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, a robotics educator, proposed to develop and implement a STEM education model based on applied robotics and 'playful programming' for elementary, middle, and high school students in vulnerable communities, including creating technology schools and providing advisory support to schools adopting the model.
Field: robotics education / STEM education · Read the decision (uscis.gov)
EB-2 threshold — not met
SCOPS and AAO found the petitioner met only two of six exceptional-ability criteria (degree and ten years' experience) but failed to establish membership in a professional association (the organization's membership was open to non-professionals, not limited to those with a U.S. bachelor's or foreign equivalent) or recognition for significant contributions to the industry/field (letters and awards showed only employer-specific or competition-based accomplishments, not industry-wide recognition).
How the evidence was treated
- degree · credited
- resume experience · credited
- certification membership · discounted
“membership in RedColRE does not appear to be exclusively limited to professionals, rather it is open to individuals who are interested or engaged in robotics.”
AAO decision text - awards · discounted
“the Petitioner has not established how these awards were a manifestation of significant contributions to the robotics industry or field.”
AAO decision text - recommendation letter · discounted
“the recommendation letters were not accompanied by any corroborative evidence of the impact of the Petitioner's work, beyond the work done for his employers and colleagues.”
AAO decision text
All 6 evidence items
- media · discounted
“the awards appear to recognize that the Petitioner's team's robotics skill was, in that place, and at that time, superior to other competitors.”
AAO decision text
This record is one of thousands, each coded for the reasons it turned. A placement shows where your profile sits in that record, not what it predicts. See where your profile sits — 90 seconds →
Notable
The AAO found the threshold exceptional-ability classification issue dispositive and expressly declined to reach the Dhanasar national interest waiver analysis at all, citing INS v. Bagamasbad and Matter of M-S-I- for the proposition that agencies need not decide unnecessary issues; thus none of the three Dhanasar prongs were analyzed.
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. 204.5(k)(2)
- 8 C.F.R. 204.5(k)(3)(ii)
- Flores v. Garland
- Kazarian v. USCIS
- Matter of E-M-
- USCIS Policy Manual F.5(B)(2)
What this case teaches
Analyst reading of the decision text.
Petitioner failed to satisfy 3 of 6 exceptional-ability criteria (membership and peer/industry recognition), so underlying EB-2 classification failed, precluding any NIW/Dhanasar review.
Secure the underlying EB-2 classification first: document professional association membership with bylaws/proof and show industry-wide (not just employer-level) recognition before arguing national interest.
moderate
stem_positive_factor · other
person_focused
Cases in adjacent profiles
- The Petitioner, an assistant professor of Arabic, proposed to continue teaching Levantine-Modern Standard Arabic to U.S.
- The Petitioner, a secondary school teacher, proposed to develop and implement an open educational resource program to ex
- The Petitioner proposed to establish a consulting company in Missouri to design and implement a nationally adaptable tea
- The Petitioner, an arts, drama, and music teacher and entrepreneur, sought EB-2 classification as an individual of excep
- The petitioner, a mathematics teacher with 17 years of experience, proposed to operate a company offering online math tu