Matter of Sea, Inc.

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 de- signs, 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 Nation- ality 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 estab- lish 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 preemi- nent in his field of endeavor. On appeal, counsel asserts that the proposed position requires a professionally qualified person. Counsel also asserts that the benefi-

本上诉针对北区服务中心主任的不利决定。上诉将获支持。 申请人拥有50名雇员，表明其为Datamarine International, Inc.的全资子公司，后者是海洋导航设备的设计商和制造商。申请人设计、制造和销售海洋无线电通信设备。申请人寻求依据《移民与国籍法》第101(a)(15)(H)(i)条，8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15)(11)(i) (1982)，将受益人——丹麦本土出生公民——归类为具有杰出功绩和能力的非移民，理由是其意图雇用受益人为电气设计工程师。 主任认定，申请人未能证明拟议职位属于专业职业或需要具有杰出功绩和能力的人员。主任还认定，申请人未能证明受益人至少具有学士学位或其同等学历，或受益人在其从事领域具有卓越地位。 在上诉中，律师主张拟议职位需要具备专业资格的人员。律师还主张受益人

ciary has the equivalent of a bachelor's degree in engineering tech- nology. 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, con- sideration will be limited to the issues relating to professional standing.

具有等同于工程技术学士学位的学历。律师的两项主张均有记录支持。 杰出功绩和能力可以通过两种方式确立。一种方式是证明受益人是《移民与国籍法》第101(a)(32)条，8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(32) (1982)所指的专业人员。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)。另一种方式是表明受益人在其从事领域具有显赫、著名或卓越地位。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。 由于未提出任何陈述表明受益人具有卓越地位或所涉职位要求卓越地位，审议将限于与专业地位相关的问题。

"Profession," as defined by section 101(a)(32) of the Act, contem- plates knowledge or learning, not merely skill, of an advanced type in a given field gained by a prolonged course of specialized instruc- tion 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 benefi- ciary's services for a 2-year period to help design marine radio com- munications equipment to meet the European nations' regulations; test prototypes of equipment and prepare the test results for sub- mission to the regulatory bodies of the European countries for ap- proval; 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-

《移民与国籍法》第101(a)(32)条所定义的"专业"，设想的是在特定领域通过至少学士水平的长期专门教学和学习所获得的进阶知识或学识，而不仅仅是技能，且该学习是进入该特定从事领域的现实前提条件。Matter of Ling, 13 I&N Dec. 35 (R.C. 1968)；Matter of Shin, 11 I&N Dec. 686 (D.D. 1966)。该法律条款规定："'专业'一词应包括但不限于建筑师、工程师、律师、医师、外科医生以及小学或中学、学院、专科学校或神学院的教师。" 申请人作为"一家小型美国技术型制造实体"，计划为欧洲市场设计海洋无线电通信设备。为此，申请人需要受益人在2年期间提供服务，帮助设计符合欧洲各国法规的海洋无线电通信设备；测试设备原型并准备测试结果以提交欧洲各国监管机构审批；并向申请人的工程人员提供技术投入。据律师称，五名拥有学士学位的电气工程师将协助受益人设计和开发必要的海洋无线电通信设备。 申请人称其已在丹麦购买了一处设施，将用于测试、开发和营销其在美国设施设计的设备。在项目的设计和原型测试阶段完成后，受益人将

parently be transferred to the E -uropean subsidiary of the petition- er'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 advertise- ment 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 de- scribed by the petitioner match the descriptions given in the De- partment of Labor's Dictionary of Occupational Titles (4th ed. 1977) for the occupation of electronics or electrical design engineer. Ex- amination 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.

显然可以转至申请人的母公司Datamarine的欧洲子公司，“以在Datamarine最近收购的欧洲工厂建立技术和型号验收设施。” 为支持上诉，律师提交了一份丹麦语招聘广告的副本，该广告针对拟议职位，他称该广告刊登在Dan-Nil行业期刊上。广告称，申请人必须是“电气工程专业毕业生”或具有“同等技术背景”，并且必须在HF/SSB船用无线电的开发和设计方面具有3至5年经验。 律师主张，申请人所描述的拟议职位职责与劳工部《职业名称词典》（第4版，1977年）中电子或电气设计工程师职业的描述相符。查阅该出版物表明，拟议职责实际上与电子或电气设计工程师的职责相似。《职业展望手册》（1.988-89）第52页指出，工程学士学位是工程职位的现实先决条件。此外，如前所述，当国会在该法第101(a)(32)条中以举例方式界定“专业”一词时，它特别将工程师列入专业之内。因此，得出的结论是，提供给受益人的职位是一个专业职位，通常要求至少具有电气工程学士学位。

