UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA USHA SAGARWALA, : : Plaintiff, : Civil Action No.: 18-2860 (RC) : v. : Re Document No.: 13, 25 : L. FRANCIS CISSNA, : : Defendant. : MEMORANDUM OPINION DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT; GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT I. INTRODUCTION Plaintiff Usha Sagarwala is a citizen of India who claims that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) unlawfully denied her an H-1B visa, a status granted to foreign citizens employed in “specialty occupation[s].” 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15)(H)(i)(B). Seeking a court order that would require USCIS to grant her visa petition, Sagarwala brought this lawsuit against the agency’s Director under the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”). See 5 U.S.C. § 706. As the Court will explain below, however, review under the APA is highly deferential to agency decisions, and USCIS’s decision here was supported by the record before it. Sagarwala’s motion for summary judgment is therefore denied, and the USCIS Director’s cross-motion for summary judgment is granted. II. BACKGROUND H-1B visas are a form of legal nonimmigrant status, meaning one granted to individuals temporarily and for a particular purpose. The H-1B program’s purpose is to allow American employers to temporarily hire foreign citizens to work in “specialty occupation[s],” 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15)(H)(i)(B), defined as those requiring “theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge, and . . . 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,” id. § 1184(h)(i)(1)(A)–(B). To participate in the H-1B program, interested employers must complete a two-step process with respect to each foreign worker they wish to hire. First, they must submit to the Department of Labor (“DOL”) a Labor Condition Application (“LCA”) identifying the specialty occupation position at issue and confirming that they will comply with the requirements of the program. See 8 U.S.C. § 1182(n)(1). Second, after DOL certifies the LCA, the employer must submit the LCA to USCIS with a Form I-129 petition requesting that the foreign worker— referred to as the petition’s “beneficiary”—be classified as an H-1B nonimmigrant worker. See 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4). In this petition, the employer has the burden of establishing, among other things, that the position offered to the beneficiary is in fact a “specialty occupation.” See 8 U.S.C. § 1361 (“Whenever any person makes application for a visa or any other document required for entry, . . . the burden of proof shall be upon such person to establish that he is eligible to receive such visa.”). To carry that burden, the employer must show that the position satisfies at least one of four prerequisites: (1) A baccalaureate or higher degree or its equivalent is normally the minimum requirement for entry into the particular position; (2) The degree requirement is common to the industry in parallel positions among similar organizations or, in the alternative, an employer may show that its particular position is so ...
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