Kazarian

Ruben N. Sarkisian, Glendale, CA, for the plaintiff-appellant, Poghos Kazarian.

Craig W. Kuhn and Elizabeth J. Stevens, Office of Immigration Litigation, Department of Justice, Washington D.C.; for the defendant-appellee, U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services.

Before HARRY PREGERSON, DOROTHY W. NELSON and DAVID R. THOMPSON, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge D.W. NELSON; Dissent by Judge PREGERSON.

D.W. NELSON, Senior Circuit Judge:

Poghos Kazarian appeals the District Court's grant of summary judgment to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service ("USCIS"), finding that the USCIS's denial of an "extraordinary ability" visa was not arbitrary, capricious, or contrary to law. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

On December 31, 2003, Poghos Kazarian, a thirty-four-year-old native and citizen of Armenia, filed an application for an employment-based immigrant visa for "aliens of extraordinary ability" (Form I-140) contending that he was an alien with extraordinary ability as a theoretical physicist.

Kazarian received a Ph.D in Theoretical Physics from Yerevan State University ("YSU") in Yerevan, Armenia, in 1997. From 1997 to 2000, he…

dissenting:

I dissent. Dr. Poghos Kazarian received his Ph.D. in the field of theoretical physics from Yerevan State University and, since arriving in the United States, has continued to research and teach in this challenging field. Dr. Kazarian participat *1037 ed in a research group headed by Dr. Kip Thorne at the California Institute of Technology. Dr. Thorne submitted a letter in support of Dr. Kazarian’s visa application. Dr. Kazarian volunteers his teaching services at Glendale Community College and has authored and published his own physics textbook. Dr. Kazarian has received strong words of praise from colleagues at Yerevan State University, Glendale Community College, and the California Institute of Technology. Dr. Kazarian’s contributions in the United States have been undoubtedly valuable. Forcing Dr. Kazarian to depart from our country would be undoubtedly wasteful and make one think that there is something haywire in our system. 1

I also disagree with the majority opinion’s interpretation of 8 C.F.R. § 204.5 (v). Section 204.5(v) permits an applicant to demonstrate extraordinary ability by showing, as one factor, “[e]vidence of the alien’s authorship of scholarly…

Opinion by Judge D.W. NELSON; Dissent by Judge PREGERSON.

Poghos Kazarian appeals the District Court’s grant of summary judgment to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (“USCIS”), finding that the US-CIS’s denial of an “extraordinary ability” visa was not arbitrary, capricious, or contrary to law. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On December 31, 2003, Poghos Kazarian, a thirty-four-year-old native and citizen of Armenia, filed an application for an employment-based immigrant visa for “aliens of extraordinary ability” (Form I-140) contending that he was an alien with extraordinary ability as a theoretical physicist.

Kazarian received a Ph.D in Theoretical Physics from Yerevan State University (“YSU”) in Yerevan, Armenia, in 1997. From 1997 to 2000, he remained at YSU as a Research Associate, where, among other things, he “reviewe[d] [the] diploma works of the Department’s graduates.”

At YSU, Kazarian specialized in nonEinsteinian theories of gravitation. According to a colleague, “[t]his work offered a mechanism for the control of solutions’ accuracy, which guarantees the accuracy of…