NIW Bearings
dismissedJUN122024_08B52032024-06-12 · 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, a digital marketing specialist, proposed to use his existing online platform to partner with American universities and act as a broker/agent marketing their e-learning courses to domestic and international students.

Field: digital marketing / online education technology · Read the decision (uscis.gov)

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

“Merely working in an important field is insufficient to establish a proposed endeavor's national importance.”
“The mere presence of a business plan does not demonstrate an endeavor has national importance, as such a presentation lacks probative value.”
“Without sufficient information or evidence regarding any projected U.S. economic impact or job creation attributable to the Petitioner's specific proposed endeavor”
“This again leaves us asking: But to what effect?”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

  • business plan · discounted
    “The mere presence of a business plan does not demonstrate an endeavor has national importance, as such a presentation lacks probative value.”
    AAO decision text
  • recommendation letter · discounted
    “It is unclear how the professor made such an assessment when the business plan for the proposed endeavor has significant flaws”
    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
  • Endeavor too vague · p1 — described as a job role, not a defined undertaking
  • Field importance conflated with endeavor · p1 — argues the field matters, not the specific endeavor
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Notable

AAO analogized the endeavor to a declining 'online program manager' (OPM) industry facing regulatory scrutiny, citing GAO and trade press reports, and found the petitioner's job-creation reasoning circular ('More educated students result in more jobs, which in turn leads to positive economic effects'). AAO expressly reserved prongs 2 and 3 as unnecessary given the dispositive prong 1 failure.

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.

  • Flores v. Garland

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