MEMORANDUM — PRIVILEGED & CONFIDENTIAL
ATTORNEY WORK PRODUCT
FROM: Derek Okonkwo, Associate, Calderwood & Harkness LLP
TO: Colette Whitman, Partner, Calderwood & Harkness LLP
DATE: December 14, 2023
RE: ETA Form 9089 Preparation Analysis — PERM Labor Certification Applications for Four Lumos Analytics Inc. Beneficiaries
MATTER NO.: 1008-00004
CLIENT: Lumos Analytics Inc.
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I. Purpose and Summary
This memorandum provides a comprehensive pre-filing substantive analysis of the four ETA Form 9089 PERM labor certification applications to be filed on behalf of Lumos Analytics Inc. (the "Employer" or "Lumos"), the petitioning employer, for the following four foreign national beneficiaries:
1. Rajan Mehta — Vice President, Engineering — Core Platform
2. Lina Varga — Senior Director, Data Science & Machine Learning
3. Tomás Aguilar-Reyes — Vice President, Product — Fintech Solutions
4. Yumiko Tanaka — Director, Information Security & Compliance
All four positions are located at the Lumos corporate headquarters at 2240 Embarcadero Way, Suite 600, Palo Alto, California 94303. The job opportunities are full-time, permanent positions, and none involves a staffing or contracting arrangement.
Employer Background. Lumos Analytics Inc. is a Delaware C-Corporation, Employer Identification Number (EIN) 84-3291057, qualified and authorized to do business in the State of California. Lumos is an enterprise SaaS and fintech company specializing in AI-driven credit risk analytics and automated underwriting solutions for institutional lenders, credit unions, and non-bank financial services companies. The company reported fiscal year 2023 revenue of approximately $87.4 million and employed 312 full-time employees as of June 2023. Lumos's principal private equity sponsor, Ridgeline Equity Partners, LP, holds a 38.2% equity stake in the company. The company has experienced significant year-over-year growth in both revenue and headcount and maintains a robust balance sheet, facts relevant both to the bona fide nature of the offered positions and to the ability-to-pay analysis that will be required at the subsequent I-140 petition stage.
Immigration Classification. All four cases target Employment-Based Second Preference ("EB-2") classification under Section 203(b)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA"), 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(2), specifically the "Advanced Degree Professional" subcategory. Each of the four beneficiaries holds an advanced degree (Master's or Doctorate) from a recognized institution, and each sponsored position requires, at minimum, an advanced degree as part of its actual minimum requirements. The EB-2 classification is well-supported for all four applications, as detailed in the individual beneficiary analyses below.
Filing Target Dates. We have organized the four filings into two batches:
• Batch 1 (December 18, 2023): Rajan Mehta and Lina Varga
• Batch 2 (January 8, 2024): Tomás Aguilar-Reyes and Yumiko Tanaka
The staggered filing schedule reflects the recruitment campaign timelines and the need to finalize employer attestation documentation for the Batch 2 cases.
Scope of Analysis. For each beneficiary, this memorandum analyzes the following critical elements of the Form 9089:
(1) The actual minimum requirements for the position and non-tailoring confirmation;
(2) Business necessity justification for any special requirements;
(3) EB-2 classification eligibility confirmation;
(4) Comparison of the offered wage against the applicable prevailing wage determination;
(5) Key responses in Section H (Job Opportunity Information) of the Form 9089; and
(6) Alignment between Section J (Beneficiary Qualifications) and the stated job requirements, including confirmation that the beneficiary meets or exceeds all stated minimums.
Coordination Notes. The supervised recruitment campaigns for all four positions were conducted in coordination with Broadgate Compliance Services LLC, under the direction of its principal, Gerald Fitzmorris. Broadgate managed advertisement placements, applicant tracking, and preliminary resume screening. The recruitment results report for all four positions was finalized on December 11, 2023, and is on file in the matter folder. Within Calderwood & Harkness, Tiffany Rosenthal, Senior Immigration Paralegal, assisted with recruitment oversight, prevailing wage research, and coordination with the Department of Labor's Office of Foreign Labor Certification.
Client Contacts. The primary contacts at Lumos for purposes of employer attestations, document collection, and signature authorization are Janelle Kwon, HR Manager and designated Immigration Contact, and Marcus Whitfield, General Counsel. Ms. Kwon has been responsive throughout the recruitment and documentation phases and has confirmed that all employer-side documents are available for review and execution.
II. Filing Schedule and Case Numbers
The four PERM applications are organized into two filing batches, as summarized below:
Batch 1 — Filing Date: December 18, 2023
Batch 2 — Filing Date: January 8, 2024
All four applications will be filed electronically through the Department of Labor's Foreign Labor Application Gateway ("FLAG") system and will be processed by the Atlanta National Processing Center. Based on current DOL processing trends, we anticipate an estimated processing timeline of approximately six to eight weeks from the filing date, although processing times can vary and have been subject to periodic fluctuations in recent quarters.