The beneficiary in this proceeding has not completed formal bac- calaureate-level education, but counsel asserts that he has the equivalent of a bachelor's degree in engineering technology. Coun- sel correctly notes that case law accommodates those instances where persons are recognized as members of .the professions with- out 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 rec- ognized 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.

本程序中的受益人未完成正规学士水平教育，但律师主张其具有等同于工程技术学士学位的学历。律师正确指出，判例法允许在个人被认可为专业人员但未具备通常要求的学术学位的情形。见Matter of Yaakov, 13 I&N Dec. 203 (R.C. 1969)；Matter of Arjani, 12 I&N Dec. 649 (R.C. 1967)；Matter of Bienkowski, 12 I&N Dec. 17 (D.D. 1966)；Matter of Devnani, 11 I&N Dec. 800 (Acting D.D. 1966)。但应当注意，尚无已公布的移民局决定认可未受过正规大学水平教育的人为专业人员。 所引四个案件中的受益人均受过正规大学水平学术教育、在其学科领域受过专门培训，并在其领域拥有多年负责任的经验。

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. Sub- stantial 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 Bien- kowski, supra; and Matter of Devnani, supra, has completed a sub- stantial 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 ap- prenticeship as a radio mechanic. He then attended Odense Tekni- kum (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 receiv- ing a diploma at Odense Teknikum and was given the title "electri- cal engineer." He therefore became a "Tekniknmiugenior." An evaluation from an organization which evaluates foreign edu- cation 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 orga- nization of a person's foreign education as an advisory opinion only. Where an evaluation is not in accord with previous equivalen- cies 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 dura- tion of the theoretical study at a teknikum is 3 years. This state- ment 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

此外，四名受益人均已取得专业地位和认可。 用以替代部分教育的经验必须包括该职业专业层面所要求的专业知识的理论与实际应用。在专业领域修读大量学术课程，结合专业经验与成就，可以视为等同于学士学位。 本程序中的受益人，如同Matter of Yaakov, supra；Matter of Arjani, supra；Matter of Bienkowski, supra；和Matter of Devnani, supra中的受益人一样，在其领域完成了大量大学水平教育。此外，他在其领域拥有多年专业经验，并获得了专业认可。记录证明受益人在其经验过程中接受了可证明的专业培训。 1964年1月，受益人成功完成了无线电机械师学徒期。随后他就读于丹麦欧登塞的Odense Teknikum（欧登塞工程学院），电子学和电信是其专业学习领域。1967年10月，他通过了获得Odense Teknikum文凭所需的考试，并被授予"电气工程师"称号。因此他成为"Teknikumingenior"。 一家评估外国教育的组织出具的评估称，受益人的正规教育等同于美国认可社区学院工程技术副学士学位（专攻电气工程），即2年制文学副学士学位。该评估将Odense Teknikum的课程称为3年制项目。 移民局仅将证书评估组织对个人外国教育的评估用作咨询意见。若评估与先前的同等学历认定不一致或在任何方面存疑，可不予采信或给予较低权重。 本程序中受益人外国学术证书的评估似乎合理。评估人将受益人的课程称为3年制，这一点得到丹麦教育部声明的佐证，该声明称teknikum理论学习的期限为3年。该声明还将"Teknikumingenior"学位称为"丹麦工程学学士"。 此外，受益人在将近25岁时完成了在Odense Teknikum的3年课程学习。在通过

examinations in a full range of subjects relating to the field of en- gineering, he was given the title of "electrical engineer." In 1967, the beneficiary was admitted as a member to the Asso- ciation (Society) of Engineers (Ingemor-Sammenslutningen), Copen- hagen, Denmark. According to the following English translation submitted by counsel, an excerpt from Krak, Volume 4, an official Danish publication containing information about Danish organiza- tions, also provided by counsel, states:

