NIW Bearings
dismissedAPR072025_06B52032025-04-07 · 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, an exercise physiologist, planned to open and operate her own wellness clinic in the U.S., aiming to integrate exercise physiology into the management of chronic diseases and collaborate with insurers and healthcare providers.

Field: exercise physiology / healthcare · Read the decision (uscis.gov)

EB-2 threshold — addressed

Director found Petitioner qualified for EB-2 as an advanced degree professional; this was not contested on appeal.

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

“the Petitioner has not offered sufficient information and evidence to demonstrate that the prospective impact of her specific proposed endeavor rises to the level of national importance”
“the Petitioner has not established that that her specific endeavor stands to sufficiently extend beyond her patients and employees to benefit the regional or national economy”
“although an individual's experience, qualifications, contributions, and achievements are material, they are misplaced in the context of the first Dhanasar prong”
“the record does not establish how the proposed endeavor will have broader implications beyond benefitting the Petitioner's patients”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

  • business plan · discounted
    “the record does not establish how the proposed endeavor will have broader implications beyond benefitting the Petitioner's patients”
    AAO decision text
  • resume experience · discounted
    “they are generally immaterial to the first Dhanasar prong”
    AAO decision text
  • citations publications · discounted
    “It is insufficient to claim an endeavor has national importance or will create a broad impact without providing evidence to corroborate such claims”
    AAO decision text

Where this case turned

  • Economic claims unsupported · p1 — job/revenue projections with no corroborating basis
  • Field importance conflated with endeavor · p1 — argues the field matters, not the specific endeavor
  • Local, not national scope · p1 — impact confined to clients / a region
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Notable

AAO cites Flores v. Garland (5th Cir. 2023) to note NIW grants are discretionary; the Director had found the endeavor to have substantial merit and that Petitioner was well positioned, but AAO reversed only as to national importance, treating that finding as dispositive and declining to reach prongs 2 and 3.

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
  • Flores v. Garland
  • INA 203(b)(2)
  • Matter of L-A-C-

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