Opinion ID: 437322
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: factual support required to sustain the ins decision

Text: 18 We now address the issue of what evidence must be presented by the INS to sustain its decision to revoke the visa petitions on the ground that the petitioner company, Tongatapu, was not economically viable. 19 The approval of two federal agencies is necessary to obtain sixth preference visa status for qualified immigrants who are capable of performing specified skilled or unskilled labor not of a temporary or seasonal nature for which a shortage of employable and willing persons exists in the United States, Immigration and Nationality Act, Sec. 203(a)(6), 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1153(a)(6). The Department of Labor (DOL) must certify that insufficient domestic workers are available to perform the job and that the alien's performance of the job will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed domestic workers. Id. Sec. 212(a)(14), 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1182(a)(14). The INS then makes its own determination of the alien's entitlement to sixth preference status. Id. Sec. 204(b), 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1154(b). See generally K.R.K. Irvine, Inc. v. Landon, 699 F.2d 1006, 1008 (9th Cir.1983). 20 The INS, therefore, may make a de novo determination of whether the alien is in fact qualified to fill the certified job offer. The Service, however, is bound by the DOL's certification and may invalidate it only upon determining that it was procured through fraud or willful misrepresentation of a material fact, K.R.K. Irvine, 699 F.2d at 1009; Madany v. Smith, 696 F.2d 1008, 1012 (D.C.Cir.1983); Castaneda-Gonzalez v. INS, 564 F.2d 417, 424-25, 429 (D.C.Cir.1977); 20 C.F.R. Secs. 656.30(d), .31(d), or that the Secretary of Labor abused his discretion in issuing the certification, Joseph v. Landon, 679 F.2d 113, 116 (7th Cir.1982); Singh v. Attorney General, 510 F.Supp. 351, 356-57 (D.D.C.1980), aff'd mem., 672 F.2d 894 (D.C.Cir.1981). 21 We must now decide whether the financial viability of the employer to pay the wage stated in the certification application is within the province of the INS or the DOL to determine. 22 According to the Act, the DOL must find that the alien's performance of the job in question will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed domestic workers before it issues the section 212(a)(14) certification. The DOL requires that the prospective employer's application clearly show that the alien will be paid a wage equal to or exceeding the prevailing wage, 20 C.F.R. Sec. 656.20(c)(2); that the wage is guaranteed rather than contingent, see id. Sec. 656.20(c)(3); and, most importantly, that the employer is able to pay the wage, id. Sec. 656.20(c)(1). The DOL, however, does not always investigate the information on the application. In most cases, unless the employer firm is new or there is some other reason to question its statements, the DOL takes the information at face value in determining whether to issue the certification. 23 In contrast, the INS has taken the position that the term desiring and intending to employ in section 204(a) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1154(a), which speaks of who may file a petition for visa preference status, contemplates the INS evaluating the financial ability of the petitioning employer to meet the wage requirements of the certified job offer. Matter of Great Wall, 16 I. & N. Dec. 142, 145 (Regional Comm'r 1977); Matter of Sonegawa, 12 I. & N. Dec. 612, 614 (Regional Comm'r 1967). 24 In Ubeda v. Palmer, 539 F.Supp. 647, 649-50 (N.D.Ill.1982), aff'd mem., 703 F.2d 571 (7th Cir.1983), the court concluded that the determination of a petitioning employer's financial viability is one to be made solely by the INS and not the Secretary of Labor. In view of the agencies' current practice, which is given weight in determining the proper division of functions between the INS and the DOL, see Madany v. Smith, 696 F.2d 1008, 1012 (D.C.Cir.1983), we conclude likewise. Accordingly, the determination made by the INS must be upheld if it is supported by substantial evidence. 25 The Service argues that Tongatapu's application stated it would earn a net profit of $50,000 a year, but that Tongatapu could not show gross income in excess of $30,000. As the district court observed, the $50,000 figure must have been an estimate because Tongatapu had not yet begun to operate. The Service's evidence, however, at least raises a very serious doubt about Tongatapu's ability to pay the certified wages. Tongatapu has never come forward with evidence indicating that it in fact has paid the woodcarvers $5.00 per hour. We think the Service rationally could have concluded that Tongatapu's employees were not being paid the prevailing wage. 26 We are not unmindful of La Madrid-Peraza v. INS, 492 F.2d 1297 (9th Cir.1974), in which the INS determined that La Madrid-Peraza's application for a labor certificate materially misrepresented the wages she was to receive from her prospective job. The INS ordered her deported and we reversed, saying: 27 Although the government offered ample evidence that the petitioner's application misstated the wages to be paid, there is no evidence in the record to show that the amount that she actually received was below the prevailing wage .... 28 Id. at 1298. As the district court here observed, the INS offered no evidence indicating that the woodcarvers had not been paid $5.00 per hour. In La Madrid-Peraza, however, the petitioner already had been given her visa. As we have pointed out earlier, the INS must sustain a much heavier burden of proof when it seeks to invalidate a visa that already has been granted. Here, no visas have been issued.