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 Brazilian marketing professional, proposed to start her own marketing consulting firm in New York promoting cross-border sales and foreign direct investment between U.S. and Latin American/foreign companies.
Field: marketing consulting · Read the decision (uscis.gov)
EB-2 threshold — addressed
Director determined and AAO did not dispute that Petitioner established eligibility as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree via bachelor's degree plus five years progressive experience.
Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive
“the record does not sufficiently detail the basis for its financial and staffing projections, or adequately explain how these projections will be realized”
“the record lacks evidence showing that creation of 30 jobs and paying wages of 1.84 million dollars rises to the level of national importance”
“The Petitioner's initial description of the proposed endeavor does not provide details beyond her intention to continue working as a marketing manager for U.S. organizations and businesses”
“merely working in the marketing field or starting a marketing consulting business is insufficient to establish the national importance of the proposed endeavor”
“without sufficient documentary evidence that her proposed job duties as a marketing manager at the company would impact the marketing industry more broadly rather than benefiting her proposed clients and their customers”
AAO decision text
How the evidence was treated
- business plan · discounted
“the record does not sufficiently detail the basis for its financial and staffing projections, or adequately explain how these projections will be realized”
AAO decision text - recommendation letter · discounted
“only address her past accomplishments as a marketing professional impacting her workplaces and do not address national importance of her endeavor's potential prospective impact”
AAO decision text - resume experience · discounted
“these documents relate to the second prong of the Dhanasar framework, which shifts the focus from the proposed endeavor to the foreign national”
AAO decision text - other · discounted
“the record does not demonstrate that her proposed endeavor includes collaborative works between U.S. companies and Latin America companies”
AAO decision text - media · discounted
“The industry reports and articles submitted do not discuss any projected U.S. economic impact or job creation specifically attributable to the Petitioner's proposed endeavor”
AAO decision text
Where this case turned
- Business plan speculative · p1 — projections without a documented basis or steps
- Economic claims unsupported · p1 — job/revenue projections with no corroborating basis
- 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
- Field importance conflated with endeavor · p1 — argues the field matters, not the specific endeavor
Notable
The Petitioner changed her proposed endeavor between initial filing (working as marketing manager for U.S. companies) and RFE response (starting her own marketing consulting firm); AAO evaluated the revised endeavor. AAO also cited an expert opinion letter from an academic and discounted it under the 'not in accord with other information' standard from Matter of Sea, Inc. The decision explicitly declines to reach prongs 2 and 3 as unnecessary given the dispositive prong 1 failure.
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)
- Matter of E-M-
- Matter of L-A-C-
Cases in adjacent profiles
- The Beneficiary proposed to establish an asset investment management and compliance advisory firm in New York offering c
- The Petitioner proposed to develop and commercialize zeolite-based products in the United States, including agricultural
- The Petitioner proposed to operate a medical billing and healthcare revenue cycle management firm in the United States,
- The Petitioner proposed to establish and lead as CEO a cybersecurity and crisis management company in Florida, offering
- The Petitioner proposed to establish and operate an IT consultancy company in Michigan providing cloud migration, cybers