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 nurse, proposed to work in the United States applying modern nursing strategies and his versatile clinical skills (pediatric, neonatal, intensive/emergency care) across various healthcare settings.
Field: nursing · Read the decision (uscis.gov)
EB-2 threshold — not met
AAO agreed the Petitioner did not establish exceptional ability (met 3 criteria but failed final merits determination) and found insufficient, inconsistent evidence of the five years' progressive experience needed to qualify as an advanced degree professional, though it declined to base the dismissal on these grounds.
Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive
“the Petitioner did not specify or describe specific strategies or techniques he plans to use in his proposed endeavor”
“he did not explain how his knowledge and abilities will go beyond impacting the workplaces and patients he plans to service”
“such letters offer no persuasive detail concerning the impact of the proposed endeavor or how such impact would extend beyond the Petitioner's prospective patients and employers”
“they are not sufficient to support a finding that the Petitioner's specific proposed endeavor has national importance”
“the Petitioner does not identify the source of this information to establish its accuracy”
“such information does not, however, focus on the Petitioner's specific endeavor or establish that the Petitioner's specific endeavor would impact the overall nursing field”
AAO decision text
How the evidence was treated
- recommendation letter · discounted
“such letters offer no persuasive detail concerning the impact of the proposed endeavor or how such impact would extend beyond the Petitioner's prospective patients and employers”
AAO decision text - resume experience · discounted
“Without independent, objective evidence resolving this inconsistency, we are unable to verify the accurate length of the Petitioner's employment”
AAO decision text - certification membership · discounted
“he did not demonstrate that he possesses a degree of expertise that surpasses what is ordinarily encountered in that field”
AAO decision text - degree · discounted
“represents attainment of up to 1 year of graduate study in the United States and is therefore not the foreign equivalent of a U.S. master's degree”
AAO decision text - other · discounted
“they are not sufficient to support a finding that the Petitioner's specific proposed endeavor has national importance”
AAO decision text
Where this case turned
- Economic claims unsupported · p1 — job/revenue projections with no corroborating basis
- 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
- Occupational shortage argument rejected · p1 — argues a labor shortage — the labor-certification question, not Dhanasar
Notable
The Director had found the endeavor met substantial merit but not national importance; AAO separately found EB-2 threshold deficiencies (exceptional ability and advanced degree professional experience, including an unresolved full-time/part-time employment inconsistency) but expressly declined to dismiss on those grounds, resolving the appeal solely on prong 1 national importance.
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. 204.5(k)(2)
- Matter of Ho
- Matter of L-A-C-
- Poursina v. USCIS
What this case teaches
Analyst reading of the decision text.
Petitioner failed to show his specific endeavor (as opposed to the nursing field generally) had impact extending beyond his own patients/employers to national scale.
Tie the endeavor's impact with concrete, sourced data to national-scale effects beyond immediate employer/patients, not just field-wide statistics or personal credentials.
vague
public_health · economic_job_creation · field_advancement · geographic_or_shortage_area
person_focused
Cases in adjacent profiles
- The Petitioner, a pharmacist, proposed to work in the United States through her own company providing pharmaceutical reg
- The Petitioner, a Brazilian-trained physiotherapist, proposed to work as a physical therapist and entrepreneur in the Un
- The Petitioner, a resident physician in New York holding a Chinese bachelor of medicine (MBBS) degree found equivalent t
- The Petitioner, a music therapist, proposed to establish and expand music therapy services and community music programs
- The Petitioner, a physical therapist, proposed to work as a physical therapist in the United States while operating his