Timing Alert — Aguilar-Reyes. Of particular urgency, Tomás Aguilar-Reyes is currently in L-1A nonimmigrant status, which expires on July 30, 2024. Given the filing date of January 8, 2024, and the anticipated six-to-eight-week PERM processing window, we project PERM certification in approximately late February to early March 2024 under normal processing conditions. This timeline would afford sufficient time to file the subsequent I-140 Immigrant Petition with premium processing (15-day adjudication guarantee) and, upon I-140 approval, to assess whether concurrent filing of Form I-485 (Adjustment of Status) is available based on visa bulletin priority date advancement.
However, if PERM processing extends significantly beyond the expected timeline — whether due to audit, supervised recruitment, or general processing backlogs — the July 30, 2024 L-1A expiration date creates risk. In that contingency scenario, Calderwood & Harkness should advise Lumos on alternative strategies to maintain Mr. Aguilar-Reyes's lawful nonimmigrant status, including but not limited to: (i) filing a cap-exempt H-1B petition based on concurrent or subsequent employment; or (ii) filing for an L-1A extension, provided that the underlying qualifying relationship and other L-1 eligibility requirements remain satisfied. I recommend that we calendar a status review checkpoint for the Aguilar-Reyes matter no later than March 15, 2024, to evaluate whether contingency planning is warranted.
III. Beneficiary 1 — Rajan Mehta (VP, Engineering — Core Platform)
III.A. Position Overview and SOC Classification
Job Title: Vice President, Engineering — Core Platform
SOC Code: 15-1252 (Software Developers)
Worksite: 2240 Embarcadero Way, Suite 600, Palo Alto, California 94303
Employment Type: Full-time, permanent position. This is a direct-hire position within Lumos Analytics Inc. The position is not a staffing, outsourcing, or contracting arrangement, and the beneficiary will perform all duties at the Lumos headquarters worksite (with incidental domestic travel as needed for conferences, client meetings, and related business purposes, consistent with the duties of a VP-level engineering executive).
Supervised Recruitment. The supervised recruitment campaign for this position was conducted during the period of October 9 through November 20, 2023, in full compliance with the requirements of 20 C.F.R. § 656.17 for professional occupations. Broadgate Compliance Services LLC managed the recruitment logistics under the direction of Gerald Fitzmorris. Over the course of the recruitment period, the employer received a total of fourteen (14) resumes from applicants responding to the various recruitment sources. Each resume was reviewed against the stated minimum requirements for the position. Upon completion of the review, zero (0) qualified and available U.S. workers were identified. The detailed disposition of each applicant, including the lawful, job-related reasons for rejection, is documented in the recruitment results report dated December 11, 2023, which is on file with the matter documents.
III.B. Actual Minimum Requirements Analysis (Section H)
The actual minimum requirements for the VP, Engineering — Core Platform position at Lumos Analytics Inc. are as follows:
Minimum Education: Master's degree in Computer Science or a closely related field.
Minimum Experience: Five (5) years of progressive post-baccalaureate experience in software engineering, including at least two (2) years of experience specifically in distributed systems architecture.
Special Requirements: Experience with Apache Kafka, Kubernetes, and microservices architecture at scale (100 million or more daily transactions).
Non-Tailoring Confirmation. The minimum requirements set forth above represent the actual minimum requirements that Lumos Analytics Inc. has established for the VP, Engineering — Core Platform position. These requirements were not designed, adapted, or otherwise tailored to match the specific educational background, work history, or qualifications of Rajan Mehta. Rather, they reflect the genuine operational and organizational needs of the position within Lumos's engineering leadership structure.
In support of the non-tailoring determination, the following facts are relevant:
• Lumos has consistently required a Master's degree in Computer Science (or a closely related field) and a minimum of five years of progressive post-baccalaureate experience for its senior and VP-level engineering roles. This is confirmed by reference to prior internal job postings and organizational charts provided by Janelle Kwon, copies of which are included in the audit file. Specifically, the prior VP of Engineering — Infrastructure position (filled in 2021 by a U.S. citizen candidate) carried the same educational minimum and a comparable experience requirement.
• The distributed systems architecture sub-requirement (two years) reflects the fundamental nature of the Lumos platform, which is a high-volume, real-time transactional processing system that relies on distributed computing principles across multiple services and data centers. A VP-level engineering leader overseeing the core platform must have demonstrable prior experience designing, building, or managing distributed systems to effectively lead the team and make sound technical architecture decisions from the outset of employment.
• Other senior engineering hires at Lumos have met or exceeded these stated minimum requirements, confirming that the requirements are not artificially elevated to disqualify U.S. worker applicants.
Business Necessity for Special Requirements. The special requirements — experience with Apache Kafka, Kubernetes, and microservices at scale (100M+ daily transactions) — are justified by business necessity under the standards set forth in 20 C.F.R. § 656.17(h) and applicable DOL guidance. The justifications are as follows:
• Apache Kafka: Apache Kafka serves as the core event streaming and message brokering infrastructure underlying the Lumos platform. All real-time data ingestion, transformation, and routing within the Lumos credit risk analytics engine relies on Kafka. The VP, Engineering — Core Platform directly oversees the engineering teams responsible for maintaining, scaling, and optimizing the Kafka infrastructure. Without prior hands-on experience with Kafka, a candidate at the VP level would be unable to provide effective technical leadership, conduct meaningful architectural reviews, or make informed decisions regarding platform scaling and reliability.
