dismissedMAY062025_03B52032025-05-06 · motion_reconsider · 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 physical therapist, sought to work in her field in the United States, citing alignment with national health objectives and a shortage of physical therapists.
Field: physical therapy · Read the decision (uscis.gov)
Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive
“merely working in an important field or profession is insufficient to establish the national importance of the proposed endeavor”
“the national shortage of physical therapists is not, in and of itself: sufficient to establish the national importance ofthe Petitioner's endeavor”
“the Department of Labor directly addresses U.S. worker shortages through the labor certification process”
AAO decision text
Prong 2 — well positionedestablished
“the Petitioner's knowledge, skills and abilities relate to the second prong of the Dhanasar framework and thus "shifts the focus from the proposed endeavor to the foreign national."”
AAO decision text
How the evidence was treated
- motion resubmission · discounted
“she did not explain why we should find the evidence any more persuasive than before”
AAO decision text
Where this case turned
- Field importance conflated with endeavor · p1 — argues the field matters, not the specific endeavor
- Occupational shortage argument rejected · p1 — argues a labor shortage — the labor-certification question, not Dhanasar
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Notable
This is the Petitioner's second motion to reconsider following a prior appeal dismissal and a prior motion to reconsider dismissal; the AAO's review was limited to whether it misapplied law/policy in its immediately preceding decision, not a fresh merits review, though it restated the underlying prong 1 shortage/importance rationale.
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. 103.5
- Matter of O-S-G-
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