NIW Bearings
dismissedJUL182024_02B52032024-07-18 · motion_reopen · 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 sought to create a company pursuing two lines of business: international trade consulting between the U.S. and Brazil, and hospital consulting specializing in patient blood management (PBM) programs.

Field: business and hospital consulting (patient blood management) · Read the decision (uscis.gov)

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

“We concluded that the Petitioner did not establish that the prospective impact of his proposed endeavor would be substantial enough to demonstrate national importance under Dhanasar.”
“the evidence did not establish that the Petitioner's proposed endeavor would have broader implications but would instead primarily benefit the business' employees and clients”
“the record does not include a plan or other indication of how the Petitioner will operate a financial consulting business that will impact his individual clients at the level of national importance”
“it is not evident on motion that the company will generate revenue to create jobs, to expand, or to otherwise notably impact the economy”
“The Petitioner also contends that there is a shortage of qualified professionals to implement PBM on a national level and this shortage highlights the national relevance of the Petitioner's endeavor.”

AAO decision text

Prong 2 — well positionedestablished

“the Petitioner's SABM membership and presentation supported to some extent his positioning to advance his proposed endeavor under the second prong of the Dhanasar framework”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

  • business plan · discounted
    “the record does not include a plan or other indication of how the Petitioner will operate a financial consulting business”
    AAO decision text
  • certification membership · discounted
    “they did not show the potential broader implications of his work under the first prong”
    AAO decision text
  • other · discounted
    “it also did not serve to show that the impact of the proposed endeavor would extend beyond the Petitioner's company's employees, clients and business partners”
    AAO decision text
  • motion resubmission · discounted
    “the Applicant has not established new facts that would warrant reopening of the proceeding”
    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
  • Employer-specific benefit · p1 — "work furthers my company's product" — value accrues to one firm
  • Endeavor too vague · p1 — described as a job role, not a defined undertaking
  • Occupational shortage argument rejected · p1 — argues a labor shortage — the labor-certification question, not Dhanasar
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Notable

This is a second motion to reopen following a prior appeal dismissal and a prior combined motion to reopen/reconsider dismissal, all turning solely on the first-prong national importance issue; the AAO treats the current filing strictly as a motion to reopen despite the Petitioner's ambiguous designation, and repeatedly emphasizes the limited jurisdictional scope of motions under 8 C.F.R. 103.5(a)(1).

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. 103.5(a)(1)(i)
  • 8 C.F.R. 103.5(a)(1)(ii)
  • 8 C.F.R. 103.5(a)(2)

What this case teaches

Analyst reading of the decision text.

Decisive factor

Petitioner failed to show, even accepting PBM's importance to hospitals, that his specific consulting business would have impact beyond individual clients reaching national scale.

Transferable lesson

For prong 1, provide a concrete business/operational plan with projected economic scale (jobs, revenue, geographic reach), not just general field significance or personal credentials.

Endeavor framing

moderate

National-importance theory

economic_job_creation · public_health · geographic_or_shortage_area

Evidence targeting

person_focused

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