dismissedJAN242025_02B52032025-01-24 · 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 mechatronics engineer, intended to create a company in Brazil-adjacent operations providing industrial automation and mechatronics services, optimizing industrial processes, and offering specialized training.
Field: mechatronics/industrial automation engineering · Read the decision (uscis.gov)
Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive
“the importance of the proposed endeavor is not evaluated by the importance ofthe profession in which he proposes to engage, but the specific potential prospective impact of the specific endeavor”
“the Petitioner has not demonstrated his contributions to the industrial automation and mechatronics fields has a wider impact beyond his own business and clients”
“the training the Petitioner plans to provide is generally limited to benefiting the students he would train”
“the Petitioner has not submitted supporting evidence to demonstrate the specific endeavor he proposes to undertake has significant potential to employ U.S. workers or otherwise offers substantial positive economic effects”
AAO decision text
How the evidence was treated
- certification membership · discounted
“The record does not appear to support the finding that the Petitioner is a member of an association that requires a U.S. baccalaureate degree”
AAO decision text - business plan · discounted
“the Petitioner has not submitted supporting evidence to demonstrate the specific endeavor he proposes to undertake has significant potential to employ U.S. workers”
AAO decision text
Where this case turned
- Economic claims unsupported · p1 — job/revenue projections with no corroborating basis
- 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
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Notable
AAO flagged a likely defect in the Petitioner's exceptional-ability membership criterion (three-year foreign degree vs. U.S. baccalaureate equivalency requirement) but expressly declined to resolve it, resting dismissal solely on prong 1 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.
- 8 C.F.R. 103.3
- 8 C.F.R. 204.5(k)(2)
- Flores v. Garland
- Matter of L-A-C-
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