Opinion ID: 1437450
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Compliance with H-1B Visa Requirements

Text: Ali maintains that substantial evidence does not support the BIA's conclusion that he violated the conditions of his H-1B visa. The H-1B visa program takes its name from 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b), which sets forth eligibility requirements for specialty occupation visas like the one Ali received. See also 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(ii)(B) (describing H-1B classification); Siam Corp. v. Chertoff, 484 F.3d 139, 144-45 (1st Cir.2007) (discussing H-1B specialty occupation visas); United States v. Ramirez, 420 F.3d 134, 137 (2d Cir.2005) (same); Venkatraman v. REI Systems, Inc., 417 F.3d 418, 422 (4th Cir. 2005) (same). A specialty occupation generally means one that requires (A) theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge, and (B) attainment of a bachelor's or higher degree in the specific specialty (or its equivalent) as a minimum for entry into the occupation in the United States. 8 U.S.C. § 1184(i)(1). The H-1B visa comes with certain conditions. As relevant here, an alien admitted pursuant to an H-1B nonimmigrant visa may generally be employed only by the petitioner through whom the status was obtained. 8 C.F.R. § 274a.12(b)(9). An alien holding an H-1B visa may, however, begin working for a different employer upon the filing by the prospective employer of a new petition on behalf of such [alien], 8 U.S.C. § 1184(n)(1), so long as the alien was lawfully admitted, the employer timely filed a nonfrivolous petition, and the alien had not engaged in unauthorized work before the petition's filing, 8 U.S.C. § 1184(n)(2). If those conditions are met, employment authorization continues under the initial visa until the new petition is adjudicated. See 8 U.S.C. § 1184(n)(1). In this case, the government maintains that although Ali could have lawfully begun working for T & L Foods on June 27, 2002, the date when that company filed a new petition on Ali's behalf, Ali was deportable because he admitted to working for T & L before it had submitted its petition. The law is clear that an alien who was admitted as a nonimmigrant and who has failed to maintain the nonimmigrant status in which the alien was admitted... or to comply with the conditions of such status, is deportable. 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(1)(C)(i). The question here is whether Ali complied with the conditions of the H-1B visa he received to enter the United States in July 2000. During the hearing before the immigration judge, Special Agent O'Sullivan testified that on the day Ali was taken into custody, Ali admitted he had been working for T & L Foods for approximately 40 hours per week beginning in March of 2002. Working at T & L on August 20, 2002, the day of the raid, did not alone render Ali deportable, as T & L had filed a new petition on his behalf in June 2002 that allowed him to begin working there as of the petition's filing. But if Ali had started working for T & L in March, then he began working for T & L three months before it filed its petition on his behalf in June 2002. As a result, he would be deportable for failing to comply with the conditions of his visa. Ali, however, seizes on a discrepancy in the Form I-213 that Special Agent O'Sullivan completed. On the form, Special Agent O'Sullivan stated in one place that Ali said he had been working for T & L since March 2002, while a few lines later the form states that Ali said he began working at T & L in March 2000. Special Agent O'Sullivan testified at the hearing that the 2000 notation on the form reflected a typographical error and that the correct date was March 2002. Ali maintains that the inconsistency on the form renders it unreliable. And because Special Agent O'Sullivan relied on his form when he testified at the hearing, Ali maintains that Special Agent O'Sullivan's testimony cannot be credited. We disagree. The immigration judge was justified in concluding that the form's single reference to March 2000 was a typographical error. A statement that Ali had worked at T & L since March 2000 would not make sense in this case as Ali did not arrive in the United States until July of that year, a fact noted elsewhere on the form. Moreover, we would be more concerned about the discrepancy on the form if using one date over the other affected the result. In this case, however, whether Ali had started working at T & L in March 2000 or March 2002, the end result is the same. Both dates are before T & L filed its petition on Ali's behalf, so Ali could not have lawfully started working at T & L on either date. Cf. Rosendo-Ramirez v. I.N.S., 32 F.3d 1085, 1088-89 (7th Cir. 1994) (finding no error in admission of Form I-213 as evidence of deportability even though the form was carelessly drafted). Finally, the letter Ali submitted into evidence from Everest Consulting Group does not help him. This letter, dated May 15, 2002, states that Ali was a full-time Everest employee and had been working for the company since August 22, 1999 as a software engineer. Even so, that does not foreclose the possibility that Ali was working for both Everest and T & L at the same time, and there is no evidence in the record from T & L, Ali or anyone else that Ali had not been working at T & L since March 2002. Although working two jobs is by no means easy, it is also a reality for many. On this record, then, the immigration judge was justified in finding that Ali began working at T & L in March 2002, and we decline to set aside the determination that Ali was deportable for beginning to work at T & L before the terms of his visa allowed him to do so.