remanded H-1B Case: Human Resources

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
In Re: 7052698 
Appeal of California Service Center Decision 
Form I-129, Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker (H-IB) 
Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
Date: JAN. 23, 2020 
The Petitioner, a medical services company, seeks to temporarily employ the Beneficiary under the 
H-IB nonimmigrant classification for specialty occupations. 1 The H-IB 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 California Service Center denied the petition, concluding that the record did not 
establish that the Beneficiary was qualified for the proffered position. On appeal, the Petitioner asserts 
that the Director erred in the decision . 
We conduct de nova review on appeal, and we conclude that a remand is warranted in this case because 
the Director's decision appears insufficient for review. Specifically , the Director is required to follow 
long-standing legal standards and determine whether the proffered position qualifies for classification 
as a specialty occupation before it evaluates whether the Beneficiary was qualified for the position at 
the time the nonimmigrant visa petition was filed. 2 
As presently constituted, it does not appear that the record establishes that the proffered position 
qualifies as a specialty occupation. 3 The petition also contains other issues that would appear to 
preclude its approval. 
On the issue of specialty occupation , the Petitioner initially stated this position required a bachelor's 
degree in business, administrative science, management, accounting, human resources, industrial 
relations, or a related field. The Petitioner's acceptance of a business degree without further 
specialization to perform the duties of the proffered position strongly suggests that this particular 
1 See Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act) section 10l(a)(l5)(H)(i)(b) , 8 U.S.C. § l 10l(a)(l5)(H)(i)(b). 
2 Cf Matter of Michael Hertz Assocs., 19 I&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]. "). 
3 See 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A). 
position does not require a bachelor's degree in a specific specialty. We did not find that the Petitioner, 
within the first proceedings before the Director, sufficiently discussed a specialization associated with 
its business degree prerequisite. Consequently, it is unclear that the Petitioner demonstrated that its 
business degree requirement would satisfy the definition of a specialty occupation when it filed the 
petition. 4 
Of additional importance, the Petitioner changed its pos1t10n requirements in its response to the 
Director's request for evidence (RFE) without offering an explanation. The Petitioner revised the 
position's degree requirement to a baccalaureate degree or its equivalent in human resources, 
management, or a closely related field. The Petitioner did not explain why it omitted several of the 
fields from its initially stated position prerequisites such that they aligned with the opinion letter the 
organization submitted in the RFE response. This appears to be an inconsistency that the Petitioner 
should rectify with probative evidence. 5 
Moreover, within the RFE response the Petitioner submitted a page from its website for a currently 
available position: human resources manager. 6 The education requirements for that position were a 
bachelor's degree in human resources, management, or an equivalent discipline and"[ a ]t least 2+ years 
of experience in the field of Human Resource[ s]." We note that the required degree from this webpage 
also aligned with the changes the Petitioner made within its RFE response that correlated with the 
opinion letter. It appears the Petitioner created, or last updated, that web page on February 15, 2019, 
which was in between the date the Director issued the RFE and the date the petitioning organization 
responded to that request. 7 That sequence of events causes us to question the how much evidentiary 
value the agency should associate with the Petitioner's evidence consisting of the job announcement. 
Finally, the position prerequisites illustrated on the Petitioner's webpage included an experiential 
requirement that it did not state within the initial petition, nor within its correspondence within the 
RFE. This appears to be an additional inconsistency the Petitioner should resolve. 
Accordingly, the matter will be remanded to the Director to consider the above issues and enter a new 
decision. The Director may request any additional evidence considered pertinent to the new 
determination and any other issue. As such, we express no opinion regarding the ultimate resolution 
of this case on remand. 
ORDER: The decision of the Director is withdrawn. The matter is remanded for the entry of a 
new decision consistent with the foregoing analysis. 
4 A petitioner must establish eligibility at the time it files the nonimmigrant visa petition. 8 C.F.R. § 103.2(b )(1 ), (12). 
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services may not approve a visa petition at a future date after a petitioner or a beneficiary 
becomes eligible under a new set of facts. Matter of Michelin Tire Corp., 17 T&N Dec. 248, 249 (Reg'! Comm'r 1978) 
(finding that nonimmigrant eligibility criteria must be met at the time a petitioner files the petition). 
5 Matter of Ho, 19 T&N Dec. 582, 591-92 (BIA 1988). 
6 Currently available jobs, Radiology Reports Online (Jan. 22, 2020), http://radiologyreportsonline.com/rro3/career.html. 
7 We utilized a service titled HTTP Header Checker relating to the date the webpage was last updated. See 
https: / /www.webnots.com/ seo-too ls/http-header-checker/. 
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