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 Filipino-trained medical technologist turned entrepreneur, sought to continue operating and expanding U.S. nursing home/assisted living facilities while consulting for and training U.S. health care institutions and workers.
Field: nursing home / elder care administration · Read the decision (uscis.gov)
EB-2 threshold — not met
Petitioner did not show her Filipino bachelor's degree (three years of study) equates to a U.S. four-year bachelor's degree, nor did she show five years of progressive post-baccalaureate experience due to conclusory, unsubstantiated letters and internal inconsistencies about simultaneous full-time jobs. For exceptional ability, she met only two of six criteria (degree, license) and failed salary, membership, and recognition criteria, one short of the four needed to reach a final merits determination.
How the evidence was treated
- degree · discounted
“the Petitioner has not demonstrated that her foreign degree equates to a U.S. bachelor's degree”
AAO decision text - resume experience · discounted
“The discrepancies cast doubt on her claimed qualifying experience as an advanced degree professional.”
AAO decision text - recommendation letter · discounted
“none of the letters contains "a specific description of the duties performed by the [noncitizen]."”
AAO decision text - certification membership · discounted
“the certificates do not indicate her membership in associations”
AAO decision text - business plan · discounted
“we will hold her to her initial proposal and disregard her supplemental plan”
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
AAO raises sua sponte a potential marriage-fraud bar under section 204(c)(1) based on the petitioner's 2014 sworn statement admitting a fraudulent marriage, but declines to apply it here because the Director never gave notice/opportunity to rebut, instructing that she must address it in any future filing. AAO also expressly declines to reach any of the three Dhanasar prongs because threshold EB-2 eligibility was not met.
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. 103.2(b)(1)
- 8 C.F.R. 204.5(g)(1)
- Matter of Ho
- Matter of Izummi
- Matter of L-A-C-
- Poursina v. USCIS
Cases in adjacent profiles
- The Beneficiary proposed to establish an asset investment management and compliance advisory firm in New York offering c
- The Petitioner proposed to develop and commercialize zeolite-based products in the United States, including agricultural
- The Petitioner proposed to operate a medical billing and healthcare revenue cycle management firm in the United States,
- The Petitioner proposed to establish and lead as CEO a cybersecurity and crisis management company in Florida, offering
- The Petitioner proposed to establish and operate an IT consultancy company in Michigan providing cloud migration, cybers