NPZ Immigration Law Blog

A federal judge ruled U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) improperly denied an H-1B petition after the agency claimed the position did not qualify as a “specialty occupation.” This is the first known case where a federal judge has analyzed whether the USCIS interpretation of its H-1B regulation is entitled to deference under the recent Supreme Court Kisor decision – and the judge determined the USCIS interpretation was not entitled to deference.

The judge rejected the USCIS assertion that it had the right to deny an H-1B petition because the position did not require a degree in a specific subspecialty and could be filled by someone with a degree in more than one discipline, such as different types of engineering degrees.

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