• Kubernetes: Lumos deploys its entire production application stack on Kubernetes-orchestrated containerized environments across multiple cloud regions. Kubernetes is not merely a supplementary tool but the foundational deployment and orchestration layer for all Lumos services. The VP of Engineering must have demonstrated Kubernetes experience to manage deployment pipelines, resource allocation, scaling strategies, and fault tolerance at the platform level.
• microservices at scale (100M+ daily transactions): Lumos's production environment processes in excess of 100 million discrete API transactions per day at current volume, with projected growth to 250 million daily transactions within the next eighteen months. The scale requirement is not aspirational; it reflects the current production reality. A VP-level engineering leader who has only operated in lower-scale environments would require an extended onboarding and learning period that is incompatible with the demands and seniority of the role.
These special requirements are not merely preferred qualifications but are genuine operational necessities for the VP-level engineering role overseeing Lumos's core platform.
III.C. EB-2 Classification Confirmation
Classification: EB-2, Advanced Degree Professional, under INA § 203(b)(2) and 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(k)(2).
Rajan Mehta holds the following academic credentials:
• M.S., Computer Science — Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay), Mumbai, India (conferred 2014)
• B.Tech, Computer Science — National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli (NIT Trichy), India (conferred 2012)
The VP, Engineering — Core Platform position requires, at minimum, a Master's degree in Computer Science or a closely related field. Mr. Mehta's M.S. in Computer Science from IIT Bombay — a globally recognized, premier technical institution — directly satisfies the Master's degree requirement. IIT Bombay's M.S. program is a two-year post-baccalaureate program that is widely recognized as the equivalent of a U.S. Master's degree. An educational credential evaluation confirming the U.S. equivalency of Mr. Mehta's degrees has been obtained and is on file.
Because the position requires an advanced degree and the beneficiary holds such a degree, the EB-2 Advanced Degree Professional classification is well-supported.
III.D. Offered Wage vs. Prevailing Wage Comparison
The prevailing wage determination ("PWD") for this position was received from the DOL National Prevailing Wage Center on September 8, 2023. The details are as follows:
The offered salary of $285,000 per year materially exceeds the prevailing wage of $198,744 per year. The prevailing wage requirement is satisfied.
It should be noted that the Level IV designation reflects the high degree of responsibility, independent judgment, and supervisory authority associated with a VP-level engineering position. The offered salary is consistent with market compensation for comparable VP-level engineering roles at enterprise SaaS companies in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metropolitan area.
III.E. Section H (Job Opportunity) — Key Responses Review
The following summarizes the key substantive responses to be entered in Section H of the Form 9089 for the Mehta application:
Employer Information: Lumos Analytics Inc., 2240 Embarcadero Way, Suite 600, Palo Alto, California 94303. Employer Identification Number: 84-3291057. NAICS Code: 511210 (Software Publishers), which is the appropriate classification for Lumos's enterprise SaaS and fintech operations.
Union Bargaining Unit: The position is not within any union bargaining unit. There is no collective bargaining agreement applicable to the job opportunity.
Job Duties Description: The job duties narrative should accurately reflect the following core responsibilities: leading the core platform engineering organization, including all software development and infrastructure teams responsible for Lumos's primary credit risk analytics and automated underwriting platform; overseeing distributed systems architecture design and implementation; establishing and enforcing engineering standards, code review processes, and deployment practices; managing a team of approximately 30 engineers including direct reports at the Senior Director and Principal Engineer levels; driving technical architecture decisions for platform scalability, reliability, and performance; collaborating with the VP of Product, Senior Director of Data Science, and Director of Information Security on cross-functional initiatives; and reporting directly to the Chief Technology Officer.
Layoff Certification: Lumos confirms that it has not laid off and will not lay off any U.S. workers in the same or a related occupation within the area of intended employment within 180 days before or after the date of PERM filing. No layoff notification obligations under 20 C.F.R. § 656.17(f) are triggered.
Prevailing Wage Information: The PWD tracking number and determination details (SOC 15-1252, Level IV, $198,744/year, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA) will be entered as required.
Offered Wage: $285,000 per year.
III.F. Section J (Beneficiary Qualifications) — Alignment
This subsection confirms that Rajan Mehta's qualifications meet or exceed all stated minimum requirements for the VP, Engineering — Core Platform position.
Education: Mr. Mehta holds an M.S. in Computer Science from IIT Bombay (2014) and a B.Tech in Computer Science from NIT Trichy (2012). The M.S. in Computer Science directly satisfies the minimum educational requirement of a Master's degree in Computer Science or a closely related field.
