Caremax Inc v. Holder

ORDER GRANTING SUMMARY JUDGMENT

In this declaratory relief action, Plaintiffs ask the Court to determine, in the context of an administrative agency’s decision not to grant a nonimmigrant visa, whether a non-citizen employee’s job constitutes a “specialty occupation” under the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”) and if so, whether the non-citizen employee meets the minimum qualifications for employment in said “specialty occupation.” The distinction between specialty occupation and non-specialty occupation is important because the INA authorizes temporary visas for qualified nonimmigrant aliens who are sponsored by an employer to perform a “specialty occupation.” Health services corporation CareMax and its proposed public relations specialist Sen Guo (collectively, “Plaintiffs”) argue that the government defendants (“Defendants”) have incorrectly relied on a determination by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) that Guo’s position as an entry-level public relations specialist is not a “specialty occupation,” and that even if it is, Guo does not meet the minimum qualifications for employment in a specialty occupation. Because USCIS’s decision was not…