NIW Bearings
dismissedJUL222024_03B52032024-07-22 · 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 planned to establish a privacy-focused IT consulting business developing software for data anonymization, differential privacy, and regulatory compliance, and to write a book on privacy for the general public.

Field: software engineering / IT privacy consulting · Read the decision (uscis.gov)

EB-2 threshold — addressed

Director found, and AAO agreed, Petitioner qualified for EB-2 as an advanced degree professional; this was not contested on appeal.

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

“The Petitioner did not submit evidence that these financial forecasts indicate substantial positive economic effects on a level commensurate with national importance.”
“the Petitioner has not established that his company's employment of six individuals demonstrates "significant potential to employ U.S. workers."”
“These letters praise the Petitioner's work, but do not indicate that any of his achievements extended beyond these companies to impact his field more broadly.”
“these articles attest to the importance of cyber security in the United States, but they do not mention the Petitioner or his proposed endeavor.”
“Here, the Petitioner has not established that his proposed endeavor stands to sufficiently extend beyond his company's clientele to impact his field more broadly at a level commensurate with national importance.”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

  • business plan · discounted
    “The Petitioner did not submit evidence that these financial forecasts indicate substantial positive economic effects on a level commensurate with national importance.”
    AAO decision text
  • recommendation letter · discounted
    “These letters praise the Petitioner's work, but do not indicate that any of his achievements extended beyond these companies to impact his field more broadly.”
    AAO decision text
  • other · discounted
    “these articles attest to the importance of cyber security in the United States, but they do not mention the Petitioner or his proposed endeavor.”
    AAO decision text
  • contract revenue · discounted
    “The business plan states the company would employ a total of six people and estimates the company's net worth as $29,413 in the first year, decreasing to $11,924 in the third year.”
    AAO decision text

Where this case turned

  • 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
  • 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
  • Occupational shortage argument rejected · p1 — argues a labor shortage — the labor-certification question, not Dhanasar
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Notable

AAO expressly declined to require quantified 'significant' employment thresholds language dispute but still found six jobs insufficient; also cited a Fifth Circuit case (Flores v. Garland) confirming NIW denials are discretionary in nature.

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 L-A-C-

What this case teaches

Analyst reading of the decision text.

Decisive factor

Petitioner failed to show the consulting business and book would extend beyond his own clients/company to impact the field nationally; financial and employment figures were too small to demonstrate national-scale economic effect.

Transferable lesson

Quantify and document how the endeavor's impact extends beyond the petitioner's own company/clients to the broader field or economy, not just industry importance generally.

Endeavor framing

moderate

National-importance theory

economic_job_creation · national_security · stem_positive_factor · us_competitiveness · field_advancement

Evidence targeting

person_focused

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