NIW Bearings
remandedFEB222023_01B52032023-02-22 · 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 marketing and data analytics consultant, appears to have proposed work as a market research analyst, though the AAO noted the Director never clearly identified her proposed endeavor.

Field: marketing and data analytics · Read the decision (uscis.gov)

EB-2 threshold — addressed

The Director never made a finding on underlying EB-2 eligibility; AAO questions whether petitioner's Brazilian 'Pos-Graduacao Lato Sensu' course, found by an evaluator to be equivalent to a U.S. MBA, actually qualifies as an advanced degree, noting the evaluator failed to address the distinction between lato sensu and strictu sensu programs in Brazil.

How the evidence was treated

  • degree · discounted
    the evaluator does not address the distinction between lato sensus and strictu sensus programs in Brazil nor explain why this lato sensu course should be considered equivalent
    AAO decision text
  • citations publications · ignored
    other than stating that the Petitioner 'submitted approximately 30 articles,' the Director did not discuss the evidence at all
    AAO decision text

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Notable

This is a remand for procedural insufficiency rather than a merits decision: the AAO found the Director's decision lacked clear findings on the underlying EB-2 classification and insufficiently analyzed all three Dhanasar prongs, including failing to even identify the proposed endeavor. The AAO expressly declines to reach the merits, remanding for a new decision.

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. 103.3
  • Poursina v. USCIS

What this case teaches

Analyst reading of the decision text.

Decisive factor

The Director's decision was procedurally deficient: no finding on underlying EB-2 eligibility, no identification of the endeavor, and no analysis of evidence supporting denial under prongs 1 and 3, precluding meaningful review.

Transferable lesson

Adjudicators must clearly identify the endeavor and analyze record evidence under each Dhanasar prong; unexplained conclusory denials risk remand regardless of merits.

Endeavor framing

vague

National-importance theory

other

Evidence targeting

mixed

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