NIW Bearings
dismissedJUL302024_16B52032024-07-30 · 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, an accountant and professor, proposed to found a management-consulting business in Maryland offering services in human resources, corporate strategy, accounting, and organizational design, targeting small and medium-sized U.S. companies, including those in HUBZones.

Field: accounting / management consulting · Read the decision (uscis.gov)

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

“the record does not show the prospective impact of the Petitioner's specific proposed endeavor beyond his own clients for which he would provide his services”
“these projections do not indicate that the business would affect the economy at a regionally or nationally important level”
“Generalized conclusory statements that do not identify a specific impact to the field have little probative value”
“he has not established this claim through independent and objective evidence”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

  • business plan · discounted
    “his business plan does not demonstrate how his business would benefit an economically depressed area”
    AAO decision text
  • recommendation letter · discounted
    “letters of recommendation ... are not sufficient to demonstrate his endeavor has the potential to provide economic, societal, and security benefits”
    AAO decision text
  • resume experience · discounted
  • other · discounted
    “his, articles/reports, and letters of recommendation and are not sufficient to demonstrate his endeavor has the potential to provide economic, societal, and security benefits”
    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
  • Local, not national scope · p1 — impact confined to clients / a region
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Notable

AAO expressly reserved prongs two and three after finding prong one dispositive, citing Bagamasbad and Matter of L-A-C- for declining to reach unnecessary issues; case involves a COVID-19-recovery-focused consulting business plan tied to HUBZone development.

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.

  • Matter of L-A-C-
  • USCIS Policy Manual F.5(D)(1)

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