NIW Bearings
dismissedFEB072022_01B52032022-02-07 · appeal · Texas 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 legal analyst with Brazilian corporate law expertise, proposed to advise U.S. law firms and multinational companies on cross-border transactions, foreign direct investment, and navigating Brazilian and U.S. regulatory environments.

Field: legal analysis / corporate and international law consulting · Read the decision (uscis.gov)

EB-2 threshold — addressed

AAO accepted that the Petitioner qualifies as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree; no further analysis required.

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

“the record does not show that the Petitioner's proposed endeavor stands to sufficiently extend beyond her current or future employer(s) and their clientele to impact the legal consulting field or the U.S. economy more broadly”
“the Petitioner has not demonstrated that the specific endeavor she proposes to undertake has significant potential to employ U.S. workers or otherwise offers substantial positive economic effects for our nation”
“Without sufficient information or evidence regarding any projected U.S. economic impact or job creation attributable to her future work, the record does not show that benefits to the U.S. regional or national economy resulting from her legal and business projects would reach the level of 'substantial positive economic effects'”
“The relevant question is not the importance of the field, industry, or profession in which the individual will work; instead we focus on the 'the specific endeavor that the foreign national proposes to undertake.'”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

  • recommendation letter · discounted
    “her statements reflect her intention to provide valuable legal and business services for her law firm and its clients”
    AAO decision text
  • other · discounted
    “the record therefore demonstrates that the Petitioner's proposed work has substantial merit”
    AAO decision text
  • resume experience · discounted
    “The Petitioner's legal skills and knowledge in her field relate to the second prong of the Dhanasar framework”
    AAO decision text

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
  • Local, not national scope · p1 — impact confined to clients / a region
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Notable

The AAO explicitly credited substantial merit under prong 1 (noting the record 'demonstrates that the Petitioner's proposed work has substantial merit') but found national importance lacking, illustrating that the two sub-elements of prong 1 are independently assessed. The AAO also redirected the Petitioner's 17-year career experience argument to prong 2, clarifying it was irrelevant to the prong 1 national importance inquiry.

What this case teaches

Analyst reading of the decision text.

Decisive factor

Panel found the proposed endeavor was essentially firm-specific legal/business consulting whose impact did not extend beyond the petitioner's employer and clients to the field or economy nationally.

Transferable lesson

Define a discrete endeavor with quantifiable, field- or economy-wide impact projections, not just personal credentials or employer-specific job duties, to satisfy prong 1.

Endeavor framing

vague

National-importance theory

economic_growth_generic · field_advancement

Evidence targeting

person_focused

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