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 residence life administrator with an MPA, proposed to establish and direct a new Office of Residence Life at a Louisiana university, overseeing student wellness, emergency on-call services, and facilities management.
Field: residential/student life administration · Read the decision (uscis.gov)
EB-2 threshold — addressed
Director found and AAO did not disturb finding that Petitioner qualifies as an advanced degree professional based on his MPA degree.
Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive
“the Petitioner has not established that the creation of 14 jobs will result in the type of "substantial positive economic effects" that are required for national importance”
“the relevant question is not the importance of the industry, field, or profession in which an individual will work”
“The Petitioner has not shown that his proposed endeavor stands to sufficiently extend beyond his university and its student population to impact the economy or the field of residential life student services at a level commensurate with national importance.”
AAO decision text
How the evidence was treated
- other · discounted
“the Petitioner has not established that the creation of 14 jobs will result in the type of "substantial positive economic effects" that are required for national importance”
AAO decision text - degree · credited
Where this case turned
- Economic claims unsupported · p1 — job/revenue projections with no corroborating basis
- Field importance conflated with endeavor · p1 — argues the field matters, not the specific endeavor
- Local, not national scope · p1 — impact confined to clients / a region
Notable
AAO withdrew the Director's finding on substantial merit (crediting the RFE-articulated endeavor of building a new residence life office) but still found national importance unmet, illustrating that merit and importance can be split even when the endeavor description changes post-filing; AAO nonetheless considered the RFE-clarified endeavor despite Katigbak's general rule against post-filing evidence, reasoning it related to the initial filing.
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
- Matter of Izummi
- Matter of Katigbak
- Poursina v. USCIS
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