Interim Decision #8089
MATTER OF SEA, INC.
In Visa Petition Proceedings
LIN 88 147 0105
Decided by Commissioner um November 10, 1988
(1) Substantial academic course work in a professional field combined with professional experience and achievement may be considered equivalent to a bachelor's
degree.
(2) Ordinary experience alone cannot be equated with a college degree.
(3) Experience which is substituted for education mast include the theoretical and
practical application of specialized knowledge required at the professional level of
the occupation. It cannot be concluded that any on-the-job experience related to a
professional activity may bo substituted for academic education.
ON BEHALF OF PETITIONER: Gregory R. McCall
Perkins Coie
1201 Third Avenue, 40th Floor
Seattle, Washington 98101-3099
This is an appeal from the adverse decision of the director,
Northern Regional Service Center. The appeal will be sustained.
The petitioner, which has 50 employees, indicates it is a wholly
owned subsidiary of Datamarine International, Inc., a designer and
manufacturer of marine navigation equipment. The petitioner designs, manufactures, and markets marine radio communications
equipment. It seeks to classify the beneficiary, a native and citizen
of Denmark, as a nonimmigrant of distinguished merit and ability
pursuant to section 101(a)(15)(H)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15)(11)(i) (1982), based on its intent to
employ him as an electrical design engineer.
The director determined that the petitioner had failed to establish that the proposed position is within the professions or requires
a person of distinguished merit and ability. The director also found
that the petitioner had failed to establish that the beneficiary has
at least a bachelor's degree or its equivalent or that he is preeminent in his field of endeavor.
On appeal, counsel asserts that the proposed position requires a
professionally qualified person. Counsel also asserts that the benefi-
Interim Decision #3089
ciary has the equivalent of a bachelor's degree in engineering technology. Both of counsel's assertions are supported by the record.
Distinguished merit and ability may be established in two ways.
One way is to demonstrate that a beneficiary is a member of the
professions within the meaning of section 101(a)(32) of the Act,
8
U.S.C. § 1101(a)(32) (1982). Matter of General Atomic Company,
17
I&N Dec. 532 (Comm. 1980); Matter of Essex Cryogenics Industries,
Inc.,
14 I&N Dec. 196 (D.A.C. 1972). Another way is to show that
the beneficiary is a person of prominence, renown, or preeminence
in his or her field of endeavor. Matter of Shaw,
11 I&N Dec. 277
(D.D. 1965); H.R. Rep. No. 851, 91st Cong., 2d Sess., reprinted in
1970 U.S. Code Cong. & Ad. News 2750, 2752-53.
Since no representations have been made that the beneficiary is
preeminent or that the job in question requires preeminence, consideration will be limited to the issues relating to professional
standing.
PROFESSIONAL POSITION
"Profession," as defined by section 101(a)(32) of the Act, contemplates knowledge or learning, not merely skill, of an advanced type
in a given field gained by a prolonged course of specialized instruction and study of at least baccalaureate level, which is a realistic
prerequisite to entry into the particular field of endeavor. Matter
of Ling,
13 I&N Dec. 35 (R.C. 1968); Matter of Shin,
11 I&N Dec.
686 (D.D. 1966). That section of law states "the term 'profession'
shall include but not be limited to architects, engineers, lawyers,
physicians, surgeons, and teachers in elementary or secondary
schools, colleges, academies, or seminaries."
The petitioner, "a small U.S. technology-based manufacturing
entity," plans to design marine radio communications equipment
for the European market. In order to do so, it requires the beneficiary's services for a 2-year period to help design marine radio communications equipment to meet the European nations' regulations;
test prototypes of equipment and prepare the test results for submission to the regulatory bodies of the European countries for approval; and provide technical input to the petitioner's engineering
staff. According to counsel, five electrical engineers with bachelor's
degrees will assist the beneficiary in designing and developing the
necessary marine radio communications equipment.
The petitioner states that it has purchased a facility in Denmark
which it will use to test, develop, and market equipment it will
design at its United States facility. After completion of the design
and prototype testing phase of the project, the beneficiary will ap-
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Interim Decision #3089
parently be transferred to the E -uropean subsidiary of the petitioner's parent company Datamarine "to establish a technical and type
acceptance facility at Datamarine's recently purchased European
plant."
