Degree or an Alien of Exceptional Ability Pursuant to Section 203(b)(2)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b )(2)(A) ON BEHALF OF PETITIONER: .
INSTRUCTIONS:
Enclosed please find the decision of the Administrative Appeals Office in your case. All of the documents related to this matter have been returned to the office that originally decided your case. Please be advised that any further inquiry that you might have concerning your case. inust be made to that office. Thank you,
Ron Rosenberg
Acting Chief, Administrative Appeals Office www.uscis.gov
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DISCOSSION: The DirJctor, Nebraska Service Center, denied the employment-based immigrant visa petition, which is now before the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) on appeal. The appeal will be rejected as untimely filed. _
In order to' properly file an appeal, the regulatio11 at 8 C.F.R . § 103.3(a)(2)(i) provides that the affected party or the attorney or representative of record must submit the complete appeal within 30 days of service of the unfavorable decision. If the decision was mailed, the appeal must be filed within 33 days. See 8 C.F.R. § 103.8(b). The date of filing is not the date of submission , but the date of actual receipt with the required fee. See 8 C.F.R. § 103.2(a)(7)(i).
The record indicates that the service center director issued the decision on May 23, 2011 via · facsimile. It 'is noted that the servic~ center director properly gave notice to the petitioner that it had 30 days to file the appeal, as the denial was sent via facsimile. Neitlier the Act nor the pertinent regulations grant t~e AAO authority to extend this time limit.
Form I-290B was not received by the service center until Thursday, June 23, 2011, or 31 days after the decision was issued. Accordingly, the appeal was untimely filed.
The regulation at 8 C.F.R. § 103.3(a)(2)(v)(B)(2) states that, if an untimely appeal meets the requirements of a motion to reopen or a motion to reconsider, the appeal must be treated as a motion~ and a decision must be made on the merits of the case. The official having jurisdiction over a . motion is the official who made the last decision in the proceeding, in this case the Director of the Texas Service Center. See 8 C .F.R. § 103.5(a)(l)(ii) . The dir~ctor determined that the late appeal did not meet the requirements of a motion and forwarded the matter to the AAO.
· As the appeal was untimely filed, the appeal must be rejected .
ORDER: The appeal is rejected.