NIW Bearings
dismissedAUG302024_01B52032024-08-30 · appeal · Nebraska 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 truck driver with a foreign engineering degree, proposed to operate his own freight trucking company as CEO/transportation manager while also personally driving trucks for the business.

Field: freight trucking / transportation and logistics · Read the decision (uscis.gov)

EB-2 threshold — addressed

Director found Petitioner qualified as an advanced degree professional based on a foreign bachelor's degree plus five years of progressive experience; AAO did not disturb this finding.

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

“neither the articles about freight trucking industry in general nor the employment verification, investor, and other letters address the Petitioner's specific endeavor.”
“he does not explain the basis for these statements, and the Petitioner has not provided evidence to show the extent of his contributions”
“the record does not contain evidence to substantiate his company's staffing and revenue projections.”

AAO decision text

Prong 2 — well positionednot established · dispositive

“the record remains insufficient to show that he has the education, skills, knowledge, and record of success in related or similar efforts”
“These documents alone, however, do not show whether the Petitioner's services are of interest to potential customers or users”
“the investment letter is not sufficient to demonstrate the company's genuine interest to invest in the Petitioner's proposed endeavor.”
“the letters are inadequate to show that potential investors, or other relevant entities or persons are genuinely interested in supporting”
“he offers no information about the organization and the relevance of his membership to advancing his proposed endeavor.”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

  • recommendation letter · discounted
    “he does not explain the basis for these statements”
    AAO decision text
  • business plan · discounted
    “the record does not contain evidence to substantiate his company's staffing and revenue projections.”
    AAO decision text
  • resume experience · discounted
    “he does not explain the relevance of his background in mineral mining to his proposed work”
    AAO decision text
  • certification membership · discounted
    “he offers no information about the organization and the relevance of his membership to advancing his proposed endeavor.”
    AAO decision text
  • funding · discounted
    “the investment letter is not sufficient to demonstrate the company's genuine interest to invest in the Petitioner's proposed endeavor.”
    AAO decision text
All 7 evidence items
  • media · discounted
    “neither the articles about freight trucking industry in general ... address the Petitioner's specific endeavor.”
    AAO decision text
  • degree · credited

Where this case turned

  • 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
  • Business plan speculative · p2 — projections without a documented basis or steps
  • Funding absent · p2 — no documented funding or resources behind the plan
  • Letters conclusory · p2 — letters praise skills in general terms without tracing specific impact
  • No progress evidence · p2 — no documented movement toward the endeavor since filing
  • Record of success insufficient · p2 — a claimed track record the documents do not establish
2,501coded decisions carry the failure named in this record. A placement shows where your profile sits among them, not what it predicts.See where your profile sits — 90 seconds →

Notable

AAO expressly withdrew the Director's favorable prong-1 finding on de novo review, finding the Director's summary conclusion unsupported by evidentiary analysis, then independently found prong 1 unmet along with prong 2, reserving prong 3 as unnecessary to the dispositive outcome. The AAO also gave detailed, pointed criticism of an 'independent expert opinion letter' from a business professor, finding it lacked foundation and that immigration eligibility evaluation was outside his expertise.

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)
  • Matter of L-A-C-

Cases in adjacent profiles

← Back to the case explorer