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 dental surgeon, initially proposed to work as a dentist treating American patients and training other dental professionals, but later presented a business plan to open her own dental clinic in Massachusetts offering affordable dental services.
Field: dentistry · Read the decision (uscis.gov)
EB-2 threshold — addressed
The Director found the Petitioner did not qualify as an advanced degree professional because she lacked a U.S. doctorate or foreign equivalent. The AAO withdrew this finding upon de novo review, consulting the AACRAO EDGE database and concluding her Brazilian dental surgeon degree is equivalent to a U.S. D.D.S./D.M.D., a first professional degree, satisfying the advanced degree requirement.
How the evidence was treated
- degree · credited
- business plan · ignored
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Notable
The Director denied solely on the threshold advanced-degree issue and never reached the NIW prongs; the AAO withdrew that finding after consulting the AACRAO EDGE database and remanded for the Director to first identify the actual endeavor (dentist employee vs. clinic entrepreneur, noting a possible material change in endeavor after the RFE) before conducting the full Dhanasar analysis. No prong was substantively analyzed by the AAO itself. The Petitioner's exceptional-ability claim was deemed abandoned since not raised on appeal.
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
- 8 C.F.R. 204.5(k)(2)
- Flores v. Garland
- Matter of O-R-E-
- Matter of R-A-M-
What this case teaches
Analyst reading of the decision text.
Director erroneously found Petitioner ineligible for advanced-degree EB-2 classification and never reached the Dhanasar national interest waiver analysis, requiring remand for a complete decision.
Clearly define and consistently maintain a single proposed endeavor throughout the petition and RFE response to avoid remand for endeavor-identification ambiguity.
vague
public_health · economic_job_creation
mixed
Cases in adjacent profiles
- The Petitioner, a pharmacist, proposed to work in the United States through her own company providing pharmaceutical reg
- The Petitioner, a Brazilian-trained physiotherapist, proposed to work as a physical therapist and entrepreneur in the Un
- The Petitioner, a resident physician in New York holding a Chinese bachelor of medicine (MBBS) degree found equivalent t
- The Petitioner, a music therapist, proposed to establish and expand music therapy services and community music programs
- The Petitioner, a physical therapist, proposed to work as a physical therapist in the United States while operating his