The Petitioner, a physics teacher with prior national-level accolades abroad, proposed to teach middle and high school science courses in Arizona and provide supplemental professional development training to fellow science teachers.

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

“Several of the documents submitted initially point to a local emphasis for the Petitioner's work.”

“With respect to the stated shortage of physics teachers in Arizona, we agree with the Director that the labor certification process exists to address such shortages.”

“While science education is important in the aggregate, in Dhanasar we determined that the activities of one science teacher does not rise to the level of national importance.”

“The identical language in the submitted letters undermines their probative value.”

“The Petitioner has provided minimal details about her proposed endeavor beyond teaching physics and other science classes at the middle and high school levels.”

“Even then, the Petitioner's revised plans lack detail and corroboration.”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

• recommendation letter · discounted

  “The identical language in the submitted letters undermines their probative value.”

  AAO decision text
• awards · discounted

  “the national interest waiver is not a reward for past accomplishments”

  AAO decision text
• resume experience · discounted

  “her documented contributions have been predominantly at the local level since she arrived in the United States in 2016”

  AAO decision text
• other · discounted

  “Substantial revision of the claim at the appellate level does not establish any such error”

  AAO decision text

Where this case turned

• Endeavor too vague · p1 — described as a job role, not a defined undertaking
• Letters conclusory · p1 — letters praise skills in general terms without tracing specific impact
• Letters not independent · p1 — letters come from employers and close collaborators, not independent experts
• Local, not national scope · p1 — impact confined to clients / a region
• Occupational shortage argument rejected · p1 — argues a labor shortage — the labor-certification question, not Dhanasar

Notable

AAO cites a district court decision (Hamal v. DHS) on identical-language letters undermining probative value, and expressly declines to reach prong 3 under Bagamasbad/Matter of L-A-C-. The AAO also notes the Petitioner's O-1A extraordinary ability petition was previously approved by USCIS, but this did not affect the NIW analysis. The AAO emphasizes that substantially revised endeavor claims raised for the first time on appeal cannot establish Director error.

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-

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