What USCIS actually challenges on H-1B specialty-occupation RFEs, and how AAO appeals go when petitioners fight back. When wage level is in play, cross-check offered pay against certified H-1B salary data.
Remanded · 2019 Petitioner's described job duties, which the AAO found to include project planning and execution, establishing frameworks for product launch, transitioning from strategic to launch forecasting, and implementing long-range forecast models — duties more consistent with Marketing Managers than Market Research Analysts
Remanded · 2024 Letter from immigration specialist providing detailed narrative of habilitation counselor duties, including use of Devereux Positive Behavioral Interventions (D-PBIS) Lesson Plans, multidisciplinary team collaboration, individualized treatment plans, and skill acquisition across life domains.
Remanded · 2018 The duty breakdown showing the Beneficiary would spend 45% of time on LAN installation, configuration, maintenance, and support for up to 145 users, suggesting a closer match to 'Network and Computer Systems Administrators' (SOC 15-1142) than 'Computer Systems Analysts' (SOC 15-1121).
Sustained · 2018 Additional details provided on appeal regarding the proffered position's specialized and complex duties in the context of the media company's business operations, establishing that the knowledge required is usually associated with at least a bachelor's degree in a specific specialty.
Remanded · 2020 Letter from the identified Primary Vendor stating the LCAT for the Software Applications Engineer/Senior Applications Engineer (JAVA Developer) requires a Bachelor of Science Degree and eight years of experience, which the AAO used to identify a potential LCA wage-level discrepancy.
Dismissed · 2018 Credential evaluation by Associate Professor concluding Beneficiary's foreign degree plus 12 years of work experience equates to a U.S. bachelor's degree in computer information systems — rejected because the evaluator did not map specific work experience to specific university-level courses and failed to demonstrate authority to grant credit in a computer science specialty under the university's accelerated degree program
Dismissed · 2024 Expert evaluation by a finance professor arguing that the wide range of accepted degree fields (business, economics, engineering) collectively forms a specialty — rejected because conclusions were selectively applied to only part of the job duties, relied on unspecified research not in the record, and the expert's finance expertise was not shown to qualify them to opine on engineering or other unrelated fields.
Dismissed · 2023 Expert evaluation/opinion letter from a finance and economics professor purporting to show the wide range of accepted degree fields constitutes a specialty — rejected as insufficiently probative because conclusions were not corroborated by identified research, duties were only selectively addressed, and the writer's expertise did not clearly extend to all accepted fields such as law and engineering
Dismissed · 2018 Credential evaluation from a university professor finding the Beneficiary's credentials equivalent to a U.S. bachelor's degree in management information systems — discounted because the evaluator did not properly apply the institution's life experience credit program requirements (limited to 15 credits, restricted to elective courses, requires student to demonstrate college-level learning)
Dismissed · 2016 Expert opinion from a university professor/department chair opining that the position requires a bachelor's degree in business administration, marketing, or international business — rejected because it did not address the Level I wage designation, did not distinguish the duties from the Handbook's description of public relations specialists, and was inconsistent with other record evidence
Director did not provide a detailed statement of all specific grounds for revocation in the NOIR — several factual allegations relied upon in the final revocation decision (e.g., 68 overlapping registrations, similarities in petition filings, failure of related entity to file a petition after selection) were not included in the NOIR, denying the petitioner an opportunity to respond.
The petitioner designated the position under SOC code 11-9051 (Food Service Managers) on the LCA, but the described duties — including marketing, advertising, budgeting, and developing financing — are more consistent with General and Operations Managers (SOC 11-1021) or Marketing Managers (SOC 11-2021), creating an internal contradiction the petitioner failed to resolve.
The LCA designated the position under 'Computer Programmers' (SOC 15-1131) even though the petitioner claimed the duties encompassed systems analyst, software developer, network architect, and database administrator functions, which carry higher prevailing wages — suggesting the wrong occupational classification and potentially inadequate wage offer.
The AAO did not identify errors in the lower decision per se, but found the record itself was fatally inconsistent — the LCA designated the position under SOC 11-9041 (Architectural and Engineering Managers) while the actual duties and educational background aligned with Marketing Managers, making it impossible to assess specialty occupation status.
SCOPS failed to analyze whether the beneficiary qualified for the licensing exemption under 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4)(v)(C)(2)(ii), which covers situations where the only obstacle to licensure is lack of a Social Security number, lack of employment authorization, or a similar technical requirement precluding licensure prior to H-1B status.
The AAO sustained an appeal for an H-1B petition filed by an IT company, finding the proffered position qualifies as a s
The AAO dismissed the appeal of an IT staffing company seeking H-1B status for a PeopleSoft technical analyst, finding t
The AAO dismissed a combined motion to reopen and reconsider an H-1B petition for a public relations specialist at a pri
AAO dismissed an H-1B petition for a software developer placed at an end-client because the petitioner failed to provide
An IT company's H-1B appeal for a software programmer was summarily dismissed after the company failed to respond to the
A software consulting company's H-1B petition for a Hadoop engineer was dismissed because it could not prove it controll
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