Fashions, Incorporated, New York, New York. Her services as a character singer are needed by that organization to perform "rock and roll" songs at a private showing of English fashions on June 2, 1965, in New York City. The petitioner desires to utilize the services of Miss Shaw because she is well known in the field of fashion and associated with a certain style of clothing. A "Sandie Shaw” line of dresses will be introduced at the showing. The beneficiary is to receive a salary of $1000 for one evening's work. A clearance order from the Bureau of Employment Security certifying that qualified workers are not available for referral to the employer was submitted. The petition was approved on May 24, 1965."!

Sullivan Productions, Incorporated, desires the services of Miss Shaw as a singer and performer for a three-day period, including rehearsals. The salary to be received by the beneficiary is $750. She will not receive additional remuneration to cover travel costs or incidental expenses. The videotape is slated to be recorded on June 2, 1965, and aired on August 7, 1965.

Twenty-six clippings were submitted in support of the instant petition. This material consists of items pertaining to the beneficiary, ranging from very brief notices of performance to feature-length articles. Almost all are from British publications. Many of the clippings are minutia or essentially biographical items offering so little specific information with respect to the beneficiary's performances or serious critical appraisal of her talents as to be virtually immaterial. Such items, devoted primarily to accounts of interviews held with the beneficiary and stories of how she entered the entertainment field, merely tend to establish a certain degree of popularity or notoriety. Other items pertain to the beneficiary's success as a recording artist and are similar to those submitted by the Hullabaloo Company. One of Miss Shaw's recordings is again seen to have occupied the number one position in British record rating charts for a brief period in October 1964. Since that time, she has made only a small number of recordings and although they have had a measure of success, none has been rated at or near the number one position. Charts based upon United States sales do not indicate that any of the beneficiary's recordings ever placed near the "top ten."

The clippings are generally vague and do not offer any substantive information pertaining to the beneficiary's experience as a performing artist. There are no concert reviews. No evidence is contained therein relating to any professional education or training she may have had. Many items relate to the beneficiary's rather unique style of performing barefooted. The Bournemouth Times of March 5,

1965, states: "Intriguing as her voice is, it's her feet that have also helped her gain recognition."

On May 20, 1965, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists was informed of the current petition, appraised of the nature of the supporting documentation, and requested to furnish an advisory opinion as to whether the beneficiary may be considered a performer of distinguished merit and ability. An opinion was also solicited as to whether the duties to be performed require such a person. A letter dated May 26, 1965, from the Assistant Executive Secretary of that organization was received which concludes that the beneficiary falls far short of being of distinguished merit and ability as those terms are usually defined. The letter states that her songs were never very popular in the United States but omits mention of their popularity abroad. There is no opinion as to whether or not the duties to be performed are exceptional in nature. This Service does not dispute that at least one of the beneficiary's songs was, indeed, a "hit" abroad.

It is held that the term "distinguished merit and ability” implies a degree of skill and recognition substantially above that ordinarily encountered, to the extent that a person so described is preeminent in his field of endeavor. This Service is charged with the responsibility of determining whether or not a beneficiary meets this statutory requirement. On the other hand, the burden of proving that an entertainer possesses the necessary distinguished merit and ability and is to perform services of an exceptional nature, as required by law, rests upon the person or organization desiring to bring the alien to the United States. It is recognized that such determinations often lead to controversey-professional concert and drama critics and book reviewers are seldom in total agreement. Very often completely divergent opinions pertaining to the same event are authored by the "experts." Among the criteria which may be applied in assessing such intangibles as "distinguished merit and ability" are expert opinions, including critical reviews, popularity, box office appeal, sales of records, and contractual arrangements, including remuneration. While it is appreciated that sometimes the Service's decision is not accepted without some disagreement by the parties affected, it must be borne in mind that the issue involved is one where reasonable men can differ in judgement.

The evidence of record shows that barely one year ago the beneficiary was unknown as a performer. The praises and accolades contained in the clippings are not significantly different from those used to describe any vocalist with a modest amount of success. There is no record of extensive performance as she is in the relative infancy of

her career. The beneficiary's recording successes are few in number and cannot yet be considered to establish a degree of skill setting her apart from the many others who have attained similar renown. While one of her songs has reached the pinnacle of success in Britain, their popularity has been strictly ephemeral, as is characteristic of most songs, and even performers, in this idiom. The May 21, 1965 issue of Time magazine, for example, includes a very comprehensive survey of the "rock and roll” situation. Apropos of the short-lived popularity of performers in this field is the following quotation from this article: "Jan and Dean ('rock and roll' singers) have endured at least until next week, which is unique in a market where one-hit-andforever-miss performances are the rule rather than the exception." The evidence considered in toto falls short of establishing that she has the "distinguished merit and ability" contemplated by the statute.

