Interim Decision #1875 

MAT= OF Sion( 

In Visa Petition Proceedings 

A-17583656 

Decided byDistrict Director May 17, 1968 

Sixth preference classification as a secretary is accorded the beneficiary of a visa 

petition filed by an agency which furnishes secretarial, stenographic and other 

office personnel services to client firms on a temporary basis, since the petition. 

ing agency, which will pay beneficiary directly and has guaranteed her fulltime permanent employment for 52 weeks a year with fringe benefits, is the 

actual employer of the beneficiary and the employment offer is not of a seasonal or temporary nature. 

The petitioner is a well-established company which operates two 

distinct divisions in New York City and in other cities of the United 

States and the world. One division operates as an employment service 

in the traditional sense, accepting job offers from employers and making referrals of applicants to those jobs. If the applicant is hired, he 

becomes the actual employee of the company to -whom the referral was 

made. The other division of the company operates as an agency which 

furnishes secretarial, stenographic, and other office personnel to client 

firms which desire the services of such personnel on a full-time but 

temporary basis. Personnel utilized by this division, however, are considered by the petitioner to be its employees. The petitioner desires 

to employ the beneficiary as a secretary in this division of the company. 

In order to establish the beneficiary's eligibility for sixth preference 

classification the offer of employment must not be "of a temporary or 

seasonal" nature within the meaning of section 203 (a) (6) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended, and the petitioner must 

qualify as •the actual employer of the beneficiary. 

The beneficiary completed a two-year full-time secretarial training 

program at the North-East Essex Technical College, Colchester, England in July 1957. Her program of instruction included typing, 

stenography, accounting, and general commercial subjects. She has 

been employed as a secretary by various firms in England since September 1957, and her employers have included a bank, a hospital, a 

publishing house, and various commercial firms. The beneficiary in772 
J.ILUITILLI. Lension. *F.1.2510 

tends to engage in her occupation in the United States as a secretary 

having accepted a position with the Brook Street Bureau of Mayfair, 

Ltd., New York New York. 

The occupation of secretary is on the list of occupations for which 

the Secretary of Labor has precertified that there is a shortage of 

employable and willing persons in the United States pursuant to section 212(a) (14) of the Act. The list of precertified occupations applies 

to all areas of the United States unless a particular area is specifically 

excepted. New York City is not an excepted area. 

The division of the petitioning company that furnishes specialized 

and general office personnel to client firms on a temporary basis, guarantees to all of its personnel desiring it full-time permanent employment based upon the prevailing 35 to 37y2hour week in New York 

City. This was determined. from supporting documentation submitted 

with the petition and from an interview of the petitioner's personnel 

director at this office on May 6, 1968. In the first year of employment 

the guarantee consists of a contract by the Brook Street Bureau to 

pay an employee a guaranteed weekly wage based upon the prevailing 

minimum 35 hour week even though the services of the employee may 

not be assigned to client firms, but utilized. wi hin the offioes of the 

Brook Street Bureau. In the second and succeeding years the petitioner meets the guarantee as a result of the currently prevailing high 

demand for the services of skilled temporary office personnel. An officer of the petitioning company stated under oath that during her 

three year tenure with the company, the Brook Street Bureau had 

never failed to provide full-time employment to those requesting it 

and that typical assignments range from several days to more than 

three months. 

The beneficiary will be paid directly by the Brook Street Bureau. 

Client firms are billed by the petitioner for the services provided them. 

The petitioner is fully responsible for making contributions to the 

employee's social security, workmen's compensation, and unemployment insurance programs as well as for withholding Federal and 

State income taxes. The petitioner, furthermore, offers its personnel 

involved in temporary client services an opportunity to subscribe to 

group insurance program and they receive a two week paid vacation upon the completion of 50 weeks of full-time employment. 

In view of the fact that the petitioner has guaranteed the beneficiary 

full-time permanent employment for 52 weeks a year with a. two week 

paid vacation and other fringe benefits and that the beneficiary will 

be paid directly by the petitioner who is responsible for all payroll 

deductions and contributions, it is concluded that the petitioner qualifies as the actual employer of the beneficiary within the meaning and 

requirements of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended. 

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Interim Decision 40875 

Parenthetically, the division of the petitioner which deals only with 

the referral of applicants to other employers as an employment agency 

would not qualify as an actual employer when such applicants are 

to be directly and permanently employed and paid by other individuals 

or companies. 

It is further concluded that the offer of employment is not "of a 

seasonal or temporary nature" as required by section 203(a) (6) of the 

Act, as amended. 

ORDER: It is ordered that the sixth preference visa petition filed by 

the Brook Street Bureau of Mayfair, Ltd. in behalf of Susan Mary 

Smith be and bhe same is hereby approved. 

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