UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA HOSPITAL BUSINESS SERVICES, INC. Plaintiff, v. Civ. Action No. 19-0198 (EGS) UR M. JADDOU, DIRECTOR, UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES,1 Defendant. MEMORANDUM OPINION I. Introduction Plaintiff Hospital Business Services, Inc. (“HBSI”), a holding company of Prime Healthcare Services, a hospital chain with approximately 40,000 employees nationwide, sought to hire eight foreign-born nationals in the United States as “Application Analysts.” See Pl.’s Mem. Supp. Mot. Summ. J. (“Pl.’s MSJ”), ECF No. 18-1 at 10.2 Plaintiff challenges the denial of six of the eight petitions by Defendant United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS” or the “Agency”). See id. at 12. USCIS based its denials on the determination that the proffered 1 Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 25(d), the Court substitutes as defendant Ur M. Jaddou, for Former Director L. Francis Cissna. 2 When citing electronic filings throughout this Memorandum Opinion, the Court cites to the ECF header page number, not the original page number of the filed document. 1 positions do not require a bachelor’s degree or higher in a specific specialty, and therefore do not meet the “specialty occupation” bar for H1-B visas set out in 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A). See Def.’s Mem. Supp. Cross-Mot. Summ. J. & Opp’n (“Def.’s XMSJ”), ECF No. 19-1 at 6. HBSI alleges that USCIS’s denials of the petitions are arbitrary and capricious in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”), 5 U.S.C. § 701, et seq. See Pl.’s MSJ, ECF No. 18-1 at 12. Pending before the Court are HBSI’s motion for summary judgment, ECF No. 18-1; and USCIS’s cross motion, ECF No. 19-1. Upon consideration of the motions, responses, and the replies thereto, the applicable law and regulations, the entire record and the materials cited therein, the Court GRANTS IN PART AND DENIES IN PART HBSI’s motion for summary judgment and GRANTS IN PART AND DENIES IN PART USCIS’s cross motion for summary judgment. II. Background A. Statutory and Regulatory Background The Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”) permits employers to temporarily employ foreign, nonimmigrant workers in specialty occupations through the H-1B visa program. See 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15)(H). To obtain a visa, an employer first submits to the Department of Labor (“DOL”) a Labor Condition Application (“LCA”), which identifies the specialty occupation at issue and certifies that the company will comply with the 2 requirements of the H-1B program. 8 U.S.C. § 1182(n)(1). Once the DOL has certified the LCA, the employer submits it to USCIS, along with a Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker (“Form I-129” or “petition”) on behalf of the alien worker, showing that the proffered position satisfies the statutory and regulatory requirements. 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4)(i)(B). In line with the statutory definition in 8 U.S.C. § 1184(i)(1), the USCIS regulation defines a specialty occupation as one that “requires the attainment of a bachelor’s degree or higher in a specific specialty” or its equivalent, in addition to “theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge in …
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