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 Beneficiary, a healthcare management specialist, proposed to develop and expand a hospice and palliative care strategy focused initially on Southern California, with an asserted goal of eventually expanding nationwide.
Field: hospice and palliative care management · Read the decision (uscis.gov)
Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive
“the evidence was insufficient to show the broader impact of the Beneficiary's work and corroborate the assertion that the proposed endeavor would broadly influence the hospice and palliative care field and rise to the level of national importance”
“determined to lack corroborating documentation to support the assertion that the proposed endeavor will succeed nationally if it succeeds in the most competitive region, Southern California”
“in determining national importance, the relevant question is not the importance of the field, industry, or profession in which the individual will work; instead, the focus is on the "the specific endeavor that the foreign national proposes to undertake"”
AAO decision text
How the evidence was treated
- recommendation letter · discounted
“largely repeats what was already included in the record and determined to lack corroborating documentation to support the assertion”
AAO decision text - motion resubmission · discounted
“the Petitioner has not provided new facts to establish that we erred in dismissing the prior motion”
AAO decision text - other · discounted
“The documentation does not show that the Petitioner nor the Beneficiary is involved in this program”
AAO decision text - certification membership · discounted
Where this case turned
- 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
Notable
This is a third successive motion to reopen following an earlier dismissed appeal and two prior motions; AAO emphasizes the strict scope-of-motion rule limiting review to only the latest prior decision. A footnote notes that submitted evidence about a program (EnhanceFitness) did not even show the Petitioner or Beneficiary was involved in it.
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(a)(1)(i)
- 8 C.F.R. 103.5(a)(1)(ii)
- 8 C.F.R. 103.5(a)(2)
- 8 C.F.R. 103.5(a)(4)
- Matter of Coelho
What this case teaches
Analyst reading of the decision text.
New submissions (doctor's letter, palliative care documentation) merely repeated prior record and addressed importance of the hospice/palliative field generally, not the specific endeavor's national-scale impact, so no new facts warranted reopening.
On motions to reopen, submit genuinely new, endeavor-specific evidence showing national-scale impact—not restated field-importance letters or credential-focused corroboration.
moderate
public_health · economic_growth_generic · government_interest · field_advancement
person_focused
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