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, an environmental engineer, intends to open and operate a U.S. firm providing sustainability consulting services and expanding/developing green-construction technologies she previously created in Brazil.
Field: environmental engineering · Read the decision (uscis.gov)
EB-2 threshold — addressed
Director erroneously based EB-2 qualification on a PhD the Petitioner did not hold; AAO withdrew that finding but independently found the Petitioner qualified via a bachelor's-equivalent degree plus five years of progressive experience.
Prong 1 — national importanceestablished
Prong 2 — well positionedestablished
Prong 3 — balance of factorsestablished
How the evidence was treated
- recommendation letter · credited
- degree · credited
- resume experience · credited
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Notable
AAO remanded not because the Petitioner failed any Dhanasar prong, but because the Director's decision was inadequately explained and did not meaningfully engage with the record (e.g., discounting an expert letter as 'conclusory' without support, no separate prong-two analysis, and no prong-three balancing analysis). AAO also corrected the Director's erroneous finding that the Petitioner held a PhD.
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
What this case teaches
Analyst reading of the decision text.
AAO remanded because the Director's decision ignored substantial record evidence (specific technologies, expansion plans, expert/reference letters) and gave no reasoned analysis for prongs 2 and 3, precluding meaningful review.
Ensure the endeavor's concrete mechanisms (specific products/markets) are explicitly tied to national-importance evidence, and demand adjudicators fully engage with that evidence rather than issuing boilerplate denials.
specific
field_advancement · economic_growth_generic · other
mixed
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