In support of the appeal, counsel submits a copy of an advertisement in Danish for the proposed position which he states was
placed in Dan -Nil trade journals. The advertisement states that the
applicant must be a "graduated electrical engineer" or have
"equivalent technical background" and must have 3 to 5 years of
experience in the development and design of HF/SSB marine
radios.
Counsel asserts that the duties of the proposed position as described by the petitioner match the descriptions given in the Department of Labor's Dictionary of Occupational Titles (4th ed. 1977)
for the occupation of electronics or electrical design engineer. Examination of this publication reflects the proposed duties are, in
fact, similar to those of an electronics or electrical design engineer.
The Occupational Outlook Handbook (1.988-89) indicates on page
52 that a bachelor's degree in engineering is a realistic prerequisite
for engineering positions. Furaielmore, as noted previously, when
Congress defined the term "profession" by example in section
101(a)(32) of the Act, it specifically listed engineers as within the
professions. Accordingly, it is concluded the position offered the
beneficiary is a professional one which normally requires at least a
baccalaureate-level degree in electrical engineering.
WORK EXPERIENCE EQUIVALENT TO A DEGREE
The beneficiary in this proceeding has not completed formal baccalaureate-level education, but counsel asserts that he has the
equivalent of a bachelor's degree in engineering technology. Counsel correctly notes that case law accommodates those instances
where persons are recognized as members of .the professions without the normally required academic degrees. See Matter of Yaakov,
13 I&N Dec. 203 (R.C. 1969); Matter of Arjani,
12 I&N Dec. 649
(RC. 1967); Matter of Bienkowski,
12 I&N Dec. 17 (D.D. 1966);
Matter of Devnani,
11 I&N Dec. 800 (Acting D.D. 1966). However, it
should be noted that there are no published Service decisions
where a person with nn formal college-level education has been recognized as a member of the professions.
The beneficiaries in the four cited cases all had formal college-level academic education, specialized training in their subject
areas, and many years of responsible experience in their fields.
Interim Decision #3089
Moreover, all four beneficiaries had attained professional standing
and recognition.
Experience which is substituted for a portion of education must
include the theoretical and practical application of specialized
knowledge required at the professional level of the occupation. Substantial academic course work in a professional field combined
with professional experience and achievement may be considered
equivalent to a bachelor's degree.
The beneficiary in this proceeding, like the beneficiaries in
Matter of Yaakov, supra; Matter of Arjani, supra; Matter of Bienkowski, supra; and Matter of Devnani, supra, has completed a substantial amount of college-level education in his field. In addition,
he has many years of professional experience in his field, and he
has received professional recognition. The record documents the
beneficiary's receipt of demonstrable professional training during
the course of his experience.
In January 1964, the beneficiary successfully completed an apprenticeship as a radio mechanic. He then attended Odense Teknikum (Odense Engineering College) in Odense, Denmark, where
electronics and telecommunications were his special field of study.
In October 1967, he passed the examinations necessary for receiving a diploma at Odense Teknikum and was given the title "electrical engineer." He therefore became a "Tekniknmiugenior."
An evaluation from an organization which evaluates foreign education states that the beneficiary's formal education is equivalent
to a 2-year associate of arts degree in engineering technology with
a specialization in electrical engineering from an accredited United
States community college. The evaluation refers to the course of
study at Odense Teknikum as a 3-year program.
This Service uses an evaluation by a credentials evaluation organization of a person's foreign education as an advisory opinion
only. Where an evaluation is not in accord with previous equivalencies or is in any way questionable, it may be discounted or given
less weight.
The evaluation of the beneficiary's foreign academic credentials
in this proceeding appears reasonable. The evaluator's reference to
the beneficiary's course of study as 3 years long is corroborated by
a statement from the Danish Ministry of Education that the duration of the theoretical study at a teknikum is 3 years. This statement also refers to the degree of "Tetrmilcumingenior" as the
"Danish. Bachelor of Science in Engineering."
Moreover, the beneficiary completed his 3-year course of study at
Odense IT'etrnilcum when he was almost 25 years old. After passing
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Interim Decision #3089
examinations in a full range of subjects relating to the field of engineering, he was given the title of "electrical engineer."
