The petitioner, a software developer, proposed to found and manage his own IT consulting company in Florida offering software development, systems maintenance, and related consulting services.

Prong 1 — national importancenot established

“The Petitioner has not established that his proposed endeavor involves a company of comparable size and economic impact.”

“General assertions about the overall imp01iance of entrepreneurship and small businesses do not establish the national importance of the Petitioner's specific proposed endeavor.”

“The Petitioner did not establish that his proposed endeavor would have an economic or technological impact beyond the company and its customers.”

AAO decision text

Prong 2 — well positionednot established · dispositive

“we agree with the Director's determination that, while the Petitioner's experience and education show that he is qualified to work as a software developer, the Petitioner has not established that he is well positioned to advance the proposed endeavor.”

“The customers offered general praise of the Petitioner's "strategic professional vision" and "ability to learn the concepts of innovation."”

“Apart from the letters' lack of detail, the letters are all dated either December 2022 or January 2023, several months after the petition's May 2022 filing date.”

“Owning and running a business involves more than possessing the credentials of a software developer.”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

• business plan · discounted

  “the business plan in the record anticipates investment of $199,000 over five years, at which time the company would employ three individuals”

  AAO decision text
• recommendation letter · discounted

  “the letters are all dated either December 2022 or January 2023, several months after the petition's May 2022 filing date”

  AAO decision text
• resume experience · discounted

  “Owning and running a business involves more than possessing the credentials of a software developer.”

  AAO decision text
• other · discounted

  “The submitted materials, however, deal with the general subject of immigration, with no specific discussion about the field of software development”

  AAO decision text

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
• Field importance conflated with endeavor · p1 — argues the field matters, not the specific endeavor
• Education alone insufficient · p2 — degrees offered as positioning — credentials are not a track record
• Letters conclusory · p2 — letters praise skills in general terms without tracing specific impact
• Record of success insufficient · p2 — a claimed track record the documents do not establish

Notable

AAO noted a discrepancy between the signature on Form I-290B and other Petitioner signatures, suggesting the appeal may not have been personally signed, but explicitly stated the dismissal was not based on this discrepancy and warned future filings may require corroboration.

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. 103.2(b)(1)
• 8 C.F.R. 103.3
• 8 C.F.R. 204.5(k)(2)
• Matter of L-A-C-
• USCIS Policy Manual F.5(D)(1)

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