NIW Bearings
dismissedAPR182025_03B52032025-04-18 · appeal

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 sought to establish a Marketing AI and Transformation consulting practice using AI, data analytics, and machine learning to help small businesses optimize operations, and later reframed the endeavor as using marketing analytics to help combat the opioid crisis.

Field: business/marketing AI consulting · Read the decision (uscis.gov)

EB-2 threshold — addressed

SCOPS and AAO agreed the Petitioner qualifies as an advanced degree professional based on his master's degree.

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

“He does not establish that his company's services would extend beyond the individual entities it serves to impact his field more broadly at a level indicative of national importance.”
“The Petitioner cites no evidence to support these claims.”
“Our assessment of national importance does not focus on the importance of national priorities in general, but instead "focuses on the specific endeavor that the foreign national proposes to undertake."”
“They do not, however, discuss the potential prospective impact of his company.”
“These articles attest to the importance of this issue, but do not establish the national importance of the Petitioner's proposed company.”
“A-I-A- does not specify, however, how the Petitioner's company's work would extend beyond the individual entities it serves to impact his field more broadly in a manner indicative of national importance.”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

  • recommendation letter · discounted
    “does not specify... how the Petitioner's company's work would extend beyond the individual entities it serves to impact his field more broadly”
    AAO decision text
  • media · discounted
    “attest to the importance of this issue, but do not establish the national importance of the Petitioner's proposed company”
    AAO decision text
  • degree · credited

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
  • Letters conclusory · p1 — letters praise skills in general terms without tracing specific impact
  • Local, not national scope · p1 — impact confined to clients / a region
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Notable

The Petitioner made large unsupported statistical claims (e.g., reducing opioid overdose deaths by 40%, saving $19.6 billion annually) which the AAO flatly rejected for lack of evidentiary support. The decision also cites multiple circuit court cases confirming the discretionary nature of NIW adjudications.

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
  • Matter of L-A-C-

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