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.
Petitioner worked as a public elementary school teacher in Maryland, having previously taught high school social studies and co-authored textbooks in the Philippines, and sought a national interest waiver based on her teaching contributions.
Field: elementary education · Read the decision (uscis.gov)
EB-2 threshold — addressed
Director found, and AAO did not disturb, that Petitioner qualified as an advanced degree professional based on her master of education degree.
Prong 1 — national importanceestablished
“These governmental initiatives reflect the importance of improving public education and demonstrate that the Petitioner works in a meritorious occupation.”
AAO decision text
Prong 3 — balance of factorsnot established
“There is no evidence establishing that the benefits of her work would extend beyond her students and school district such that they will have a national impact.”
“The existence of federal statutes (such as the NCLBA) and other U.S. government programs relating to educational reform do not lend national scope to the work of an individual teacher.”
“As the Petitioner has not demonstrated the national scope of her work for she does not meet the second prong of the NYSDOT national interest analysis.”
AAO decision text
How the evidence was treated
- recommendation letter · discounted
“they did not indicate that she has had the wider impact and influence necessary to qualify for the national interest waiver”
AAO decision text - citations publications · discounted
“There is no documentary evidence showing that the Petitioner's textbooks have been frequently cited by educational scholars or have otherwise influenced the field as a whole.”
AAO decision text - awards · discounted
“she has not demonstrated that the textbook or the Special Citation is indicative of her influence on the field as a whole”
AAO decision text - resume experience · discounted
“The Petitioner, however, does not indicate how the submitted evaluations demonstrate that she has influenced the field to a substantially greater degree than other similarly qualified elementary school teachers”
AAO decision text
Where this case turned
- Field importance conflated with endeavor · p3 — argues the field matters, not the specific endeavor
- Local, not national scope · p3 — impact confined to clients / a region
Notable
Legacy NYSDOT three-prong framework applied (pre-Dhanasar). AAO mapped NYSDOT prong 2 (national in scope) as the dispositive-style failure though not formally labeled dispositive since prong 3 was also separately found unmet; case turns on the classic 'single schoolteacher in one elementary school' example drawn directly from NYSDOT itself. Petitioner's argument that NCLBA and federal education policy conferred national scope on her individual teaching was rejected as conflating field importance with her individual endeavor.
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(c)
- Matter of Otiende
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