dismissedJUL032024_08B52032024-07-03 · 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 psychologist, sought to establish her own consulting firm in the United States where she would work as an 'HR Corporate Wellbeing Consultant' and CEO, providing corporate wellness and human-resources consulting services, with a particular focus on healthcare workers' well-being.

Field: HR corporate wellness consulting / psychology · Read the decision (uscis.gov)

EB-2 threshold — addressed

AAO agreed with the Director that the Petitioner established eligibility as an advanced degree professional; not contested on appeal.

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

“she has not submitted sufficient, independent, and objective evidence to establish her burden or support her assertions.”

“it is entirely based on the Petitioner's own description of her proposed endeavor and therefore does not serve as a sufficiently independent analysis of her endeavor's impacts.”

“she has not established that her proposed endeavor will specifically impact the economy at a level commensurate with national importance.”

“the impact of these hires is not sufficiently broad to rise to the level of national importance.”

“this is not indicative of a broader impact on the field of corporate wellness or healthcare in general.”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

business plan · discounted
“she has not established that her proposed endeavor will specifically impact the economy at a level commensurate with national importance.”
AAO decision text
recommendation letter · discounted
“it is entirely based on the Petitioner's own description of her proposed endeavor and therefore does not serve as a sufficiently independent analysis of her endeavor's impacts.”
AAO decision text
other · discounted
“she has not submitted evidence to establish that her approach differs from or will improve upon the human resource and corporate wellness methods already available and in use in the United States.”
AAO decision text
media · discounted
“While these areas are undoubtedly important, she has not established that her proposed endeavor will specifically impact the economy at a level commensurate with national importance.”
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
Letters not independent · p1 — letters come from employers and close collaborators, not independent experts
Local, not national scope · p1 — impact confined to clients / a region

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Notable

AAO withdrew the Director's unexplained finding that the endeavor lacked substantial merit, and separately withdrew an erroneous prong-two reference by the Director to 'accountants' (a different occupation) as irrelevant, but declined to remand and dismissed solely on national importance grounds, reserving prongs two and three.

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-

What this case teaches

Analyst reading of the decision text.

Decisive factor

Expert letter and personal plan relied on petitioner's own self-description, lacking independent, objective evidence that her consulting methodology's impact extends beyond individual clients to national scale.

Transferable lesson

Support national-importance claims with independent, objective evidence showing broad, field-wide or economy-wide impact—not self-authored plans or credential-focused reference letters.

Endeavor framing

moderate

National-importance theory

public_health · economic_job_creation · us_competitiveness · field_advancement

Evidence targeting

person_focused

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