The Petitioner proposed to establish a cybersecurity consultancy in California providing personalized IT security solutions and digital transformation services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The business would bolster information systems security and enhance the cybersecurity posture of client companies.

Prong 1 — national importancenot established

“the Petitioner's statements and evidence, however, discussed the cumulative importance and impact of the entire field, rather than indicating that the work of any one professional in that field has a broad impact.”

“the national interest waiver is not a blanket waiver for an entire field, and therefore general statements about the importance of a given field cannot suffice.”

“the potential impact of the Petitioner's proposed endeavor appears to be heavily focused his own company's clients.”

“A stated intention to hire an above-average number of workers is not enough, by itself, to establish national importance through 'substantial positive economic effects'.”

“The Petitioner did not explain how his methods are substantively different from those of others in his field, or establish how his work would reach a sufficiently broad audience.”

AAO decision text

Prong 2 — well positionednot established

“his entire career has been working in IT and technical support for established employers. In this respect, the proposed endeavor constitutes a marked departure from his past experience.”

“The plan does not indicate what concrete steps the Petitioner had taken to establish his consultancy business.”

“The Petitioner did not establish that these assets are realistically available for other purposes.”

“the Petitioner's education and experience are not sufficient to establish that he is well positioned to advance the proposed endeavor.”

“The cited communication is not a letter of interest. Rather, it appears to be a screen capture of a message sent via a platform such as Linkedln.”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

• resume experience · discounted

  “the record demonstrates that the Petitioner is qualified to work in the field of cybersecurity, but the Petitioner's proposed endeavor is not simply to continue his employment in that field.”

  AAO decision text
• recommendation letter · discounted

  “two advisory opinion letters from individuals who reviewed and commented on the Petitioner's employment history.”

  AAO decision text
• certification membership · discounted

  “The certificates show the Petitioner's credentials in certain aspects of IT, but they do not establish progress in establishing a consultancy service.”

  AAO decision text
• business plan · discounted

  “The business plan and advisory opinions submitted in response to the RFE rely heavily on general assertions about the importance of small businesses and of cybersecurity.”

  AAO decision text
• other · discounted

  “An advisory letter from an economist repeats several of the Petitioner's claims but does not show that the impact of the Petitioner's proposed endeavor meets Dhanasar's threshold.”

  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
• 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
• Business plan speculative · p2 — projections without a documented basis or steps
• Funding absent · p2 — no documented funding or resources behind the plan
• Letters conclusory · p2 — letters praise skills in general terms without tracing specific impact
• No progress evidence · p2 — no documented movement toward the endeavor since filing
• Record of success insufficient · p2 — a claimed track record the documents do not establish

Notable

AAO partially agreed with the Petitioner on prong 1 (finding substantial merit shown), but agreed with SCOPS on national importance. Both P1 and P2 failed but neither was individually dispositive — the AAO declined to reach P3 under Bagamasbad. Notably, the financial evidence analysis was unusually detailed: AAO scrutinized the RESP (children's education savings), a recently purchased condominium, and inconsistencies between initial and RFE-stage financial projections (first-year net profit dropped from $524,000 to $259,501). The LinkedIn-style message offered as a 'letter of interest' was specifically called out as a generic solicitation unrelated to the proposed endeavor.

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