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, an elementary school teacher with a Florida LLC, intended to operate a childcare center offering early childhood education, before/after school enrichment, summer programs, and services for children with special needs.
Field: early childhood/elementary education · Read the decision (uscis.gov)
EB-2 threshold — not met
The Petitioner met three of six exceptional-ability criteria but the totality of evidence did not show expertise significantly above that ordinarily encountered in the field; she also failed to establish, as an alternative, that her Brazilian licentiate degree was the foreign equivalent of a full U.S. bachelor's degree needed for the advanced-degree professional pathway.
How the evidence was treated
- recommendation letter · discounted
“the evidence does not show how the Petitioner's activities had an impact beyond her students and employers”
AAO decision text - degree · discounted
“the mere possession of a degree or diploma from a college or university is not by itself considered sufficient evidence of exceptional ability”
AAO decision text - certification membership · discounted
“the record does not show that the Petitioner's membership in this association is indicative of her exceptional ability in the field of education”
AAO decision text - resume experience · discounted
“the Petitioner did not demonstrate how her experience relates to other teachers or how it is indicative of a heightened degree of expertise”
AAO decision text
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Notable
The AAO found the Petitioner ineligible for the underlying EB-2 classification (both exceptional ability and, in the alternative, advanced degree professional) and expressly declined to reach the Dhanasar national interest waiver analysis, citing Bagamasbad and Matter of L-A-C- for the principle that agencies need not reach unnecessary issues. The dismissal rests on two independent alternate grounds: failure to establish exceptional ability and failure to establish an advanced degree equivalent.
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)(3)(ii)
- Matter of L-A-C-
- Poursina v. USCIS
Cases in adjacent profiles
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- 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