The Petitioner, a special education teacher, proposed to work as a Special Education Instructional Coordinator, developing a new instructional model linking regular and special education language arts instruction.

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

“the Petitioner has not sufficiently explained the nature of her endeavor to demonstrate its potential prospective implications”

“she has not indicated whether she intends to introduce her educational model...in her own classroom or school district, or whether she is proposing to implement or promote her project in some way on a larger scale within the field”

“the record does not show that the Petitioner's proposed endeavor offers benefits that impact the field of education more broadly”

“These letters do not address her future plans or otherwise discuss how her proposed endeavor is of national importance.”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

• recommendation letter · discounted

  “These letters do not address her future plans or otherwise discuss how her proposed endeavor is of national importance.”

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

Where this case turned

• Endeavor too vague · p1 — described as a job role, not a defined undertaking
• Letters not independent · p1 — letters come from employers and close collaborators, not independent experts
• Local, not national scope · p1 — impact confined to clients / a region

Notable

The AAO invokes the underlying facts of Dhanasar itself (footnote 5), noting that Dhanasar's own petitioner's teaching activities were found not to have national importance because they would not impact the field more broadly, using this as a direct analogy to reject the instant petitioner's 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.

• INA 203(b)(2)

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