dismissedJAN212025_03B52032025-01-21 · 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 communications specialist, proposed to work in the U.S. through her own company (10% ownership) and her current role as head of marketing for a food and beverage company, claiming her services would generate jobs and boost industry revenue.

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

EB-2 threshold — not met

The Petitioner did not establish her Brazilian degree was the foreign equivalent of a U.S. bachelor's degree (discrepancy between 3-year and 4-year program dates went unexplained), and her employment letters failed to show five years of progressive post-baccalaureate experience in the specialty.

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

“It is insufficient to claim an endeavor has national importance or would create a broad impact without providing evidence to substantiate such claims.”

“these employment and revenue projections are not supported by details showing their basis, nor do they demonstrate a significant potential to either employ U.S. workers or to substantially impact the regional or national economy.”

“the relevant question is not the importance of the field, industry, or profession in which the individual will work; instead, we focus on the "the specific endeavor that the foreign national proposes to undertake."”

“the Petitioner has not shown that her proposed endeavor stands to sufficiently extend beyond her future clients and employer(s) to impact her field of marketing, the economy, or U.S. societal welfare more broadly at a level commensurate with national importance.”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

degree · discounted
“she does not offer any explanation for the August 1996 graduation date provided by the school in two separate documents.”
AAO decision text
resume experience · discounted
“the employment letters are insufficient to establish that the Petitioner possesses at least five years of progressive post-baccalaureate experience in the specialty.”
AAO decision text
business plan · discounted
“these employment and revenue projections are not supported by details showing their basis”
AAO decision text
recommendation letter · discounted
“does not address the Petitioner's business plan, the specific proposed endeavor described therein, its prospective substantial economic impact”
AAO decision text
media · discounted
“do not address the specific proposed endeavor or how it would have broad implications in the field in a way that demonstrates national importance.”
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
Endeavor too vague · p1 — described as a job role, not a defined undertaking
Field importance conflated with endeavor · p1 — argues the field matters, not the specific endeavor

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Notable

Decision rests on two independently dispositive grounds: failure to establish the underlying EB-2 advanced-degree classification (foreign degree equivalency discrepancy and insufficient progressive experience) and failure of Dhanasar prong 1 (national importance); AAO reserved prongs 2 and 3 entirely.

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. 103.2(b)(12)
8 C.F.R. 103.3
8 C.F.R. 204.5(k)(2)
Flores v. Garland
Matter of Ho
Matter of Katigbak
Matter of L-A-C-

What this case teaches

Analyst reading of the decision text.

Decisive factor

Her 3-year Brazilian degree was not bachelor-equivalent and her employment letters (post-filing, unrelated, or short) could not supply five years in the specialty, so EB-2 classification failed; the endeavor also failed prong-1 national importance.

Transferable lesson

A 3-year foreign bachelor's is not a U.S. bachelor's equivalent; five years of specialty experience must be documented by employer letters, pre-filing and in the specialty, with date discrepancies resolved.

Endeavor framing

moderate

National-importance theory

economic_job_creation · economic_growth_generic

Evidence targeting

person_focused

Cases in adjacent profiles

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