 
Moreover, a crucial aspect of this matter is whether the duties of the proffered position are described 
in such a way that we may discern the actual, substantive nature of the position. As noted, the record 
lacks sufficient evidence to substantiate the Beneficiary's assignment as represented by the Petitioner. 
Again, when a beneficiary will perform the work for entities other than the petitioner, evidence of the 
8 "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(6)(14). 
9 A petitioner must establish eligibility at the time of filing the petition. See 8 C.F.R. § 103.2(b)(l). The agency made 
clear long ago that speculative employment is not permitted in the H-lB program. See, e.g..63 Fed. Reg. 30,419, 30,419-
20 (June 4, 1998). 
6 
Matter of B-, Inc. 
client companies' job requirements is critical. Defensor, 201 F.3d at 387-88. 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, we conclude that the Petitioner has not provided consistent and sufficient 
material about the end-client's projects that the Beneficiary will provide services for at the end-client 
location. The Petitioner initially stated that "the Beneficiary will provide technical services on the 
project for the [end-client]." The Director requested an explanation of how the Beneficiary's specific 
job duties relate to the Petitioner's and the end-client's products and services in her RFE. In response 
to the RFE, the Petitioner provided a letter from the end-client and copies of the Beneficiary's "project 
status reports" for his assignment at the end-client location, which described the end-client's United 
Analytic project [UA project] as follows (verbatim): 
The project is a part of the 'Insights and Analytics" capability which is one of the six 
critical capabilities. The Analytics platform aims at providing insights and analytics 
based reports to enable [end-client] owned brands make educated forecasts and 
decisions. This platform would also address the current and future reporting needs of 
the brands. This multi-year project which is hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS) 
cloud aims to ingest data, currently on disparate legacy systems and empower users 
with toolkits on the cloud for them to analyze and consume the data. The platform is 
planned to be rolled out in the North America (NORA), Europe- Middle East and Africa 
(EMEA) and Asia Pacific (APAC) regions in iterative releases. 
While this narrative gives a high level description about an application under "in-house" development 
by the end-client, the record does not sufficiently substantiate the nature of this project. We 
acknowledge that the Petitioner also provided a "State of the Union" presentation about the UA project 
which provided more detailed narrative on the project's attributes, and an "Analytics Journey" timeline 
for the development of the project. This timeline reflects that the project development commenced on 
or around September 2017, and that ultimately the "UAP Production (North America)" was scheduled 
to be implemented in March 2018. The Petitioner asserted in its RFE response that "[t]he project has 
funding to rollout in the North America (NORA), Europe- Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Asia 
Pacific (APAC) regions in 2018, 2019, and 2020, respectively." However, this project development 
timeline has not been substantiated by the end-client. For instance, the presentation discussed "next 
steps" for the UA project, including performing a "global platform readiness assessment," and the 
"[p]rioritization of additional [d]ata resources," but the presentation does not provide a UA project 
milestone time line for further project development beyond the March 2018 date, nor did it identify the 
project development staffing structure used by the end-client to conduct this development effort, which 
would presumably include the proffered position. Though the Petitioner provided evidence such as 
letters from the end-client, mid-vendor letters, the Beneficiary status reports, and the UA project 
presentation, this evidence is inadequate to establish the substantive nature of the work to be performed 
and a necessary correlation between the proffered position and a need for a particular level of 
education, or its equivalent, in a body of highly specialized knowledge in a specific specialty. 
7 
Matter of B-, Inc. 
Here, the record contains insufficient supporting documentation that identifies the scope, duration, and 
magnitude of the end-client's projects, to establish the substantive nature of the Beneficiary's role 
therein. 1° For example, the Petitioner emphasized throughout the proceedings that the Beneficiary 
will coordinate, liaise or interact with various end-client personnel and stakeholder groups, including: 
• Responsible for everyday analysis, reporting and reconciliation Team progress 
in Jira during daily team huddle. 
• Solicit and incorporate customer, stakeholder, and end user feedback and 
provide direction and guidance to team members while serving as a product 
expert. 
• Coordinate with scrum teams from other downstream impacted systems like 
Reporting teams, Analytics teams, Data scientists and Cognos reporting teams 
to identify and resolve dependencies and establish acceptance criteria to 
confirm capability delivery meets criteria. 
• Collaborate with my scrum master, product owner and business to prioritize the 
product features for delivery and clearly communicate product vision and 
requirements. 
• Work closely with developers and testers to create Level of Estimate (LOE) for 
new business requests. 
• Conduct Joint Application Design (JAD) sessions with the end users/business 
and technical teams. 
