dismissed L-1A Case: Unknown

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U.S. Department of Homeland Security
20 Mass. Ave., N.W., Rm. A3000
Washington, DC 20529
u.S.Citizenship
and Immigration
Services
File: SRC 05 224 50396 Office: TEXAS SERVICE CENTER Date: FEB 022007
IN RE: Petitioner:
Beneficiary:
Petition: Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker Pursuant to Section 101(a)(l5)(L) of the Immigration
and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15)(L)
IN BEHALF OF PETITIONER:
SELF-REPRESENTED
INSTRUCTIONS:
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.
-~-~.. ::::~_.'-'~-) ~.
Robert P. Wiemann, Chief
Administrative Appeals Office
www.uscis.gov
SRC 05 224 50396
Page 2
DISCUSSION: The Director of the Texas Service Center denied the nonimmigrant visa petition, and the
matter is now before the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) on appeal. The appeal will be rejected as
untimely filed.
The regulation at 8 C.F.R. § 103.3(a)(2) requires an affected party to file the complete appeal within 30 days after
service of the decision or, in accordance with 8 C.F.R. § 103.5a(b), within 33 days if the decision was served by
mail. The record indicates that the decision of the director was mailed to the petitioner on November 16, 2005.
The petitioner attempted to file an appeal by sending the Form I-290B and the $385.00 filing fee directly to the
AAO. The AAO received the Form I-290B and the filing fee on December 16, 2005, 30 days after the decision
was mailed. However, the regulations and the instructions to the Form I-290B clearly require that appeals be
filed "with the office where the unfavorable decision was made." 8 C.F.R. § 103.3(a)(2)(i). Petitions which are
rejected for filing because they were sent to the wrong office do not retain filing dates. See 8 C.F.R. §
103.2(a)(7). As required by the regulations, the record indicates that the AAO mailed these materials back to the
petitioner on the same day it received them with a letter indicating that the appeal must be submitted to the service
center which rendered the decision, i.e., the Texas Service Center. The petitioner filed an appeal with the Texas
Service Center on December 23,2005, 37 days after the decision was mailed. As the attempted filing with the
AAO did not retain a filing date, the appeal was not timely filed and must be rejected pursuant to 8 C.F.R. §
103.3(a)(2)(v)(B)(1).
The regulation at 8 C.F.R. § 103.3(a)(2)(v)(B)(2) states that, if an untimely appeal meets the requirements of a
motion to reopen as described in 8 C.F.R. § 103.5(a)(2) or a motion to reconsider as described in 8 C.F.R.
§ 103.5(a)(3), the appeal must be treated as a motion, and a decision must be made on the merits of the case. The
official having jurisdiction over a motion is the official who made the last decision in the proceeding, in this case
the service center director. See 8 C.F.R. § 103.5(a)(l)(ii). The director declined to treat the late appeal as a
motion and forwarded the matter to the AAO.
As the appeal was untimely filed, the appeal must be rejected.
ORDER: The appeal is rejected.