The Petitioner proposed to develop a Yoruba self-enrichment education program, including training programs for educators, establishing new centers, and expanding Yoruba language and heritage instruction in the United States.

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

“he has not demonstrated that his undertaking stands to impact his field or industry more broadly beyond the participants in his Yoruba self-enrichment educational program”

“we are not persuaded by the argument that the Petitioner's proposed endeavor has national importance due to the shortage of programs in Yoruba”

“the business plan's projections concerning the business are not supported by probative evidence to demonstrate the credibility of the hiring, financial, and growth estimates forecasted”

“the Petitioner has not demonstrated that his specific endeavor has significant potential to employ U.S. workers or otherwise offers substantial positive economic effects for our nation”

“the record does not show that the Petitioner's proposed endeavor stands to sufficiently extend beyond his students to impact the field of cultural diversity and Yoruba heritage and language more broadly”

AAO decision text

Prong 2 — well positionednot established · dispositive

“The bulk of the Petitioner's education and teaching experience relates to accounting, banking and finance, though we note he taught business and accounting classes in the Yoruba language.”

“we find that, upon de nova review, the Petitioner has not established he is well-positioned for the proposed endeavor”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

• business plan · discounted

  “the business plan's projections concerning the business are not supported by probative evidence to demonstrate the credibility of the hiring, financial, and growth estimates forecasted”

  AAO decision text
• recommendation letter · discounted
• degree · discounted

  “The bulk of the Petitioner's education and teaching experience relates to accounting, banking and finance”

  AAO decision text
• certification membership · discounted
• resume experience · discounted

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
• Field importance conflated with endeavor · p1 — argues the field matters, not the specific endeavor
• Occupational shortage argument rejected · p1 — argues a labor shortage — the labor-certification question, not Dhanasar
• Education alone insufficient · p2 — degrees offered as positioning — credentials are not a track record
• Record of success insufficient · p2 — a claimed track record the documents do not establish

Notable

AAO explicitly compared Petitioner's qualifications (accounting/finance background) to those of typical Yoruba instructors (PhD holders, native speakers with academic credentials in African studies) to find him not well-positioned; also rejected occupational-shortage argument after Petitioner's own evidence on appeal showed 11 U.S. universities already offer Yoruba programs, undermining his shortage claim.

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.

• Chen v. INS
• Matter of L-A-C-

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