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 Beneficiary, a product engineering team leader at an industrial monitoring systems company, proposed to lead product engineering duties and, per a later RFE response, to research, develop, and implement corrosion monitoring and chemical injection technologies for energy, water treatment, and manufacturing sectors.
Field: mechanical engineering / corrosion and erosion monitoring systems · Read the decision (uscis.gov)
EB-2 threshold — addressed
SCOPS determined Beneficiary qualifies for underlying EB-2 classification as an advanced degree professional; not contested on appeal.
Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive
“the Petitioner did not clearly state or explain the Beneficiary's proposed endeavor”
“the description of the Beneficiary's endeavor had changed from the time of filing to the RFE response”
“a petitioner's work in an important industry, even one that is the subject of national priorities, is not sufficient, in and of itself, to establish the national importance of the specific proposed endeavor”
“beyond these general descriptions, the Petitioner provided little detail about what these proposed activities would specifically entail”
AAO decision text
How the evidence was treated
- recommendation letter · discounted
“General statements about the Beneficiary's skills, expertise, and past accomplishments, or his work's potential impact, are insufficient”
AAO decision text
Where this case turned
- Endeavor too vague · p1 — described as a job role, not a defined undertaking
- 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
Notable
Petitioner raised an APA/ultra vires argument claiming SCOPS improperly defined 'endeavor' beyond statutory/regulatory language; AAO rejected this, citing the Policy Manual's own definition. AAO also rejected Petitioner's claim that SCOPS failed to consider all evidence, citing Villegas Sanchez v. Garland on reasoned consideration.
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. 103.5
- Flores v. Garland
What this case teaches
Analyst reading of the decision text.
Petitioner failed to clearly and consistently define the proposed endeavor, and evidence addressed Beneficiary's skills/industry generally rather than the specific endeavor's national impact.
Define the endeavor with consistent specificity from filing through RFE, and obtain letters that explain the specific endeavor's national-scale impact, not just the person's credentials.
vague
critical_emerging_tech · economic_growth_generic · public_health
person_focused
Cases in adjacent profiles
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- The Petitioner, a sales manager, proposed an endeavor in the United States for which he sought an EB-2 national interest
- The Petitioner proposed to lead a nationwide initiative to develop and implement a standardized materials management mod