Date of Decision: July 24, 2017
Service Center: Nebraska Service Center
Form Type: Form I-140
Case Type: EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW)
Field of Expertise: Computer Applications
Petitioner Information
Profession: Software Engineer
Field: Computer Applications
Nationality: [Not Specified]
Summary of Decision
Initial Decision: Denied
Appeal Outcome: Dismissed
Evidentiary Criteria Analysis
Criteria Met:
The Beneficiary holds a master’s degree in computer applications.
The Beneficiary has over five-and-a-half years of related employment experience prior to the petition’s priority date.
Criteria Not Met:
The required five years of post-baccalaureate experience was not sufficiently documented as starting before the diploma issuance date.
The Petitioner failed to provide an official academic record demonstrating the completion of all degree requirements before the diploma issuance.
Key Points from the Decision
Proposed Endeavor:
The Petitioner seeks to employ the Beneficiary as a software engineer, a role requiring advanced technical skills in computer applications and programming.
Substantial Merit and National Importance:
The proposed endeavor is positioned within the internet travel service industry, which has substantial merit and national importance. However, the specific national impact of the Beneficiary’s work was not clearly demonstrated.
Supporting Evidence:
Supporting evidence included the Beneficiary’s diploma, academic transcripts, and a letter from the university. Despite this, inconsistencies in the timeline and insufficient documentation of degree completion dates led to doubts about meeting the required post-baccalaureate experience.
Inconsistencies in Proposed Endeavor:
The appeal highlighted inconsistencies in the dates provided for the Beneficiary’s degree completion and employment history. These inconsistencies were not adequately resolved with objective evidence.
Supporting Documentation
Letters of Intent: Not provided.
Business Plan: Not applicable.
Advisory Letter: The Petitioner submitted a letter from the university, but it did not meet the criteria for an official academic record as it was issued much later and not in the university’s normal course of business.
Any other supporting documentation: Conflicting dates regarding the Beneficiary’s degree completion and employment history were noted and not sufficiently addressed.
Conclusion
Final Determination: The appeal is dismissed.
Reasoning:
The Beneficiary did not meet the requirement of five years of post-baccalaureate experience by the priority date. The Petitioner failed to provide an official academic record demonstrating that the Beneficiary completed all substantive requirements for the degree before the diploma was issued.
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