NIW Bearings
dismissedAUG162022_01B52032022-08-16 · 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 security management specialist, sought EB-2 classification and a national interest waiver, though the specific endeavor was not detailed as the case turned on the threshold classification issue.

Field: security management · Read the decision (uscis.gov)

EB-2 threshold — not met

Petitioner failed to establish eligibility as either an advanced degree professional or an individual of exceptional ability; abandoned the issue on appeal by not addressing it.

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Notable

The dispositive issue was the threshold EB-2 classification, not the Dhanasar prongs; the Petitioner abandoned the classification argument on appeal by failing to address it, which alone was dispositive. In a footnote, the AAO stated that even if it had reached the Dhanasar prongs, it would still have dismissed the appeal because the evidence did not establish eligibility under any of the three prongs, but declined to provide substantive analysis of those prongs.

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)
  • 8 C.F.R. 204.5(k)(3)(ii)
  • Matter of L-A-C-
  • Matter of R-A-M-
  • Poursina v. USCIS
  • Section 291 of the Act

What this case teaches

Analyst reading of the decision text.

Decisive factor

Petitioner failed to establish eligibility for underlying EB-2 classification (advanced degree or exceptional ability) and abandoned this issue on appeal, making NIW analysis moot.

Transferable lesson

Secure and affirmatively defend underlying EB-2 classification eligibility on appeal; failure to address a dispositive threshold issue waives it and dooms the NIW claim.

Endeavor framing

vague

Evidence targeting

person_focused

Cases in adjacent profiles