The Petitioner, a clinical laboratory scientist/medical technologist, sought to continue performing laboratory testing and analysis, including work in a specialized biocontainment unit treating patients with highly infectious diseases such as Ebola.

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

“the Petitioner has not demonstrated that the benefits of this proposed work will extend beyond or any other employer in the healthcare industry, at a level sufficient to establish the national importance of her proposed endeavor.”

“the relevant question is not the importance of the field or industry in which the individual will work, but "the specific endeavor that the foreign national proposes to undertake."”

“the Petitioner has not established that her work within the as a medical technologist stands to impact the field of healthcare more broadly.”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

• recommendation letter · discounted

  “it is not sufficient to demonstrate that the Petitioner's proposed work as a medical technologist has broader implications for the field of medicine or for healthcare in the United States.”

  AAO decision text
• resume experience · credited
• degree · credited
• other · discounted

  “it is not sufficient to demonstrate that the Petitioner's proposed work as a medical technologist has broader implications for the field of medicine or for healthcare in the United States.”

  AAO decision text

Where this case turned

• Employer-specific benefit · p1 — "work furthers my company's product" — value accrues to one firm
• 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

The decision includes a footnote noting that Dhanasar vacated the prior NYSDOT precedent. The AAO credited the Petitioner's threshold EB-2 eligibility (advanced degree professional) even though the Director had not addressed it, but found the national importance prong dispositive, declining to reach prongs two and three.

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