dismissedJUN042026_03B52032026-06-04 · appeal

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.

A high school math teacher with 15 years of experience proposed to create a scalable instructional improvement framework to enhance hybrid and distance learning approaches for K-12 education.

Field: K-12 education / hybrid and distance learning instruction · Read the decision (uscis.gov)

EB-2 threshold — addressed

USCIS found the Petitioner qualifies for the underlying EB-2 classification as an advanced degree professional; this was not contested and not revisited by the AAO.

Prong 3 — balance of factorsnot established · dispositive

“he does not address or contest USCIS' specific conclusion and related findings that the evidence ofrecord did not establish that on balance, waiving the job offer requirement would benefit the United States under the third prong”

“Because the Petitioner has not addressed with specificity USCIS' determination that he does not qualify for a national interest waiver under the third prong, and in particular the impracticality of the labor certification process, we deem the issue to be waived.”

“As the Petitioner has not shown that he satisfies the third prong, he cannot establish eligibility for a national interest waiver.”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

motion resubmission · ignored
“they relate to his first prong arguments, which we reserve and do not reach in this decision”
AAO decision text

Where this case turned

NEW argument waived on appeal · p3

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Notable

The AAO dismissed the appeal on a purely procedural basis: because the Petitioner's brief addressed only the first Dhanasar prong and did not contest USCIS's third-prong findings, the AAO deemed the third-prong challenge waived and treated that waiver as dispositive, expressly declining to reach the merits of prongs one and two (which USCIS had actually found partly favorable) or to consider new evidence submitted on appeal that related only to prong one.

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
8 C.F.R. 103.5
Flores v. Garland
INA 203(b)(2)
Matter of O-R-E-

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