PHYSICIST LOSES BID FOR VISA BASED ON ABILITY
By TIM HULL
Courthouse News Service
Sept 9 2009
(CN) – An Armenian theoretical physicist who self-published a text
book and lectures at a California community college does not qualify
as an "alien of extraordinary ability" for visa purposes, the 9th
circuit ruled.
In a 2-1 decision, the Pasadena-based appellate panel upheld a lower
court’s decision to deny 34-year-old Poghos Kazarian an immigration
visa.
The court said Kazarian, a tutor and adjunct instructor at Glendale
Community College, is "not yet of the caliber that qualifies him as
‘an alien with extraordinary ability.’" Kazarian applied for an
employment-based immigrant visa in 2003, claiming that his work as a
theoretical physicist qualified him for a visa. A district court ruled
for the Citizenship and Immigration Service, denying Kazarian a visa.
The Armenian appealed, and the 9th Circuit affirmed the lower court’s
ruling.
Though Kazarian submitted several letters of recommendation from
colleagues, the court said they were vague and lacked convincing
details.
Judge Dorothy Nelson wrote that "although Kazarian is well-respected
by his colleagues, he has not yet attained the stature required by
the statutory scheme."
The bar for "extraordinary ability" includes only those with "a level
of expertise indicating that the individual is one of that small
percentage who have risen to the very top of the field of endeavor,"
Nelson added.
Though Kazarian, a specialist in "non-Einsteinian theories of
gravitation" is a promising young scientist, Nelson wrote, his
accomplishments thus far do not meet that standard.
Nelson added that Kazarian may well qualify for an "exceptional
ability" visa, for which the bar is set significantly lower, though he
would have to show evidence that he was sought after by U.S. employers.
In the dissenting opinion, Judge Harry Pregerson wrote that "forcing
Dr. Kazarian to depart from our country would be undoubtedly wasteful
and make one think that there is something haywire in our system."