NIW Bearings
dismissedAUG232022_06B52032022-08-23 · 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.

A computer engineer initially proposed to provide expert IT/computer engineering services to U.S. companies, but during proceedings shifted her stated endeavor to owning and operating her own IT company offering digital transformation services, then to remote-work consulting and an unrelated grass-products business.

Field: computer engineering / information technology · Read the decision (uscis.gov)

EB-2 threshold — not met

The Petitioner failed to establish eligibility either as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree (insufficient evidence her foreign academic credential equated to a U.S. bachelor's degree, and insufficient corroborated evidence of five years of progressive post-baccalaureate experience) or as an individual of exceptional ability (met only one of six regulatory criteria).

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

“the Petitioner has not identified a specific proposed endeavor.”
“this help appears to be contingent upon those companies paying her for her services or using her products, which indicates advancement more for the parties involved than for overall national impact.”
“Although the Petitioner projects that she will create 58 direct jobs and millions in revenue in the first five years, she has not offered sufficient corroborating evidence to support such projections.”
“a shortage of IT talent does not necessarily render the work of an individual computer engineer as nationally important.”
“Overall, any impact her proposed endeavor will have appears to be localized, temporary, and internal in nature.”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

  • recommendation letter · discounted
    “Generalized conclusory statements that do not identify a specific impact in the field have little probative value.”
    AAO decision text
  • business plan · discounted
    “she has not offered sufficient corroborating evidence to support such projections.”
    AAO decision text
  • resume experience · discounted
    “the record overall does also not contain sufficient documentation of the Petitioner's work experience in the field of computer engineering.”
    AAO decision text
  • degree · discounted
    “the evaluation does not offer a cogent analysis of the Petitioner's foreign academic record.”
    AAO decision text
  • certification membership · discounted
    “it is not apparent from the record that Brazil requires a license to practice computer engineering.”
    AAO decision text
All 6 evidence items
  • media · discounted
    “as the articles and reports do not discuss the Petitioner's proposed endeavor, we cannot conclude that they support a finding that the Petitioner's proposed endeavor has national importance.”
    AAO decision text

Where this case turned

  • Business plan speculative · p1 — projections without a documented basis or steps
  • 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
  • Local, not national scope · p1 — impact confined to clients / a region
  • Occupational shortage argument rejected · p1 — argues a labor shortage — the labor-certification question, not Dhanasar
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Notable

AAO questioned the credibility of an expert evaluator's letter because it appeared to mirror language from Counsel's letter, raising concern that the evaluator may have adopted counsel's words or vice versa. The AAO also emphasized that the Petitioner materially changed her proposed endeavor multiple times (from computer engineer employee, to IT entrepreneur, to COVID remote-work consultant, to an unrelated grass-products business), which alone undermined both the threshold classification and prong-one national-importance analysis.

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.

  • Matter of Izummi
  • Matter of Katigbak
  • Matter of L-A-C-
  • Matter of Otiende
  • Matter of V-K-
  • Poursina v. USCIS

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