Experience: Mr. Mehta has accumulated approximately nine (9) years of progressive post-baccalaureate experience in software engineering since completing his M.S. in 2014. His career trajectory has included roles of increasing responsibility in software engineering, platform architecture, and engineering management, with at least two years of documented experience specifically in distributed systems architecture. This exceeds the stated minimums of five years of progressive post-baccalaureate software engineering experience and two years of distributed systems architecture experience.
Special Requirements: Mr. Mehta's experience with Apache Kafka, Kubernetes, and microservices at scale is confirmed through employment verification letters and detailed project descriptions obtained from prior and current employers. His work at Lumos and prior employers has involved direct, hands-on experience with these technologies in production environments handling transaction volumes at or exceeding the 100M+ daily transaction threshold.
Current Immigration Status: H-1B nonimmigrant status, valid through September 14, 2025. Mr. Mehta's H-1B status provides a comfortable window for PERM processing, I-140 adjudication, and subsequent adjustment of status or consular processing.
Citizenship: India.
Employer-Specific Experience Analysis. It is noted that Mr. Mehta is currently employed by Lumos in the position being sponsored. Under PERM regulations, an employer may not require experience that was gained with the sponsoring employer unless the employer can demonstrate a business necessity for such a requirement and the experience is not the primary basis for meeting the minimum requirements. Here, the minimum requirements call for five years of progressive post-baccalaureate software engineering experience and two years in distributed systems architecture — these are general industry experience requirements, not requirements for Lumos-specific experience. Mr. Mehta possessed the requisite experience and qualifications prior to and during his employment with Lumos, and the requirements do not mandate that the experience be gained specifically at Lumos. Accordingly, there is no impermissible employer-specific experience requirement.
IV. Beneficiary 2 — Lina Varga (Senior Director, Data Science & Machine Learning)
IV.A. Position Overview and SOC Classification
Job Title: Senior Director, Data Science & Machine Learning
SOC Code: 15-2051 (Data Scientists)
Worksite: 2240 Embarcadero Way, Suite 600, Palo Alto, California 94303
Employment Type: Full-time, permanent position. This is a direct-hire role within Lumos Analytics Inc. The position does not involve staffing, outsourcing, or contract labor arrangements. All duties will be performed at the Lumos headquarters, with incidental travel for academic conferences, industry events, and client engagements as appropriate for a senior data science executive.
Supervised Recruitment. The recruitment campaign for the Senior Director, Data Science & Machine Learning position ran concurrently with the recruitment for the Mehta position, from October 9 through November 20, 2023. Broadgate Compliance Services LLC managed the recruitment logistics. A total of eight (8) resumes were received over the recruitment period. Each applicant's qualifications were evaluated against the stated minimum requirements for the position. Upon completion of the evaluation, zero (0) qualified and available U.S. workers were identified. Individual applicant dispositions, including the specific, lawful, job-related reasons for each determination of non-qualification or unavailability, are documented in the recruitment results report dated December 11, 2023, and maintained in the audit file.
IV.B. Actual Minimum Requirements Analysis (Section H)
The actual minimum requirements for the Senior Director, Data Science & Machine Learning position at Lumos Analytics Inc. are as follows:
Minimum Education: Ph.D. in Statistics, Computer Science, or a closely related quantitative field.
Minimum Experience: Three (3) years of post-doctoral experience in applied machine learning, including at least two (2) years of experience in financial services credit modeling.
Special Requirements: A publication record in peer-reviewed journals on statistical learning methods; proficiency in Python, R, and TensorFlow.
Non-Tailoring Confirmation. The minimum requirements described above reflect the genuine, actual requirements that Lumos has established for the Senior Director, Data Science & Machine Learning position. These requirements have not been crafted or tailored to match Dr. Varga's specific qualifications.
The Ph.D. requirement is justified by the advanced quantitative research leadership nature of the position. The Lumos data science team is responsible for developing, validating, and deploying novel credit risk models that must meet both institutional performance standards and regulatory scrutiny. The development of these models requires doctoral-level expertise in statistical theory, mathematical modeling, and advanced machine learning methodologies. A Master's-level candidate, while potentially capable of applying existing models, would generally lack the depth of theoretical training required to develop original credit risk methodologies from first principles — a core function of this position.
Lumos has not filled comparable director-level or senior director-level data science roles with candidates holding less than a doctoral degree. This is consistent with the broader fintech industry, where senior research-oriented data science leadership positions routinely require a Ph.D. as the minimum educational qualification. The three-year post-doctoral experience requirement and the two-year financial services credit modeling specialization are consistent with industry standards for senior director-level data science roles in fintech and ensure that the candidate possesses practical, applied experience translating academic research expertise into production-grade financial models within a regulated industry context.
Business Necessity for Special Requirements. The special requirements — a peer-reviewed publication record and proficiency in Python, R, and TensorFlow — are each supported by demonstrable business necessity:
• Peer-Reviewed Publication Record: A publication record in peer-reviewed journals on statistical learning methods serves as objective evidence of the candidate's ability to develop, rigorously validate, and communicate original statistical methodologies. This capability is essential for the Senior Director role at Lumos, where the data science team is tasked with creating proprietary, regulatory-grade credit models. These models are subject to external model validation reviews by Lumos's banking and institutional lending clients, as well as regulatory examination. The ability to apply the scientific method to model development and to withstand peer review scrutiny is not a "nice-to-have" but a functional requirement rooted in the nature of Lumos's business.
