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 continue operating her company providing temporary corporate housing rental units to relocating professionals and disaster-displaced individuals, using marketing innovations like QR codes.
Field: real estate brokerage / corporate housing rental · Read the decision (uscis.gov)
EB-2 threshold — not met
AAO withdrew Director's finding that petitioner qualified as advanced degree professional, holding real estate broker/sales agent occupation does not require a U.S. baccalaureate degree as minimum entry requirement; also found petitioner failed to establish exceptional ability, meeting only one of six regulatory criteria (license/certification criterion withdrawn as not met; experience letters and salary evidence also insufficient).
Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive
“the relevant question is not the importance of the field, industry, or profession in which a petitioner may work”
“she has not shown how her endeavor would result in broader implications to the real estate industry, beyond the immediate benefit she may provide to her clients”
“Activities which only benefit a small subset of individuals, like the Petitioner's proposal to utilize QR codes to offer convenience to her renters do not rise to a level of national importance”
“the business plan does not provide sufficient explanation for the basis of these projections”
AAO decision text
How the evidence was treated
- business plan · discounted
“the business plan does not provide sufficient explanation for the basis of these projections”
AAO decision text - resume experience · discounted
“these letters do not satisfy the plain language of the regulatory criterion”
AAO decision text - certification membership · discounted
“the Petitioner has not established that she has a license 'to practice a profession'”
AAO decision text - contract revenue · discounted
“these earnings are consistent with the reported salaries of real estate brokers and sales agents”
AAO decision text - media · credited
All 7 evidence items
- recommendation letter · discounted
- motion resubmission · discounted
“these letters are unsigned and thus have diminished probative value”
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
Notable
AAO withdrew Director's favorable threshold finding (advanced degree professional) sua sponte, finding real estate broker/sales agent occupation does not require a bachelor's degree, then also denied exceptional ability classification before separately denying the NIW on prong 1 dispositively; unusual for AAO to reverse a threshold finding favorable to petitioner not appealed by USCIS.
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. 103.2(b)(1)
- 8 C.F.R. 103.3
- Flores v. Garland
- Matter of Katigbak
- Matter of L-A-C-
- Matter of R-A-M-
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