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 language specialist, sought to work in the United States, claiming eligibility as an EB-2 advanced degree professional and seeking a national interest waiver of the job offer requirement.
Field: English and Portuguese language teaching · Read the decision (uscis.gov)
EB-2 threshold — not met
The Petitioner failed to establish that her Brazilian titulo de licenciado, a three-year credential, is the foreign equivalent of a U.S. bachelor's degree, and thus could not establish eligibility as an advanced degree professional either directly or through the bachelor's-plus-five-years-progressive-experience pathway; a supporting private credential evaluation was found unsupported by the record and inconsistent with the AACRAO EDGE database.
How the evidence was treated
- degree · discounted
“the Petitioner's academic evaluation is not supported by the record to demonstrate the Petitioner has a four-year foreign degree equivalent to a U.S. bachelor's degree”
AAO decision text - resume experience · discounted
“the Director did not err by not considering the Petitioner's experience in determining she was not an advanced degree professional”
AAO decision text - other · credited
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Notable
The Director denied the petition solely on the threshold advanced-degree-professional issue and never reached the Dhanasar national interest waiver prongs; the AAO likewise declined to reach the Dhanasar framework, finding the degree-equivalency determination dispositive and citing INS v. Bagamasbad and Matter of L-A-C- for its discretion not to address unnecessary issues. The decision also discusses reliance on the AACRAO EDGE database as a reliable source for foreign credential equivalency determinations over a private credential evaluation.
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
- 8 C.F.R. 204.5(k)(2)
- Flores v. Garland
- Matter of Caron Int'l
- Matter of L-A-C-
- Matter of O-R-E-
- Matter of R-A-M-
What this case teaches
Analyst reading of the decision text.
Petitioner failed to prove her Brazilian titulo de licenciado (a 3-year credential) equated to a U.S. four-year bachelor's degree, so she could not qualify as an advanced degree professional, making NIW analysis unreachable.
Ensure foreign credential evaluations provide detailed, case-specific comparative analysis of program length/curriculum, not conclusory equivalency statements, especially for degrees under four years.
vague
person_focused
Cases in adjacent profiles
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