The Petitioner proposed to work as principal of his own firm providing industrial engineering consulting services in occupational health and safety across a wide range of industries, but USCIS found he had repeatedly misrepresented that his actual activity was construction trade work (demolition, plumbing, cabinetry).

Prong 1 — national importancenot established

“It is not clear in the record how, even if the Petitioner's representations of the activities had been truthful, the Petitioner's industrial engineering consulting could have had potential prospective impact beyond the Petitioner's sole client.”

“And without a potential prospective impact beyond the Petitioner's sole client, the national importance of the Petitioner's proposed endeavor could not be determined.”

AAO decision text

Prong 2 — well positionednot established

“the record would not reflect how the Petitioner's prior performance of the duties described in the experience letters is either a similar effort as that of their proposed endeavor or how it constitutes a record of success.”

“They similarly do not demonstrate the development of a plan or model for future activities that the Petitioner has developed or played a significant role in developing.”

“The record does not reflect any progress to achieving the proposed endeavor other than establishing their company.”

“apart from a letter from one client, there is no evidence in the record of interest or support in the endeavor the Petitioner proposed in their petition.”

AAO decision text

Prong 3 — balance of factorsnot established

“the record as initially presented here is not entirely clear as to the Petitioner's eligibility under the first two prongs of the Dhanasar framework.”

“even if the first two prongs had been met, the petition could not have been approved because the record does not satisfy the third.”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

• resume experience · discounted

  “the record would not reflect how the Petitioner's prior performance of the duties described in the experience letters is either a similar effort... or how it constitutes a record of success”

  AAO decision text
• recommendation letter · discounted

  “does not credibly or reliably resolve the Petitioner's misrepresentation of their current business activities”

  AAO decision text
• other · discounted

  “this tends to lead us to conclude that the photos may have been composed and staged in order to support the Petitioner's arguments”

  AAO decision text
• motion resubmission · discounted

  “the Petitioner essentially states at appeal that they have provided truthful information by resubmitting previously submitted evidence”

  AAO decision text

Where this case turned

• Employer-specific benefit · p1 — "work furthers my company's product" — value accrues to one firm
• Local, not national scope · p1 — impact confined to clients / a region
• Business plan speculative · p2 — projections without a documented basis or steps
• No progress evidence · p2 — no documented movement toward the endeavor since filing
• Record of success insufficient · p2 — a claimed track record the documents do not establish
• Derivative of Prong 1/2 failure · p3 — prong three fails only because prongs one or two did — no independent ground

Notable

The case's dispositive basis was revocation for willful material misrepresentation (Petitioner falsely represented performing industrial engineering consulting while actually doing construction trade work); the AAO expressly treated this as dispositive but also conducted an alternative 'even if' Dhanasar analysis finding all three prongs unmet, explicitly stating that even absent the misrepresentation issue, the petition would still fail on the merits.

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
• Matter of Ho
• Matter of Otiende
• Matter of Y-B-
• Poursina v. USCIS

Cases in adjacent profiles

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• The Petitioner proposed to start a project management consultancy in the United States that would help small and mid-siz
• The Petitioner proposed to establish a legal consultancy in the United States focused on alternative dispute resolution