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 general and operations manager, sought to pursue a business-administration-focused endeavor in the United States, while claiming eligibility as an advanced degree professional or individual of exceptional ability.
Field: business administration / general and operations management · Read the decision (uscis.gov)
EB-2 threshold — not met
The Director never determined whether the Petitioner qualifies as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree or as an individual of exceptional ability before conducting the Dhanasar analysis; the degree evaluation in the record addresses architecture, a specialty dissimilar to the business administration focus of the proposed endeavor, leaving the threshold classification unresolved.
How the evidence was treated
- degree · discounted
“the evaluation addresses the Petitioner's foreign degree in architecture, a specialty dissimilar to business administration”
AAO decision text
This record is one of thousands, each coded for the reasons it turned. A placement shows where your profile sits in that record, not what it predicts. See where your profile sits — 90 seconds →
Notable
AAO remanded without reaching any Dhanasar prong analysis because the Director skipped the threshold EB-2 classification determination (advanced degree/exceptional ability) entirely before analyzing the national interest waiver; AAO found the Director's decision 'insufficient for review.'
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)
- INA 203(b)(2)
What this case teaches
Analyst reading of the decision text.
Director skipped threshold determination of underlying EB-2 classification (advanced degree/exceptional ability) before conducting Dhanasar NIW analysis; degree evaluation mismatched petitioner's foreign architecture degree to business specialty, making decision unreviewable.
Ensure academic credential evaluations match the specialty of the proposed endeavor, and confirm the underlying EB-2 classification is established before NIW prongs are argued or adjudicated.
vague
mixed
Cases in adjacent profiles
- The Petitioner, a mechanical engineer, proposed to advance thermal management solutions for high-power, compact, and rel
- The Petitioner, a senior engineering program manager specializing in electromechanical systems, proposed to advance moto
- The Petitioner proposed to provide innovative solutions to optimize freight and vessel operations in the U.S. shipping i
- The Petitioner, a sales manager, proposed an endeavor in the United States for which he sought an EB-2 national interest
- The Petitioner proposed to lead a nationwide initiative to develop and implement a standardized materials management mod