NIW Bearings
remandedAUG142024_08B52032024-08-14 · appeal · 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, a civil engineer, planned to create a construction company headquartered in Florida specializing in architectural design, construction, and consulting services for residential and commercial renovation and development projects, aiming to address the U.S. housing shortage.

Field: civil engineering / construction · Read the decision (uscis.gov)

EB-2 threshold — addressed

Director found Petitioner qualified as an advanced degree professional; not disputed on appeal.

How the evidence was treated

  • business plan · ignored
  • recommendation letter · ignored

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Notable

This decision does not reach the merits of the NIW prongs. Instead, the AAO found the Director's denial relied on evidence and facts not in the record (confusing the Petitioner's construction company with an unrelated mining-sector company and citing letters that were never submitted), depriving the Petitioner of a fair opportunity to contest the decision and precluding meaningful appellate review. The matter was remanded for a new decision based on the actual record, with no prong analysis conducted by the AAO.

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
  • Flores v. Garland

What this case teaches

Analyst reading of the decision text.

Decisive factor

Director's denial conflated Petitioner's actual construction-company endeavor with an unrelated mining-sector company and cited evidence not in the record, depriving Petitioner of fair notice and precluding meaningful appellate review.

Transferable lesson

On appeal, scrutinize the denial for factual mismatches or reliance on evidence outside the record; such errors can force remand independent of the underlying merits.

Endeavor framing

moderate

National-importance theory

economic_growth_generic

Evidence targeting

mixed

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