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 cybersecurity specialist, initially proposed to obtain certifications, attend conferences, complete a master's degree, and advance her career toward CISO-level roles; in her RFE response she instead described founding and directing her own cybersecurity consulting startup.
Field: cybersecurity · Read the decision (uscis.gov)
EB-2 threshold — not met
The post-filing master's degree was a new fact not existing at filing and could not establish eligibility; the bachelor's degree evaluations were unofficial, internally conflicting on credit hours, and undermined the record's overall reliability; and even if the bachelor's degree were valid, the petitioner's IT-related work experience did not match its accounting specialty, so five years of progressive experience in the specialty was not shown.
Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive
“Much of the Petitioner's initial proposed endeavor entails self-enrichment”
“the record does not establish how the Petitioner's proposed endeavor at the time of filing, which generally entails enriching herself and advancing her career, has national importance”
“the business plan for the startup company the Petitioner submitted in response to the RFE impermissibly presents a new set of facts that cannot-and does not-establish eligibility”
“the record does not establish how the Petitioner's personal career advancement may have national or even global implications within the field of cybersecurity”
AAO decision text
How the evidence was treated
- degree · discounted
“presents a new set of material facts that did not exist at the time of filing”
AAO decision text - business plan · discounted
“impermissibly presents a new set of facts that cannot-and does not-establish eligibility”
AAO decision text - resume experience · discounted
- certification membership · ignored
Where this case turned
- Business plan speculative · p1 — projections without a documented basis or steps
- Employer-specific benefit · p1 — "work furthers my company's product" — value accrues to one firm
- Endeavor too vague · p1 — described as a job role, not a defined undertaking
- Local, not national scope · p1 — impact confined to clients / a region
Notable
The AAO found the record's veracity 'rather low' due to two independently discovered inconsistencies: conflicting credit-hour data between two academic evaluations for the same bachelor's degree, and a direct conflict between the petitioner's RFE-response statements (that she would found and staff a startup within her first year) and her appellate denial that she sought an 'entrepreneurial pathway.' The AAO invoked Matter of Ho to let doubt about one part of the record undermine confidence in the whole. Threshold EB-2 ineligibility and prong 1 failure were treated as independently dispositive grounds, with the AAO addressing both despite the threshold finding alone being dispositive.
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. 103.3
- Flores v. Garland
- Matter of Ho
- Matter of Izummi
- Matter of Katigbak
- Matter of L-A-C-
What this case teaches
Analyst reading of the decision text.
Her post-filing master's and unofficial, mutually conflicting degree evaluations defeated classification; her filing-time endeavor was self-enrichment and career advancement, and the RFE-stage startup pivot was a barred material change contradicted by her own appeal.
An endeavor built on your own certifications, conferences, and promotions is self-enrichment, not national importance; degrees must predate filing and academic records must be official.
vague
national_security · critical_emerging_tech
person_focused
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