The Petitioner sought to operate his own business as a chief executive providing consulting and installation services in electrical engineering and energy efficiency, helping clients organize energy usage and improve equipment/technology, with plans to locate offices in "distressed neighborhood zones."

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

“The Petitioner did not offer specific information and evidence to corroborate his assertions that the prospective impact of running a business to provide consultation services to clients rises to the level of national importance.”

“the record does not show through supporting documentation how his specific services stand to sufficiently extend beyond his prospective clients, to impact the industry or the U.S. economy more broadly”

“Although the Petitioner's work may be in an important field, he must still establish the specific proposed endeavor has national importance as it is presented in the Dhanasar framework.”

“his assertions with respect to the shortage of electrical engineer professionals in the United States does not render his proposed endeavor nationally important under the Dhanasar framework because the U.S. Department of Labor directly addresses these shortages through the labor certification process.”

“the plan does not sufficiently detail the basis for the revenue and staffing projections, nor does it adequately explain how the revenue and staffing projections will be realized.”

“the economic impact from this potential hiring is too amorphous to be considered of national importance as contemplated in Dhanasar.”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

• business plan · discounted

  “the plan does not sufficiently detail the basis for the revenue and staffing projections, nor does it adequately explain how the revenue and staffing projections will be realized”

  AAO decision text
• recommendation letter · ignored
• resume experience · ignored
• media · discounted

  “relates to the substantial merit of the proposed endeavor rather than the 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
• Occupational shortage argument rejected · p1 — argues a labor shortage — the labor-certification question, not Dhanasar

Notable

The AAO expressly declined to reach prongs 2 and 3 under INS v. Bagamasbad. It rejected the Petitioner's argument that locating offices in 'distressed neighborhood zones' satisfied Dhanasar's economically-depressed-area language, finding the term undefined and the economic impact 'too amorphous.' The AAO also rejected a due-process-style argument that SCOPS applied the wrong evidentiary standard, finding the Petitioner failed to identify any specific instance of error.

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
• Flores v. Garland
• INA 203(b)(2)
• Matter of E-M-

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