• Proficiency in Python, R, and TensorFlow: Python and R are the primary programming languages used throughout Lumos's machine learning pipeline, from exploratory data analysis and feature engineering through model training, validation, and deployment. TensorFlow is the principal deep learning framework employed for Lumos's neural network-based credit scoring models. These are the actual tools that the Senior Director and the data science team use daily. Proficiency in all three is required from the first day of employment; the Senior Director must be able to review team members' code, conduct independent model development, and ensure technical quality across the ML pipeline without a protracted learning curve.
IV.C. EB-2 Classification Confirmation
Classification: EB-2, Advanced Degree Professional, under INA § 203(b)(2) and 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(k)(2).
Lina Varga holds the following academic credentials:
• Ph.D., Statistics — ETH Glenrock Assurance (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich), Glenrock Assurance, Switzerland (conferred 2016)
• M.Sc., Applied Mathematics — Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), Budapest, Hungary (conferred 2012)
The position requires, at minimum, a Ph.D. in Statistics, Computer Science, or a closely related quantitative field. Dr. Varga's Ph.D. in Statistics from ETH Glenrock Assurance — one of the world's preeminent technical universities — clearly and directly satisfies the advanced degree requirement. A doctoral degree exceeds the minimum threshold for EB-2 Advanced Degree Professional classification, which requires a U.S. Master's degree or its foreign equivalent (or a U.S. baccalaureate degree plus five years of progressive experience in the specialty). An educational credential evaluation confirming the U.S. equivalency of Dr. Varga's degrees has been obtained and is on file.
The EB-2 Advanced Degree Professional classification is strongly supported.
IV.D. Offered Wage vs. Prevailing Wage Comparison
The prevailing wage determination for this position was received from the DOL National Prevailing Wage Center on September 11, 2023. The details are as follows:
The offered salary of $310,000 per year substantially exceeds the prevailing wage of $191,360 per year, representing a margin of 62.0% above the PWD. The prevailing wage requirement is amply satisfied.
The Level IV wage level designation reflects the significant level of independent judgment, leadership responsibility, and specialized expertise inherent in the Senior Director role. The offered salary is competitive with market rates for comparable senior data science leadership positions at venture-backed and PE-backed technology companies in the Silicon Valley region.
IV.E. Section H (Job Opportunity) — Key Responses Review
The following summarizes the key substantive responses for Section H of the Varga application:
Employer Information: Lumos Analytics Inc., 2240 Embarcadero Way, Suite 600, Palo Alto, California 94303. EIN: 84-3291057. NAICS Code: 511210 (Software Publishers). Employer information is identical to the Mehta application.
Union Bargaining Unit: Not applicable. The position is not covered by any collective bargaining agreement.
Job Duties Description: The job duties narrative should accurately describe the following: leading and managing the data science and machine learning team, including recruitment, mentorship, and performance management of a team of approximately 12 data scientists and ML engineers; directing the development, validation, and deployment of credit risk models and automated underwriting algorithms; conducting original statistical research to advance Lumos's proprietary modeling methodologies; ensuring model compliance with regulatory requirements, including fair lending and adverse action obligations; collaborating cross-functionally with engineering and product teams to integrate ML models into the production platform; presenting research findings and model performance metrics to executive leadership, board members, and institutional clients; and reporting directly to the Chief Technology Officer.
Layoff Certification: No layoffs in the same or related occupation within the area of intended employment within 180 days before or after the filing date. Same certification as the Mehta application.
Prevailing Wage Information: PWD tracking number and determination details (SOC 15-2051, Level IV, $191,360/year, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA) to be entered.
Offered Wage: $310,000 per year.
IV.F. Section J (Beneficiary Qualifications) — Alignment
This subsection confirms that Lina Varga's qualifications meet or exceed all stated minimum requirements.
Education: Dr. Varga holds a Ph.D. in Statistics from ETH Glenrock Assurance (2016) and an M.Sc. in Applied Mathematics from Eötvös Loránd University (2012). The Ph.D. in Statistics directly satisfies the minimum educational requirement of a Ph.D. in Statistics, Computer Science, or a closely related quantitative field.
Experience: Dr. Varga has approximately seven (7) years of post-doctoral experience in applied machine learning since completing her Ph.D. in 2016. Her career has included applied ML research and leadership roles at technology and financial services companies, with well in excess of two years of direct experience in financial services credit modeling. These credentials comfortably exceed the stated minimums of three years of post-doctoral applied ML experience and two years of financial services credit modeling experience.