Though the Petitioner described the job duties of the position, the evidence does not show the 
operational structure within this initiative in a manner that would establish the Beneficiary's role. 
While the Director in the RFE requested organization charts that would delineate the Petitioner's and 
the end-client's organization, and staffing hierarchy (including the job titles of the positions that the 
Beneficiary will manage in the proffered position, and the job title of the individual he will report to), 
the Petitioner did not sufficiently address this aspect. In its RFE response, the Petitioner provided 
material which indicates that the Beneficiary reports to its vice president of training and development. 
The organization chart shows various positions, including this vice president's position with a 
downward arrow pointing to a box entitled "employees," which lends little insight into the proffered 
position's placement within the Petitioner's organizational hierarchy. Further, the Petitioner did not 
provide evidence of the end-client's project staffing hierarchy, and sufficient information about what 
the end-client's projects actually entail in order to establish the substantive nature of the Beneficiary's 
role as a "business analyst" within the context of this endeavor. Here, the documentation provided is 
not probative towards establishing the terms and conditions of the Beneficiary's assignment as 
imposed by the end-client. See Defensor, 201 F.3d at 387-88 (where the work is to be performed for 
entities other than the petitioner, evidence of the client companies' job requirements is critical). 
Moreover, as noted, in determining the nature of a proffered position, the critical element is not the 
title of the position, but the duties of the underlying position. As part of our analysis, we review the 
duties of the proffered position to assess the duties and determine whether the described duties 
correspond to the duties and tasks listed in the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) Summary 
10 Defensor, 201 F.3d at 387-88. 
8 
Matter of B-, Inc. 
Report for the occupation designated in the LCA. 11 Here, the Petitioner submitted an LCA for the 
"Management Analysts" occupational category corresponding to the Standard Occupational 
classification (SOC) code 13-1111. 12 The U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) Occupational Outlook 
Handbook (Handbook) states that "Management Analysts" typically: 13 
• Gather and organize information about the problem to be solved or the procedure 
to be improved 
• Interview personnel and conduct onsite observations to determine the methods, 
equipment, and personnel that will be needed 
• Analyze financial and other data, including revenue, expenditure, and employment 
reports 
• Develop solutions or alternative practices 
• Recommend new systems, procedures, or organizational changes 
• Make recommendations to management through presentations or written reports 
• Confer with managers to ensure changes are working 
The Petitioner job descriptions for the proffered position may comport, in part, with the typical tasks 
performed by individuals employed in the "Management Analysts" occupational category. However, 
despite the Petitioner's categorization of the proffered position as a "Management Analyst," the 
petition also contains considerable narrative that references a position that substantially entails system 
11 20 C.F.R. § 655.705(b) requires that USCIS ensure that an LCA supports the H-lB petition filed on behalf of the Beneficiary. 
12 The O*NET Summary Report for positions located within the "Management Analysts" occupational category lists the 
following duties: 
• Document findings of study and prepare recommendations for implementation of new systems, 
procedures, or organizational changes. 
• Interview personnel and conduct on-site observation to ascertain unit functions, work performed, and 
methods, equipment, and personnel used. 
• Analyze data gathered and develop solutions or alternative methods of proceeding. 
• Plan study of work problems and procedures, such as organizational change, communications, 
information flow, integrated production methods, inventory control, or cost analysis. 
• Confer with personnel concerned to ensure successful functioning of newly implemented systems or 
procedures. 
• Gather and organize information on problems or procedures. 
• Prepare manuals and train workers in use of new forms, reports, procedures or equipment, according to 
organizational policy. 
• Review forms and reports and confer with management and users about format, distribution, and 
purpose, identifying problems and improvements. 
• Develop and implement records management program for filing, protection, and retrieval ofrecords, and 
assure compliance with program. 
• Design, evaluate, recommend, and approve changes of forms and reports. 
The O*NET Summary Report for "Management Analysts," may be viewed at https://www.onetonline.org 
/link/summary/13-1111 (last visited Sept. 25, 2019). 
13 Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Dep't of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Management Analysts, 
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-financial/management-analysts.htm#tab-2 (last visited Sept. 25, 2019). All of our 
references to the Handbook may be accessed at the Internet site http://www.bls.gov/ooh/. We do not maintain that the 
Handbook is the exclusive source of relevant information. 
