NIW Bearings
remandedJAN172025_03B52032025-01-17 · appeal · Nebraska 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 sales manager in the packaging industry, proposed to continue working in this role in the United States for various companies.

Field: sales management in the packaging industry · Read the decision (uscis.gov)

EB-2 threshold — addressed

Director found Petitioner qualified as an advanced degree professional based on a foreign equivalent of a U.S. master's degree; not disputed on appeal.

Prong 1 — national importanceestablished

the decision does not adequately address the documentation in the record
the decision vaguely concluded that the Petitioner had not demonstrated the national importance of his proposed endeavor without considering his supplemental evidence

AAO decision text

Prong 2 — well positionedestablished

The Director's conclusion with regard to this prong, therefore, is unclear.
the Director's decision did not address the evidence submitted with the petition or in response to the RFE in support of the second prong

AAO decision text

Prong 3 — balance of factorsestablished

the Director did not discuss the evidence weighed in balancing those considerations or address the Petitioner's specific claims as to the third prong
Without a proper evaluation of the factors identified in Dhanasar 's third prong, the Director's determination for this prong was in error.

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

  • recommendation letter · ignored
  • other · ignored

This record is one of thousands, each coded for the reasons it turned. A placement shows where your profile sits in that record, not what it predicts. See where your profile sits — 90 seconds

Notable

AAO withdrew the Director's denial not because the Petitioner failed any prong, but because the Director's decision failed to adequately consider RFE evidence and issued internally inconsistent statements (e.g., contradictory findings on prong two within the same decision, and a prong three denial premised on prongs one and two despite an earlier statement that prong two was satisfied). The case was remanded for a new decision with no opinion expressed on the merits.

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.

  • USCIS Policy Manual F.5(D)(1)

What this case teaches

Analyst reading of the decision text.

Decisive factor

The Director's denial failed to meaningfully engage with RFE evidence and gave internally inconsistent conclusions across all three Dhanasar prongs, denying the petitioner a fair basis to contest the decision.

Transferable lesson

On appeal, highlight specific instances where the Director ignored or misquoted RFE evidence or issued contradictory prong findings to obtain remand rather than argue the merits directly.

Endeavor framing

vague

National-importance theory

economic_job_creation · economic_growth_generic · other

Evidence targeting

mixed

Cases in adjacent profiles