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 senior data scientist for a ceramics manufacturer, proposed to develop explainable, high-performance machine learning and generative AI models for use in socio-technical, manufacturing, and materials-discovery systems, primarily through his current employment.
Field: industrial engineering / data science · Read the decision (uscis.gov)
EB-2 threshold — addressed
AAO agreed Petitioner qualifies for EB-2 as an advanced degree professional; not disputed.
Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive
“the Petitioner has not demonstrated that the benefits of his on-the-job research would have implications beyond his employer and its customers.”
“In general, the Petitioner has not established how others in the field beyond his employer would become aware of his on-the-job research.”
“these letters do not explain how others in the industrial engineering field beyond the Petitioner's employer, its employees, and its customers would learn of the research he would conduct as part of his employment.”
“it does not necessarily follow that every NSF-funded project has "national importance" as defined in Dhanasar or that a prior NSF-funded project reflects on the significance of a new proposed endeavor.”
AAO decision text
How the evidence was treated
- recommendation letter · discounted
“these letters do not explain how others in the industrial engineering field beyond the Petitioner's employer, its employees, and its customers would learn of the research”
AAO decision text - funding · discounted
“it does not necessarily follow that every NSF-funded project has "national importance" as defined in Dhanasar”
AAO decision text - citations publications · discounted
“He did not provide any examples of research he published stemming from his current employment.”
AAO decision text - media · discounted
“media articles the Petitioner submitted "do not discuss any details relating to the specific endeavor and its impact."”
AAO decision text
Where this case turned
- Employer-specific benefit · p1 — "work furthers my company's product" — value accrues to one firm
- Letters not independent · p1 — letters come from employers and close collaborators, not independent experts
- Occupational shortage argument rejected · p1 — argues a labor shortage — the labor-certification question, not Dhanasar
Notable
AAO found SCOPS applied a novel/erroneous evidentiary standard (requiring govt-agency letters or specific-endeavor media coverage) but deemed the error harmless because the underlying national-importance finding was still correct; cites Butt v. Keisler and Matter of O-R-E- on harmless error analysis.
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. 103.5
- Matter of O-R-E-
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