sustained H-1B Case: Project Management

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
In Re: 8561180 
Appeal of Vermont Service Center Decision 
Form 1-129, Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker (H-lB) 
Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
Date: DEC. 28, 2020 
The Petitioner, an education publisher, seeks to employ the Beneficiary temporarily as a "project 
manager" under the H-lB nonirnmigrant classification for specialty occupations.1 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 Vermont Service Center Director denied the Form 1-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, 
concluding that the record did not establish that the proffered position qualified as a specialty 
occupation. On appeal, the Petitioner submits additional evidence and asserts that the Director erred. 
In these proceedings, it is the Petitioner's burden to establish eligibility for the requested benefit, and 
we follow the preponderance of the evidence standard as specified in Matter of Chawathe, 25 l&N 
Dec. 369, 375-76 (AAO 2010). Upon de nova review, we will sustain the appeal. 
While we do not find many of the Petitioner's arguments to be persuasive, the nature of the proffered 
position's specific duties, when reviewed within the context of the Petitioner's business operations and 
the Beneficiary's projects, is so specialized and complex that the knowledge required to perform them 
is usually associated with the attainment of a bachelor's degree in a specific specialty, or the equivalent. 
The record of proceedings therefore satisfies the regulation at 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A)(4). The 
Petitioner has also established that the proffered position qualifies for classification as a specialty 
occupation as defined by section 214(i)(l) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1184(i)(l), and 8 C.F.R. 
§ 214.2(h)( 4)(ii). 
ORDER: The appeal is sustained. 
1 See Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act) section 10l(a)(l5)(H)(i)(b) , 8 U.S.C. § l 101(a)(l5)(H)(i)(b) .