与工程领域相关的全方位科目考试后，他被授予"电气工程师"称号。 1967年，受益人获准成为丹麦哥本哈根工程师协会（Ingenior-Sammenslutningen）会员。根据律师提交的以下英文译文，律师还提供的丹麦官方出版物Krak第4卷（载有丹麦组织信息）中的一段摘录称：

The purpose of The Society of Engineers is to gather together engineers who are graduates of the officially recognized Danish polytechnical institutes which em- phasize 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 se- cepted 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 Aal- borg University Center). According to counsel, at the time the ben- eficiary received his degree, there was no "Akademingenior" pro- gram, but the beneficiary has worked along side "Akademingen- iors" in several companies. Counsel asserts that an "Akademingen- ior" 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 Depart- ment of Health, Education, and Welfare evaluated foreign educa- tion for the Service. An evaluation of a "Civilingenior" degree per- formed by that Department found the degree in question to be equivalent to a United States master's degree. An evaluation of an- other "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 "Akade- mingenior" program. A parallel may be drawn to Matter of Yaakov, supra, where no school in the beneficiary's country of resi- dence 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 fol- lowing is a summary of that experience:

工程师协会的宗旨是汇聚毕业于官方认可的丹麦理工学院的工程师，这些学院强调技术/科学教育。理论教学为四年制课程，其中该领域的专业教学包含两年三个月至四年四个月不等。此外，持有可比外国机构文凭的工程师也被接纳为协会会员。上文提及的丹麦教育部声明指出，“Teknikinningeniors”根据其资质，与“Akademingeniors”（丹麦工程学院毕业生）和“Civilingeniors”（丹麦技术大学及奥尔堡大学中心毕业生）并列受雇。据律师称，在受益人获得其学位时，尚无“Akademingenior”项目，但受益人在多家公司曾与“Akademingeniors”并肩工作。律师主张，“Akademingenior”拥有学士学位。他还主张，“Civilingenior”拥有硕士学位。直至1974年，美国卫生、教育及福利部教育办公室为移民局评估外国教育。该部门对“Civilingenior”学位所作的一项评估认定，该学位等同于美国硕士学位。该部门对另一“Civilingenior”学位的评估认定，其等同于美国4年制学位加约1年高级研究。尽管受益人的正规教育不等同于其领域的学士学位，但据主张，他完成教育时尚无学士层次的“Akademingenior”项目。可与Matter of Yaakov, supra相类比，在该案中，受益人居住国当时没有任何学校提供图书馆学学位，而身为图书馆员的受益人当时居住在该国。对受益人外国教育的评估称，他在其领域有20年工作经验。记录中的证据记载了他在1969年至1988年间的经历。以下为该经历的摘要：

(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 Tekni- kum 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 experi- ence 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 benefi- ciary mastered the theoretical aspects of electrical engineering for SSB radio communications and the type approval process of vari- ous countries. He ultimately became an expert in this type of engi- neering work and a leading Danish SSB radio communications en- gineer. 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 Europe- an manufacturers of marine radio equipment. From the record it is clear that the beneficiary has education, ex- perience, 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.

(5) 1985年5月25日至1988年5月30日，担任工程师，指导Gorm Niros的新产品开发工作。在本程序中，尽管受益人缺乏正规学士层次学位，但于1067年从Odense Teknikum毕业后，他被接纳为某组织的成员，该组织要求4年制学位方可入会。对受益人在上述所有职位中工作职责的描述表明，这些职责要求该职业专业层面所需的专业知识的理论与实际应用。值得注意的是，受益人的早期工作经历显示出向更负责任职责的递进。具体而言，在受益人工作经历的早年，在一名经验丰富的电气工程师（丹麦领先的SSB无线电工程师之一）的指导和教导下，受益人掌握了SSB无线电通信电气工程的理论方面以及各国的型式批准程序。他最终成为此类工程工作的专家和丹麦领先的SSB无线电通信工程师。重要的是，申请人称受益人曾为多家丹麦主要电子公司工作。此外，据律师称，S.P. Radio和DanCom是欧洲领先的两家海上无线电设备制造商。从记录可以清楚看出，受益人拥有等同于美国电气工程至少学士学位的教育、经验和专业成就。因此，他有资格被归类为专业人员。命令：上诉获准。主任的决定被撤回，申请获批。