Special Requirements: Dr. Varga has a documented record of publications in peer-reviewed journals on topics including statistical learning methods, ensemble techniques for credit scoring, and neural network architectures for risk prediction. Her curriculum vitae, which is on file, lists multiple publications in recognized journals. Additionally, her proficiency in Python, R, and TensorFlow is confirmed through her CV, project portfolio documentation, and employment verification, reflecting extensive daily use of these tools in her professional work.
Current Immigration Status: H-1B nonimmigrant status, valid through March 2, 2026. Dr. Varga's H-1B status provides an ample window for PERM certification, I-140 adjudication, and subsequent green card processing steps.
Citizenship: Hungary.
Employer-Specific Experience Analysis. As with the Mehta application, the minimum requirements for the Varga position call for general industry experience — specifically, post-doctoral applied machine learning experience and financial services credit modeling experience — rather than experience gained specifically at Lumos Analytics Inc. Dr. Varga possessed the requisite qualifications both prior to and during her tenure at Lumos. No impermissible employer-specific experience requirement exists in this application.
V. Beneficiary 3 — Tomás Aguilar-Reyes (VP, Product — Fintech Solutions)
V.A. Position Overview and SOC Classification
Job Title: Vice President, Product — Fintech Solutions
SOC Code: 11-2021 (Marketing Managers)
A Note on SOC Classification. Product management roles do not have a dedicated Standard Occupational Classification code within the DOL's occupational taxonomy. The SOC code 11-2021 (Marketing Managers) is the most commonly accepted and widely used classification for senior product management and product leadership roles in PERM applications and has been recognized and accepted by the DOL in numerous certified applications. The Marketing Managers classification encompasses professionals who plan, direct, or coordinate marketing policies and programs, including market research, product strategy, pricing, and go-to-market execution — functions that substantially overlap with senior product management responsibilities. We have selected this classification in accordance with prevailing industry practice and DOL precedent.
Worksite: 2240 Embarcadero Way, Suite 600, Palo Alto, California 94303
Employment Type: Full-time, permanent position. Direct-hire role within Lumos Analytics Inc.; no staffing or contracting arrangement.
Supervised Recruitment. The recruitment campaign for this position was conducted during the period of October 23 through December 4, 2023. This campaign ran as part of the second batch, approximately two weeks after the initiation of the Mehta and Varga recruitment campaigns, in order to stagger the filing schedule. Broadgate Compliance Services LLC coordinated the recruitment activities. A total of eleven (11) resumes were received. Each applicant was evaluated against the stated minimum requirements. Upon completion of the evaluation, zero (0) qualified and available U.S. workers were identified. The recruitment results report, dated December 11, 2023, details the disposition of each applicant.
V.B. Actual Minimum Requirements Analysis (Section H)
The actual minimum requirements for the VP, Product — Fintech Solutions position at Lumos Analytics Inc. are as follows:
Minimum Education: Master's degree in Business Administration, Finance, or a closely related field.
Minimum Experience: Five (5) years of progressive experience in fintech product management, including at least three (3) years of experience managing cross-functional teams of fifteen (15) or more members.
Special Requirements: Experience with regulatory frameworks, specifically the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") guidelines, as applied to automated lending products.
Non-Tailoring Confirmation. The requirements stated above are the actual minimum requirements that Lumos has established for the VP, Product — Fintech Solutions position. They were not designed, adapted, or inflated to match the specific qualifications of Tomás Aguilar-Reyes.
The MBA or Master's in Finance requirement reflects the genuine educational baseline for VP-level product leadership at Lumos. The VP, Product — Fintech Solutions occupies a highly strategic role that demands both business acumen and financial domain expertise. The role requires the ability to evaluate market opportunities, develop financial product strategies, interpret lending market dynamics, and communicate with institutional clients who themselves employ MBA- and finance-educated professionals. Lumos's prior VP-level product hires have held comparable or higher degrees, confirming that this is the actual minimum and not an artificially elevated standard.
The five-year progressive experience requirement reflects the seniority and breadth of the position. The VP, Product — Fintech Solutions oversees the entire fintech product portfolio, manages a complex product roadmap, and coordinates across engineering, data science, design, and compliance teams. The three-year sub-requirement for managing cross-functional teams of 15 or more members reflects the operational reality of the role: the VP directly and indirectly manages a cross-functional product organization spanning multiple disciplines, and effective leadership of such a team requires prior demonstrated experience managing organizations of comparable size and complexity. These experience requirements are not tailored to Mr. Aguilar-Reyes's profile; rather, they reflect the objective demands of the position.
Business Necessity for Special Requirements. The requirement for experience with Dodd-Frank and CFPB regulatory frameworks as applied to automated lending products is supported by clear business necessity:
Lumos's automated underwriting platform operates squarely within the heavily regulated consumer and commercial lending ecosystem. Lumos's products are used by banks, credit unions, and non-bank lenders that are subject to extensive federal regulatory oversight, including the Dodd-Frank Act's provisions on qualified mortgages, ability-to-repay standards, and fair lending requirements, as well as the CFPB's supervisory and enforcement guidelines applicable to automated decision-making in lending.
