The Beneficiary, a clinical social worker, sought to continue her work at a Washington hospital developing practices, policies, and coordination tools (e.g., Plans of Safe Care, a pediatric placement pathway) to serve marginalized and underserved children and families.

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

“the record does not include documentation detailing broader impacts tied directly to the Beneficiary's work to demonstrate that it rises to a level commensurate with national importance”

“such shortages are directly addressed by the U.S. Department of Labor through the labor certification process”

“these letters also use vague and generalized terms to characterize the Beneficiary's work ... but they do not identify specific outcomes or offer evidence-based explanations of the potential impacts of her work”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

• recommendation letter · discounted

  “these letters also use vague and generalized terms to characterize the Beneficiary's work”

  AAO decision text
• degree · credited
• media · discounted

  “does not identify the Beneficiary or explain any role she played in the POSC development for the Petitioner”

  AAO decision text
• other · discounted

  “such shortages are directly addressed by the U.S. Department of Labor through the labor certification process”

  AAO decision text

Where this case turned

• Letters conclusory · p1 — letters praise skills in general terms without tracing specific impact
• Local, not national scope · p1 — impact confined to clients / a region
• Occupational shortage argument rejected · p1 — argues a labor shortage — the labor-certification question, not Dhanasar

Notable

AAO relied heavily on lack of corroborating documentation for third-party letters (e.g., BUILD Initiative and Casey Family Programs materials that did not name the Beneficiary) and explicitly rejected a workforce-shortage argument by noting such shortages are addressed through the labor certification process itself, echoing Dhanasar's own teaching-impact reasoning.

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
• Matter of E-M-
• Matter of L-A-C-

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