NIW Bearings
dismissedAUG052024_05B52032024-08-05 · combined · Texas Service Center

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, an aviation engineer and flight instructor, sought an NIW for work in flight testing and engineering, and later sought to expand his proposed endeavor to include founding his own flight school.

Field: aviation engineering / flight instruction · Read the decision (uscis.gov)

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

“We concluded the Petitioner did not establish the national importance of his proposed endeavor.”
“he did not indicate at the time of filing that his proposed endeavor would entail founding his own flight school”
“A visa petition may not be approved based on speculation of future eligibility or after a petitioner becomes eligible under a new set of facts.”
“A petitioner may not make material changes to a petition in an effort to make a deficient petition conform to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) requirements.”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

  • motion resubmission · discounted
    “the Petitioner does not assert any new facts and does not submit any evidence”
    AAO decision text
  • business plan · discounted
    “presented a new set of facts and were material to the first Dhanasar prong”
    AAO decision text

Where this case turned

  • Business plan speculative · p1 — projections without a documented basis or steps
  • Material change of endeavor · p1 — the endeavor described on appeal is not the one filed
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Notable

Procedural combined motion decision reaffirming a prior appellate dismissal; centers on the doctrine that eligibility (and the scope of the proposed endeavor for Dhanasar prong 1 purposes) must be established as of the filing date, applying Katigbak and Izummi to bar reliance on a post-filing expansion of the endeavor (founding a flight school) introduced via RFE response.

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. 103.2(b)(1)
  • 8 C.F.R. 103.5(a)(2)
  • 8 C.F.R. 103.5(a)(3)
  • 8 C.F.R. 103.5(a)(4)
  • INA 203(b)(2)
  • Matter of Coelho
  • Matter of Izummi
  • Matter of Katigbak

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