The VP, Product — Fintech Solutions is responsible for ensuring that Lumos's product design, feature roadmap, and go-to-market strategy are fully compliant with applicable regulatory requirements. Product decisions made without a deep understanding of these regulatory frameworks could expose Lumos and its clients to significant compliance risk, regulatory enforcement actions, and reputational harm. This regulatory knowledge cannot reasonably be acquired on the job at the VP level without introducing unacceptable risk to the company's product roadmap, client relationships, and regulatory posture. A VP-level product leader must possess this expertise from the outset of employment.
EB-2 Basis. The position requires an advanced degree (MBA or Master's in Finance) coupled with five years of progressive experience in fintech product management. The combination of an advanced degree and substantial progressive experience qualifies the position under the EB-2 Advanced Degree Professional category.
V.C. EB-2 Classification Confirmation
Classification: EB-2, Advanced Degree Professional, under INA § 203(b)(2) and 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(k)(2).
Tomás Aguilar-Reyes holds the following academic credentials:
• MBA — IPADE Business School, Mexico City, Mexico (conferred 2013)
• B.S., Industrial Engineering — Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM), Monterrey, Mexico (conferred 2010)
The position requires a Master's degree in Business Administration, Finance, or a closely related field. Mr. Aguilar-Reyes's MBA from IPADE Business School — a highly regarded business school accredited by the Association of MBAs (AMBA) and the European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) — satisfies the advanced degree requirement. An educational credential evaluation confirming the U.S. equivalency of the MBA and B.S. degrees has been obtained and is on file. Combined with more than five years of progressive experience in fintech product management, Mr. Aguilar-Reyes qualifies under INA § 203(b)(2) as an Advanced Degree Professional.
V.D. Offered Wage vs. Prevailing Wage Comparison
The prevailing wage determination for this position was received from the DOL National Prevailing Wage Center on October 2, 2023. The details are as follows:
The offered salary of $275,000 per year significantly exceeds the prevailing wage of $176,842 per year. The prevailing wage requirement is satisfied.
The Level III wage level designation reflects the position's requirement for special skills and a high degree of independent judgment, while acknowledging that certain aspects of the Marketing Managers SOC code may encompass a broader range of responsibilities than the specific product management functions performed in this role. The offered salary is well above the Level III threshold and would also exceed the Level IV prevailing wage for this SOC code and geographic area, providing additional margin of comfort.
V.E. Section H (Job Opportunity) — Key Responses Review
The following summarizes the key substantive responses for Section H of the Aguilar-Reyes application:
Employer Information: Lumos Analytics Inc., 2240 Embarcadero Way, Suite 600, Palo Alto, California 94303. EIN: 84-3291057. NAICS Code: 511210 (Software Publishers). Employer information is consistent across all four applications.
Union Bargaining Unit: Not applicable. No collective bargaining agreement covers this position.
Job Duties Description: The job duties narrative should accurately describe the following core responsibilities: leading the fintech product organization, including ownership of the product strategy and multi-year roadmap for Lumos's automated underwriting and credit risk analytics product suite; managing cross-functional teams spanning product management, product design, engineering liaisons, and compliance integration, totaling approximately 20 direct and indirect reports; conducting market analysis and competitive intelligence to identify opportunities for new product development and feature enhancement in the automated lending space; integrating regulatory compliance requirements (Dodd-Frank, CFPB fair lending guidelines, Equal Credit Opportunity Act) into product design and development processes; collaborating with the sales and customer success teams to support enterprise client adoption and retention; presenting product strategy and performance metrics to executive leadership, the board of directors, and Ridgeline Equity Partners; and reporting directly to the Chief Product Officer.
Layoff Certification: Lumos confirms no layoffs in the same or related occupation within the area of intended employment within 180 days before or after the filing date.
Prevailing Wage Information: PWD tracking number and determination details (SOC 11-2021, Level III, $176,842/year, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA) to be entered.
Offered Wage: $275,000 per year.
V.F. Section J (Beneficiary Qualifications) — Alignment
This subsection confirms that Tomás Aguilar-Reyes's qualifications meet or exceed all stated minimum requirements.
Education: Mr. Aguilar-Reyes holds an MBA from IPADE Business School (2013) and a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Tecnológico de Monterrey (2010). The MBA directly satisfies the minimum educational requirement of a Master's degree in Business Administration, Finance, or a closely related field.
Experience: Mr. Aguilar-Reyes has approximately ten (10) years of progressive experience in fintech product management since completing his MBA in 2013. His career trajectory includes product management roles of increasing scope and responsibility at fintech and financial technology companies, with extensive experience managing cross-functional teams of 15 or more members for at least three years. These credentials substantially exceed the stated minimums of five years of progressive fintech product management experience and three years of cross-functional team leadership.
Special Requirements: Mr. Aguilar-Reyes has documented experience working with Dodd-Frank and CFPB regulatory frameworks in the context of automated lending products. This experience was gained through prior employment at financial technology companies where he was responsible for product compliance integration and regulatory strategy for lending products. Employment verification letters and position descriptions confirming this experience are on file.