In 1967, the beneficiary was admitted as a member to the Association (Society) of Engineers (Ingemor-Sammenslutningen), Copenhagen, Denmark. According to the following English translation
submitted by counsel, an excerpt from Krak, Volume 4, an official
Danish publication containing information about Danish organizations, also provided by counsel, states:
The purpose of The Society of Engineers is to gather together engineers who are
graduates of the officially recognized Danish polytechnical institutes which emphasize a technicalfscientific education. The theoretical instruction is a four year
program, of which specialized instruction in the field comprises between two years
and three months and four years and four months. In addition engineers are secepted into the Society who have diplomas from, comparable foreign institutions.
The statement from the Danish Ministry of Education referred to
above indicates that "Teknikinningeniors" are, subject to their
qualifications, employed alongside "Akademingeniors" (graduates
of the Engineering Academy of Denmark) and "Civilingeniors"
(graduates of the Technical University of Denmark and of the Aalborg University Center). According to counsel, at the time the beneficiary received his degree, there was no "Akademingenior" program, but the beneficiary has worked along side "Akademingeniors" in several companies. Counsel asserts that an "Akademingenior" has a bachelor's degree. He also asserts that a "Civilingenior"
has a master's degree.
Until 1974, the Office of Education of the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare evaluated foreign education for the Service. An evaluation of a "Civilingenior" degree performed by that Department found the degree in question to be
equivalent to a United States master's degree. An evaluation of another "Civilingenior" degree by that Department found it to be
equivalent to a 4-year United States degree plus approximately 1
year of advanced study.
Although the beneficiary's formal education is not equivalent to
a bachelor's degree in his field, it is asserted that he completed his
education at a time when there was no baccalaureate-level "Akademingenior" program. A parallel may be drawn to Matter of
Yaakov, supra, where no school in the beneficiary's country of residence offered degrees in library science at the time the beneficiary,
who was a librarian, resided there.
The evaluation of the beneficiary's foreign education states that
he had 20 years of work experience in his field. Evidence in the
record documents his experience between 1969 and 1988. The following is a summary of that experience:
Interim Decision #3089
(1) From February 1, 1969, to October 21, 1971, as a low current engineer for S.P.
Radio.
(2) From December 1, 1971, to May 31, 1978, as a "type approval" engineer for
Danish Communication Equipment, later reorganized as Danish Marine Conununication (DanCom), responsible for obtaining type approval for SSB marine communications equipment from the regulatory authorities in European countries.
(3) From June 1, 1978, to October 31, 1983, as president and director of engineering for Commar Navigation Skorping.
(4) From August 1, 1983, to April 9, 1985, as chief engineer for the communications equipment development team of Danish Marine Communication (until October 1983 as a full-time consultant while involved in evening and weekend winding
down activities at Commar which ceased development and production efforts in
mid-1983).
(5) From May 25, 1985, to May 30, 1988, as an engineer directing the new product
development efforts of Gorm Niros.
In this proceeding, in spite of the beneficiary's lack of a formal
baccalaureate-level degree, upon graduation from Odense Teknikum in 1067, he was admitted as a member of an organization
which requires a 4-year degree for membership. Descriptions of the
beneficiary's job duties in all his positions listed above demonstrate
that these duties required the theoretical and practical application
of specialized knowledge required at the professional level of the
occupation.
It is noteworthy that the beneficiary's early employment experience shows a progression to more responsible duties. Specifically,
during the earlier years of the beneficiary's work experience, under
the direction and tutelage of an experienced electrical engineer
who was one of Denmark's leading SSB radio engineers, the beneficiary mastered the theoretical aspects of electrical engineering for
SSB radio communications and the type approval process of various countries. He ultimately became an expert in this type of engineering work and a leading Danish SSB radio communications engineer.
Significantly, the petitioner states that the beneficiary has
worked for several major Danish electronics firms. Also, according
to counsel, S.P. Radio and DanCom are two of the leading European manufacturers of marine radio equipment.
From the record it is clear that the beneficiary has education, experience, and professional attainments which are equivalent to at
least a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in the United
States. He therefore qualifies for classification as a member of the
professions.
ORDER: The appeal is sustained. The decision of the director
is withdrawn, and the petition is approved.
