NIW Bearings
dismissedMAR102025_03B52032025-03-10 · appeal · Texas Service Center

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 PhD holder in education administration, proposed to work as a high school and college teacher while conducting research on curriculum development and classroom management, incorporating AI tools and techniques from industry.

Field: education administration / STEM teaching · Read the decision (uscis.gov)

EB-2 threshold — addressed

Director and AAO agreed Petitioner qualified for EB-2 as an advanced degree professional based on his PhD.

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

“The Director determined the Petitioner did not establish that his proposed endeavor would extend beyond his students and future employer to impact his field more broadly on a level indicative of national importance.”
“The Petitioner does not submit evidence to support this claim.”
“The Petitioner did not submit evidence that his teaching would extend beyond his individual students to address the STEM teacher shortage on a level commensurate with national importance.”
“the U.S. Department of Labor addresses labor shortages through the labor certification process.”
“she does not explain how the Petitioner's work would extend beyond his students to impact his field more broadly.”
“A-C-, E-L-, S-K-B-, E-M-, H-Q-, and J-Y- do not discuss the Petitioner's specific proposed endeavor.”
“The Petitioner does not establish that any of his published work indicates his proposed endeavor would have national or even global implications in his field.”
“the Petitioner has not established that his proposed endeavor would sufficiently extend beyond his individual students to impact his field more broadly at a level commensurate with national importance.”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

  • recommendation letter · discounted
    “do not discuss the Petitioner's specific proposed endeavor”
    AAO decision text
  • citations publications · discounted
    “does not establish that any of his published work indicates his proposed endeavor would have national or even global implications”
    AAO decision text
  • degree · credited
  • resume experience · discounted
    “do not specifically address his proposed endeavor”
    AAO decision text

Where this case turned

  • Citations insufficient · p1 — citation counts without qualitative account of impact
  • Economic claims unsupported · p1 — job/revenue projections with no corroborating basis
  • 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
  • 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
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Notable

AAO cites its own Dhanasar precedent's facts (teaching activities not nationally important) as a direct analogy to dismiss the appeal, and notes DOL labor certification process as the proper mechanism for occupational shortage claims rather than NIW national importance.

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
  • Flores v. Garland
  • Matter of L-A-C-

What this case teaches

Analyst reading of the decision text.

Decisive factor

Petitioner failed to show his teaching/research endeavor would extend beyond his individual students and employer to impact the field more broadly at a level of national importance.

Transferable lesson

For teaching-based endeavors, submit concrete evidence (data, dissemination, adoption) showing impact beyond one's own students/institution to the broader field or profession nationally.

Endeavor framing

vague

National-importance theory

stem_positive_factor · us_competitiveness · geographic_or_shortage_area · field_advancement

Evidence targeting

person_focused

Cases in adjacent profiles

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