Current Immigration Status: L-1A nonimmigrant status, valid through July 30, 2024.
Citizenship: Mexico.
Critical Timing Note. As noted in Section II of this memorandum, Mr. Aguilar-Reyes's L-1A status expires on July 30, 2024. This status expiration introduces a significant timing constraint into the PERM and I-140 processing timeline. The recommended course of action is as follows:
(1) Upon certification of the PERM application (estimated late February to early March 2024), Calderwood & Harkness should file the I-140 Immigrant Petition with USCIS immediately, utilizing premium processing service at the current filing fee of $2,500 per petition. Premium processing guarantees initial adjudication within 15 calendar days and is critical to securing an approved I-140 well in advance of the L-1A expiration date.
(2) If PERM processing is delayed beyond expectations — for example, due to audit selection, request for additional documentation, or general processing backlogs that extend the timeline into May or June 2024 — Calderwood & Harkness should promptly advise Lumos on contingency options to maintain Mr. Aguilar-Reyes's lawful nonimmigrant status. These options may include:
(a) Filing a cap-exempt H-1B petition on behalf of Mr. Aguilar-Reyes, which would not be subject to the annual H-1B cap and could be filed at any time, provided that the position qualifies as a specialty occupation and other H-1B eligibility requirements are met;
(b) Filing for an extension of L-1A status, provided that the underlying intracompany transferee qualifying relationship between Lumos and the foreign entity from which Mr. Aguilar-Reyes was transferred remains in effect, and that Mr. Aguilar-Reyes continues to function in a managerial or executive capacity as required under the L-1A classification; or
(c) Evaluating whether any other interim status maintenance option is available based on the specific circumstances at that time.
(3) A status review checkpoint should be calendared for no later than March 15, 2024, at which time we will assess the progress of the Aguilar-Reyes PERM application and determine whether contingency planning is necessary.
VI. Beneficiary 4 — Yumiko Tanaka (Director, Information Security & Compliance)
VI.A. Position Overview and SOC Classification
Job Title: Director, Information Security & Compliance
SOC Code: 15-1212 (Information Security Analysts)
Worksite: 2240 Embarcadero Way, Suite 600, Palo Alto, California 94303
Employment Type: Full-time, permanent position. This is a direct-hire role within Lumos Analytics Inc. The position does not involve staffing, outsourcing, or contract labor arrangements. All duties will be performed at the Lumos headquarters, with incidental travel for security audits, vendor assessments, and industry conferences as appropriate for a director-level information security executive.
Supervised Recruitment. The recruitment campaign for this position was conducted from October 23 through December 4, 2023, concurrently with the Aguilar-Reyes recruitment campaign (Batch 2). Broadgate Compliance Services LLC coordinated the recruitment logistics. A total of nine (9) resumes were received during the recruitment period. Each applicant was evaluated against the stated minimum requirements for the position. Upon completion of the evaluation, zero (0) qualified and available U.S. workers were identified. The detailed applicant disposition records are documented in the recruitment results report dated December 11, 2023, and are on file in the audit file.
VI.B. Actual Minimum Requirements Analysis (Section H)
The actual minimum requirements for the Director, Information Security & Compliance position at Lumos Analytics Inc. are as follows:
Minimum Education: Master's degree in Cybersecurity, Information Systems, or a closely related field.
Minimum Experience: Four (4) years of progressive experience in information security, including at least two (2) years of experience in SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 compliance implementation.
Special Requirements: CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) certification; experience securing cloud-native SaaS platforms deployed on Meridian Technologies and/or GCP.
Non-Tailoring Confirmation. The minimum requirements listed above are the actual minimum requirements established by Lumos for the Director, Information Security & Compliance position. They have not been tailored to match the specific background or qualifications of Yumiko Tanaka.
The Master's degree requirement reflects the substantial technical depth required for director-level information security leadership at a fintech SaaS company that handles extremely sensitive financial data, including consumer credit information, personally identifiable information ("PII"), and proprietary client lending data. The Director of Information Security & Compliance is responsible for designing and maintaining the company's overall security architecture, ensuring compliance with multiple overlapping regulatory and industry frameworks, and defending against sophisticated cyber threats targeting financial data. A Master's-level education in cybersecurity or information systems provides the foundational knowledge in cryptography, network security, secure software development, risk management, and compliance frameworks necessary to perform these functions at the director level.
The four-year experience requirement and the two-year SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 compliance sub-requirement represent the actual minimums based on Lumos's organizational needs and prior hiring practices for comparable security roles. Lumos's enterprise clients — banks, credit unions, and institutional lenders — require that their vendors maintain SOC 2 Type II attestation and, in many cases, ISO 27001 certification as a precondition of doing business. The Director must have hands-on experience implementing and maintaining these compliance frameworks, not merely theoretical familiarity with them. These requirements are not inflated; they reflect the operational demands of the position.
Business Necessity for Special Requirements. The special requirements — CISSP certification and cloud-native SaaS platform security experience — are supported by demonstrable business necessity: