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I’ve notice that USCIS’s Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) has overturned two I-140 denials recently, which is fairly unusual.  The Nebraska Service Center denied both I-140s because the applicants for the jobs in question – software engineer and market research analyst – lacked education in those specific fields.  The AAO held that a specific field of study is not required for either of these positions; in other words, a Bachelors degree or a Masters degree is sufficient, on its own, to qualify the applicant for the positions at issue here.  I find these two decisions especially interesting because they show that (1) the AAO actually does, on occasion, overturn a USCIS Service Center decision, (2) the underlying NSC decisions seem clearly erroneous, making me wonder whether NSC officers are routinely fed crack as part of their job duties, and (3) the time between filing the appeal and getting an answer is absolutely ridiculous, and getting worse.  The NSC denied both of these I-140s in 2007, and the petitioners are just getting answers at the end of 2009.  What kind of dysfunctional system allows people to remain in limbo for such a long time?  It’s worth mentioning that a pending appeal confers no legal status on beneficiaries located in the U.S.; they have to maintain independent nonimmigrant status while their appeals are pending, or they will fall out of status and become ineligible for certain immigration benefits, including, possibly, permanent residence – the point of the appeal in the first place.  Given the low rate of AAO appeals granted, appealing while in the U.S. is a major gamble that might not pay off for years, if ever.  My solution: even if it’s the petitioner’s appeal, let the appeal confer some sort of status on the beneficiary as well, so he or she still qualifies for adjustment down the road.  That’s the least the government can do if it has to take such an insanely long time adjudicating I-140 appeals.