NIW Bearings
dismissedAUG282023_08B52032023-08-28 · 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 sought to establish and serve as CEO of a financial management and IT consulting business based in the Houston, Texas area, targeting the consulting sector and underutilized business zones.

Field: financial management and information technology consulting · Read the decision (uscis.gov)

EB-2 threshold — addressed

Director found, and AAO did not dispute, that the Petitioner established eligibility as an advanced degree professional based on his foreign equivalent master's degree.

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

“will have a broader impact on the Financial Management field, outside of his prospective local community”
“the Petitioner has not provided corroborating evidence to support his claim that his business' activities stand to provide substantial economic and societal benefits to the United States”
“the record does not sufficiently detail the basis for its financial and staffing projections, or adequately explain how these projections will be realized”
“merely working in the financial services and information technology fields or starting a financial management and information technology consulting business is insufficient to establish the national importance”
“The industry reports and articles submitted do not discuss any projected U.S. economic impact or job creation specifically attributable to the Petitioner's proposed endeavor”
“The opinion does not focus on the Petitioner's specific endeavor and it having a potential prospective impact on the U.S. economy”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

  • business plan · discounted
    “does not sufficiently document the potential prospective impact, including the asserted economic and societal benefits to the United States”
    AAO decision text
  • resume experience · discounted
    “his academic credentials, professional experience, and achievements relate to the second prong of the Dhanasar framework”
    AAO decision text
  • media · discounted
    “do not discuss any projected U.S. economic impact or job creation specifically attributable to the Petitioner's proposed endeavor”
    AAO decision text
  • recommendation letter · discounted
    “Simply stating that his work would support an important industry is not sufficient to meet the "national importance" requirement”
    AAO decision text
  • degree · credited

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
  • Field importance conflated with endeavor · p1 — argues the field matters, not the specific endeavor
  • Letters conclusory · p1 — letters praise skills in general terms without tracing specific impact
  • 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 expressly declined to reach prongs 2 and 3, resting the dismissal solely on failure of prong 1's national importance requirement, citing Bagamasbad and Matter of L-A-C- for the principle that agencies need not reach unnecessary issues.

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
  • 8 C.F.R. 204.5(k)(2)
  • INA 203(b)(2)
  • Matter of E-M-
  • Matter of L-A-C-
  • Poursina v. USCIS

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