9 
Matter of B-, Inc. 
design, development, and testing functions. For example, the material in the record indicates that the 
Beneficiary will "[ c ]reate and maintain [ c ]ommunication plans and templates to clearly communicate 
business requirements, downtimes, server maintenance and delays in data loads," "[ c ]oordinate data 
extraction from various data sources and conduct data interpretation by designing and implementing 
custom SQL queries in Athena for data validation," "[ c ]reate process flow documents and data flow 
diagrams in MS Visio depicting the flow of the project," and [c]onduct [r]equirement gathering 
sessions using survey, interviews, JAD sessions, document analysis to gather requirements for further 
sprints and upcoming releases." 
Additionally, the Petitioner provided copies of the Beneficiary's project status reports, which indicate 
that he routinely performed duties, such as "[ w ]orked with IP source team to fix distro issues," 
"[a]dded users and communicated the credentials to them," "completed business requirement 
gathering for the TPS report," "[ w ]orked on cleaning up the SFTP locations and S3 buckets and re­
organized the structures to be able to run data syncs for file transfers," and "[r]eviewed the UAT plan 
to re-verify if we captured all test cases." While the Petitioner submitted an LCA designating the 
"Management Analysts" occupational category for the proffered position, the Petitioner has not 
sufficiently established that the proffered position's duties and responsibilities are consistent with the 
occupational category. Here, the Petitioner has not adequately explained how the design, development 
and testing of system software are closely related to the O*NET tasks and the Handbook's duties for 
the "Management Analysts" occupation. 14 The Petitioner must also resolve these inconsistencies and 
ambiguities with independent, objective evidence pointing to where the truth lies. Matter of Ho, Dec. 
591-92. 
The Petitioner maintains on appeal that it "correctly used the [Management Analysts] SOC Code 13-
1111 based on the job duties for the proffered position." However, we are not persuaded by the 
Petitioner's submission. Notably, the O*NET Summary Report for a "Computer Systems Analysts" 
occupational category, corresponding to SOC 15-1121, shows that someone in this position will, 
among other things, "[ a ]nalyze [b ]usiness, and other data processing problems to implement and 
improve computer systems. Analyze user requirements, procedures, and problems to automate or 
improve existing systems and review computer system capabilities, workflow, and scheduling 
limitations .... " We observe that many of the software development and design, and systems testing 
duties of the proffered position appear to be closely related to the "Computer Systems Analysts" tasks 
described in the O*NET Summary Report for the occupation. 15 Based on the material presented in 
14 See 20 C.F.R. § 655.705(6). 
15 For instance, the O*NET Summary report indicate that "Computer Systems Analysts" perform tasks, to include: 
• Test, maintain, and monitor computer programs and systems, including coordinating the installation of 
computer programs and systems. 
• Troubleshoot program and system malfunctions to restore normal functioning. 
• Develop, document and revise system design procedures, test procedures, and quality standards. 
• Analyze information processing or computation needs and plan and design computer systems. using 
techniques such as structured analysis, data modeling and information engineering. 
• Expand or modify system to serve new purposes or improve work flow. 
• Consult with management to ensure agreement on system principles. 
10 
Matter of B-, Inc. 
the record of proceedings, we are unable to conclude that the proffered position properly falls solely 
within the "Management Analyst" occupational category corresponding to SOC code 13-1111, which 
raises additional questions regarding the substantive nature of the proffered position. 
In general, if the duties of a proffered position involve more than one occupational category (i.e., 
"Management Analysts" and "Computer Systems Analysts"), the 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." 16 At the time the Petitioner's 
LCA was certified, the Level II prevailing wage for "Computer Systems Analysts" in the area of 
intended employment was $74,630 per year, which is significantly higher than the prevailing wage for 
"Management Analysts" of $48,443 per year. 17 Thus, if the Petitioner's duties for the position fall 
under more than one occupational category, it should have chosen the relevant occupational code for 
the highest paying occupation, which was not "Management Analysts." As the Petitioner indicates 
that it will pay the Beneficiary $60,000, a rate significantly less than the prevailing wage for the 
"Computer Systems Analysts" occupation, the Petitioner has not established that the LCA corresponds 
to the petition, including the occupational category certified therein. 18 
Additionally, the Petitioner has provided conflicting information regarding requirements for the 
proffered position. The Petitioner initially stated that it required "at least a bachelor's degree" for 
entry into the proffered position. It also provided March 2018 mid-vendor and end-client letters which 
asserted that "our minimum requirement for this position is a comprehensive understanding of 
consumer buying behavior analysis and marketing strategies by virtue of a Bachelor's and/or a Master 
degree in Business Administration combined with 2-4 years of experience in the position offered or 
its equivalent." In response to the Director's RFE, the Petitioner submitted material that further 
provided a diverse range of requirements for the proffered position, including: 
• Use the computer in the analysis and solution of business problems, such as development of integrated 
production and inventory control and cost analysis systems. 
