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 sought to operate his own company providing accounting and financial consulting services—including tax preparation, tax planning, strategic business planning, and incorporation—to U.S. businesses and individuals.
Field: accounting and financial consulting · Read the decision (uscis.gov)
EB-2 threshold — addressed
Director found, and AAO did not disturb, that Petitioner qualifies as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree.
Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive
“he has not shown that his proposed endeavor stands to sufficiently extend beyond his company and its clientele to impact the financial consulting field”
“The issue here, however, is not the importance of the field, industry, or profession in which the individual will work”
“the Petitioner has not established that his proposed endeavor stands to impact or significantly reduce the claimed national shortage”
“he did not adequately explain how these sales forecasts were calculated”
“he has not offered sufficient evidence that the area where his company operates is economically depressed”
AAO decision text
How the evidence was treated
- business plan · discounted
“he did not adequately explain how these sales forecasts were calculated”
AAO decision text - recommendation letter · discounted
“do not contain sufficient information and explanation ... to show that his specific proposed work ... rise[s] to the level of national importance”
AAO decision text - other · discounted
“the relevant question is not the importance of the field, industry, or profession in which the individual will work”
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
- Employer-specific benefit · p1 — "work furthers my company's product" — value accrues to one firm
- Field importance conflated with endeavor · p1 — argues the field matters, not the specific endeavor
- Occupational shortage argument rejected · p1 — argues a labor shortage — the labor-certification question, not Dhanasar
Notable
AAO relied heavily on rejecting the sponsoring professor's 'Written Advisory Opinion,' which advanced broad macroeconomic and shortage-based arguments (foreign investment, climate risk reporting, tax revenue for welfare programs) that AAO found conflated field importance with the specific endeavor's national importance.
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.
- Poursina v. USCIS
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