NIW Bearings
dismissedAUG062021_01B52032021-08-06 · appeal · Nebraska 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.

A senior application engineer/researcher working on integrated circuit design flow solutions for a semiconductor company proposed to continue research into digital circuits for next-generation communication systems and energy-efficient technologies.

Field: electrical engineering / IC design (semiconductor systems) · Read the decision (uscis.gov)

EB-2 threshold — addressed

The Beneficiary was found to qualify as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree (master's and PhD in electrical engineering).

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

“the Petitioner offers little detail about the proposed endeavor”
“the relevant question is not the importance of the industry or profession in which the individual will work”
“the Petitioner appears to conflate its success, importance, or cutting-edge role within the world market with the national importance of the proposed endeavor”
“The nebulous nature of the Beneficiary's proposed future research does not sufficiently demonstrate how it would impact the STEM field and economy more broadly”
“the Petitioner has not demonstrated that the specific endeavor the Beneficiary proposes to undertake has significant potential to employ U.S. workers or otherwise offers substantial positive economic effects”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

  • recommendation letter · discounted
    “they offer little specific information concerning the Beneficiary's prospective future endeavor”
    AAO decision text
  • other · discounted
    “the Petitioner's reliance on the article and report to meet the first Dhanasar prong based is misplaced”
    AAO decision text
  • funding · discounted
    “the Petitioner has not offered evidence that funding from NSF equates to national importance for the purposes of a national interest waiver”
    AAO decision text
  • citations publications · discounted
    “the Petitioner has stated this as one of the reasons why the Beneficiary's research has garnered a limited number of citations”
    AAO decision text

Where this case turned

  • Economic claims unsupported · p1 — job/revenue projections with no corroborating basis
  • Employer-specific benefit · p1 — "work furthers my company's product" — value accrues to one firm
  • 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
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Notable

AAO emphasized that reliance on general articles/reports about industry importance (STEM job market, semiconductor manufacturing) is misplaced because the inquiry focuses on the specific endeavor, not the field. Also noted that proprietary/confidential nature of research undermines claims of broader impact, and that petitioner's own corporate success/importance cannot be conflated with the beneficiary's individual endeavor's 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.

  • INA 203(b)(2)
  • Matter of L-A-C-
  • Poursina v. USCIS

What this case teaches

Analyst reading of the decision text.

Decisive factor

Petitioner failed to define a specific proposed endeavor and instead relied on employer's/industry's importance and beneficiary's past work, not showing national-scale prospective impact.

Transferable lesson

Define a concrete future-oriented endeavor with specific goals, timeline, and mechanism, then show its own broader national-scale impact—not just employer or field prestige.

Endeavor framing

vague

National-importance theory

critical_emerging_tech · economic_job_creation · field_advancement · stem_positive_factor

Evidence targeting

person_focused

Cases in adjacent profiles

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