It is noted, moreover, that a star of the caliber contemplated by this section of the statute would ordinarily be expected to receive a much higher salary than the $750 offered the beneficiary, for the amount of work involved. This is especially the case when transportation and incidental expenses are not included. Even if the beneficiary were to travel "economy" class, the cost of transportation alone would amount to almost $500, leaving barely $250 as her stipend. First class transportation would virtually exhaust her proposed salary. The petitioning organization may not realistically be expected to be able to secure the services of a performer of "distinguished merit and ability" at the salary offered......

It has been concluded that the petitioner has not satisfactorily borne the burdens imposed by the statute of establishing either that the beneficiary is a person of distinguished merit and ability in her field or that the duties to be performed are exceptional in nature requiring such a person. For these reasons the petition will be denied. This action is taken without prejudice towards the consideration of a further petition by Sullivan Productions, Incorporated, to have this beneficiary accorded classification under section 101 (a) (15) (H) (ii) of the Act. Such a petition would have to be accompanied by the requisite clearance order from the Bureau of Employment Security and regulatory fee.

ORDER: It is ordered that the petition of Sullivan Productions, Incorporated, to have Sandra Goodrich, professionally known as Sandie Shaw, accorded classification under section 101 (a) (15) (H) (i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, be and the same is hereby denied.

Beneficiary, who possesses a master's degree in library science, is eligible for first preference status under section 203(a)(1), Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended, as assistant catalogue librarian in a university's internationally famous medical library since the position duties for which her services are requested are not subordinate but rather correspond in level of responsibility to those of a senior librarian.

This case comes forward on appeal from the decision of the Acting District Director, San Francisco, who on May 10, 1965, denied the petition as follows:

The duties the beneficiary would perform as an Assistant Catalogue Librarian (classify and catalogue medical books according to a modified Library of Congress system; also work with circulation, reference, ordering and processing materials) are not complex and could be learned in a relatively short period of time. Therefore, the duties of the position do not meet the criteria for first preference classification.

The petitioner, Stanford University, is a well-established institution of higher education. It was established in 1885, has over 6,000 employees and a student enrollment of over 10,000 from all parts of the United States and foreign countries.

The petitioner seeks the services of the beneficiary to serve in the capacity of "Assistant Catalogue Librarian" in the Lane Medical Library School of Medicine, a division of Stanford University. In the petition the duties of the position are described as follows:

Mrs. Wang will classify and catalogue medical books according to a modified Library of Congress system, She will also work with circulation, reference, ordering and processing materials. Because the library is small (14 employees) she will have an opportunity to become familiar with the complete library process, not just one department. She will have a wide variety of experience over and above the specific department where her chief responsibility will lie.

The petitioner has stated that the duties to be performed by the beneficiary require a person with a Master of Library Science Degree. Beneficiary is a 26-year-old married female, a native and citizen of China. She entered the United States on February 12, 1962, as a student and has been enrolled in the University of West Virginia, University of Oregon, and University of California at Berkeley in the Graduate Division devoted to studies in Library Science. She obtained a Master of Library Science Degree from the University of California on September 6, 1963, which was followed by 18 months of practical training in Library Science, 6 months at San Jose State College, San Jose, California, and 12 months at the School of Medicine at Stanford University. Following completion of the training period she continued her employment with petitioner as Assistant Catalogue Librarian where she is still employed.

In the brief in support of the appeal petitioner has pointed out that the beneficiary's responsibilities and duties are in reality those of an "Assistant Librarian" which should more properly be the title of the position for which petitioned and that the title "Assistant Librarian" should not be confused with "Library Assistant." The Work Trait Requirements Handbook published by the United States Employment service shows that to qualify for the position of "Library Assistant," Code 1-20.01, only 6 months to 1 year of specific vocational preparation are required, but that for the position of “Librarian,” Code 0-23.20, from 4 to 10 years of specific vocational preparation are required.

On March 23, 1965, the United States Employment Service, Department of Labor, advised as follows: "A librarian must have successfully completed 5 years of college through which a master's degree in library science was obtained. A petition for a librarian who does not have the required formal education must be accompanied by a clearance order." The Dictionary of Occupational Titles, Volume 1, defines the term "assistant" as "a general term applied to a worker who assists another" and goes on to state "the same classification should be assigned to the worker assisted except when the duties performed by the assistant are clearly subordinate to and different from those of the worker assisted." Petitioner asserts that the duties of beneficiary are not subordinate and that the work for which Mrs. Wang is responsible would correspond to the level of responsibility of a “Librarian II" or "Senior Librarian." The Medical Library has over 170,000 volumes, is internationally famous with demands for its books coming from Libraries in all parts of the United States and foreign countries. The material is highly technical with rare serial supplements from all over the world and in many languages. Peti

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