• Confer with clients regarding the nature of the information processing or computation needs a computer 
program is to address. 
• Coordinate and link the computer systems within an organization to increase compatibility and so 
information can be shared. 
• Define the goals of the system and devise flow chaits and diagrams describing logical operational steps 
of programs. 
• Provide staff and users with assistance solving computer related problems, such as malfunctions and 
program problems. 
• Prepare cost-benefit and return-on-investment analyses to aid in decisions on system implementation. 
See https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/15-1121.00. (Last visited Sept. 25, 2019.) 
16 A prevailing wage determination starts with an entry level wage and progresses to a higher wage level after considering 
the experience, education, and skill requirements of the Petitioner's job oppoltunity. See U.S. Dep't of Labor, Emp't & 
Training Admin., Prevailing Wage Determination Policy Guidance, Nonagric. Immigration Programs (rev. Nov. 2009); 
http:/ /flcdatacenter.com/download/NPWHCGuidance _Revised_ I I_ 2009 .pdf 
17 For more information on the prevailing wages, see https://flcdatacenter.com/OESWizardStart.aspx. (Last visited Sept. 18, 
2019). 
18 See Section 212(n)(l) of the Act; 20 C.F.R. § 655.73 l(a). 
11 
Matter of B-, Inc. 
• The Petitioner's July 2018 letter which stated mm1mum requirements for the 
position of a "Bachelor's degree in Management Information Systems, or related 
fields." 
• August 2018 end-client and mid-vendor letters which each specified that "our 
minimum requirement for this position is a comprehensive understanding of the 
retail business, analysis, strategies, decision-making and global business 
management by virtue of a Bachelor's/Master's Degree in Mass Communication, 
Marketing, Business Administration or a related field." 
• The Petitioner's "Exhibit 12: Job Advertisement[s] for [the] Proffered Position," 
which presented job announcements for: 
o An IT Business Analyst which required a minimum of "a Bachelor's Degree 
in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Computer Information 
Systems or a closely related field." The job notice further indicated 
extensive experience requirements, to include "4+ years project 
management experience, 4+ years experience gathering requirements for 
large scale applications, 3+ years of software delivery, 3+ years of Agile 
software development process experience, and 1 + years of experience 
working on agricultural related software applications; and 
o A Business Analyst with minimum requirements of"a Bachelor's degree in 
Finance, Statistics, or a closely related field." This position announcement 
also indicated that "the ideal candidate will possess [a] Bachelor's degree 
in technology, finance, business, or equivalent, [plus a minimum of] 5 years 
of related financial services experience. 
• An opinion letter from I ~ an associate dean of academic 
affairs, School of Business, University of I I in which he opines that "a 
minimum of a Bachelor's Degree in Management Information Systems, or a related 
area" is required for the proffered position. 
On appeal, the Petitioner restated the I ~' requirements ( e.g., a bachelor's degree in 
Management Information Systems, or a related area) and asserted "[ t ]he record of this proceeding does 
not include anything to contradict I t position requirements] to successfully perform the 
duties [ of the proffered position]." However, the Petitioner does not explain wh~ I' position 
requirements differ from the wide array of position requirements that the Petitioner, the mid-vendor, and 
the end-client contemporaneously put forth, nor does it explain the reasons for the variances in the position 
requirements within the material in the record. 19 The Petitioner must also resolve these inconsistencies 
with independent, objective evidence pointing to where the truth lies. Matter of Ho, Dec. 591-92. 
Without sufficient and consistent evidence of the Beneficiary's duties in relation to specific end­
client's project( s ), and of the minimum requirements necessary to perform the duties of the position, 
the Petitioner has not established the substantive nature of the work to be performed by the 
19 Notably,~---~also does not address the variances between the minimum requirements for the position as 
stipulated by the Petitioner. the end-client, and the mid-vendor relative to his own conclusions regarding the position 
requirements. Therefore, we find I I' opinion letter lends little probative value to the matter here. Matter of 
Caron Int'/, 19 I&N Dec. 791, 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 professor's analyses of the proffered position. 
12 
Matter of B-, Inc. 
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. 20 
IV. CONCLUSION 
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. 
ORDER: The appeal is dismissed. 
Cite as Matter of B-, Inc., ID# 4656373 (AAO Sept. 26, 2019) 
20 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 fiuiher discuss the Petitioner's assertions on appeal 
regarding the criteria under 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A). 
13