NIW Bearings
dismissedAPR072023_02B52032023-04-07 · appeal · Texas Service Center

This is an AAO appeal decision — a case denied once and appealed. It shows how the framework is applied; it is not the filing population.

The Petitioner, a self-described general and operations manager, proposed to found and direct first a soccer club and later an events production business as an entrepreneur.

Field: business/operations management (soccer club, then events production) · Read the decision (uscis.gov)

EB-2 threshold — not met

Petitioner did not establish a foreign degree equivalent to a U.S. bachelor's degree (defeating advanced-degree eligibility) and did not challenge the Director's finding that he failed to meet the exceptional-ability standard; this threshold failure was waived on appeal and was dispositive.

Prong 1 — national importancenot established

“the first prong, substantial merit and national importance, focuses on the specific endeavor that the individual proposes to undertake, not the individual themselves.”
“The Petitioner's arguments focusing on his skills and experience would be more appropriate in the second prong of the Dhanasar framework”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

  • business plan · ignored
  • resume experience · discounted
    “The Petitioner's arguments focusing on his skills and experience would be more appropriate in the second prong of the Dhanasar framework”
    AAO decision text

Where this case turned

  • Endeavor too vague · p1 — described as a job role, not a defined undertaking
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Notable

The dismissal turned primarily on a procedural waiver: the Petitioner failed to contest the Director's underlying EB-2 classification denial (advanced degree/exceptional ability) on appeal, so the AAO deemed the issue waived and found him ineligible for the NIW on that basis alone. The AAO nonetheless offered an alternative holding that even had he preserved EB-2 eligibility, his appellate arguments about his own leadership and experience were misplaced under prong 1 (which concerns the endeavor, not the individual) and better suited to prong 2, which it declined to reach.

Authorities this decision leans on

From the doctrinal survivor set — 187 authority tests across 47 distinct authorities cleared the differential-lift gates. Only those appear here.

  • 8 C.F.R. 103.3
  • 8 C.F.R. 204.5(k)(2)
  • 8 C.F.R. 204.5(k)(3)(iii)
  • Poursina v. USCIS
  • USCIS Policy Manual F.5(B)(2)

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