NIW Bearings
dismissedMAY022024_07B52032024-05-02 · 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 pharmaceutical chemist, proposed to create a remote, app-based pharmacotherapeutic follow-up program monitoring women aged 40-60 for 15 days after COVID-19 vaccination to detect and prevent adverse events such as blood clots.

Field: pharmaceutical chemistry / public health monitoring · Read the decision (uscis.gov)

EB-2 threshold — addressed

RFE and record supported classification as an advanced degree professional; not disputed by AAO.

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

the Petitioner has not sufficiently demonstrated the national importance of her endeavor
the Petitioner has not sufficiently explained how she would execute her proposed endeavor.
the absence of financial resources to realize the project are relevant to whether the Petitioner's proposed endeavor can credibly be undertaken and carried out successfully
she has not shown that her project stands to provide substantial economic benefits to any particular locality or to the United States overall.

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

  • recommendation letter · discounted
    evidence of the Petitioner's job experience and performance is generally not relevant to the national importance of an endeavor
    AAO decision text
  • resume experience · discounted
    evidence of the Petitioner's job experience and performance is generally not relevant to the national importance of an endeavor
    AAO decision text
  • other · discounted
    it does not provide insight into the Petitioner's plan ... or show how this specific endeavor would have a potential prospective impact of national importance
    AAO decision text
  • business plan · discounted
    the Petitioner has not sufficiently explained how she would execute her proposed endeavor.
    AAO decision text

Where this case turned

  • Business plan speculative · p1projections without a documented basis or steps
  • Economic claims unsupported · p1job/revenue projections with no corroborating basis
  • Endeavor too vague · p1described as a job role, not a defined undertaking
1,312coded decisions carry the failure named in this record. A placement shows where your profile sits among them, not what it predicts.See where your profile sits — 90 seconds

Notable

AAO cites Flores v. Garland (5th Cir. 2023) in a footnote to affirm that NIW grants are discretionary; declines to reach prongs 2 and 3 as unnecessary once prong 1 fails, citing INS v. Bagamasbad and Matter of L-A-C-.

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.

  • Flores v. Garland
  • Matter of L-A-C-
  • USCIS Policy Manual F.5(D)(1)

Cases in adjacent profiles