The Petitioner, an accountant with an MBA and U.S. CPA license, sought to start his own U.S. consulting firm providing accounting, audit, tax, and advisory services to self-employed individuals, professionals, and small businesses.

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

“he has not demonstrated that his spec[fic endeavor would have national implications economically or within the accounting field”

“the record lacks details about the proposed firm's scope, such as its projected revenues, number of employees, or whether it would benefit an economically depressed area”

“The record also lacks evidence that the firm would provide improvements or advances within the accounting field”

“No individual accountant ... will have 'national or global implications within the field.'”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

• business plan · discounted

  “the record lacks details about the proposed firm's scope, such as its projected revenues, number of employees”

  AAO decision text
• degree · credited
• resume experience · ignored

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
• Endeavor too vague · p1 — described as a job role, not a defined undertaking
• Local, not national scope · p1 — impact confined to clients / a region

Notable

The Petitioner offered a rhetorical metaphor conceding no individual accountant has national implications ('A drop of water by itself is insignificant but when it joins billions and trillions of other drops, it becomes [an] ocean!'), which the AAO used against him. The AAO expressly declined to reach prongs 2 and 3, reserving those arguments under Bagamasbad/Matter of L-A-C-.

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)
• Matter of L-A-C-

Cases in adjacent profiles

• The Beneficiary proposed to establish an asset investment management and compliance advisory firm in New York offering c
• The Petitioner proposed to develop and commercialize zeolite-based products in the United States, including agricultural
• The Petitioner proposed to operate a medical billing and healthcare revenue cycle management firm in the United States,
• The Petitioner proposed to establish and lead as CEO a cybersecurity and crisis management company in Florida, offering
• The Petitioner proposed to establish and operate an IT consultancy company in Michigan providing cloud migration, cybers