Ninth Circuit Rejects USCIS Reasoning on H-1B Computer Programmer as ‘Specialty Occupation’

In a decision issued December 16, 2020, the Ninth Circuit ruled that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) denial of a visa for a computer programmer on the basis that it was not a “specialty occupation” was arbitrary and capricious, and remanded the case.

The court was unpersuaded by USCIS’ reasoning, noting among other things that whether or not computer programmers normally possess a bachelor’s degree was central to USCIS’s decision. The court noted that USCIS relied heavily on the Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH), which states that “most” computer programmers have a bachelor’s degree. The court pointed out that the regulatory language similarly states that a bachelor’s degree is “normally” required for a computer programmer, and found no appreciable difference between those two descriptions: “There is no daylight between typically needed, per the OOH, and normally required, per the regulatory criteria.” Indeed, the court found USCIS’s reasoning “beyond saving.”

Related Links:

• Innova Solutions v. Baran
• “Innova Solutions v. Baran: Computer Programmer is a Specialty Occupation Under the H-1B Visa.”