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 commercial pilot, sought EB-2 classification as an individual of exceptional ability with a national interest waiver of the job offer requirement, based on his flight training and career experience.
Field: aviation / commercial piloting · Read the decision (uscis.gov)
EB-2 threshold — not met
Petitioner did not contest failure to qualify as an advanced degree professional, and the AAO affirmed he did not meet at least three of the six exceptional-ability criteria at 8 C.F.R. 204.5(k)(3)(ii) (academic records, ten years' experience, and professional association membership/recognition criteria all found deficient).
How the evidence was treated
- degree · discounted
“do not appear to be "academic records" within the meaning of 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(k)(3)(ii)(A)”
AAO decision text - resume experience · discounted
“which suggests the signatories of the letters did not independently write them”
AAO decision text - certification membership · discounted
“does not suggest that it is a professional association within the meaning of the criterion”
AAO decision text - recommendation letter · discounted
“it does not indicate the Petitioner has been recognized for achievements and significant contributions to the aviation industry as a whole”
AAO decision text - motion resubmission · discounted
“he relies upon evidence and arguments previously submitted”
AAO decision text
This record is one of thousands, each coded for the reasons it turned. A placement shows where your profile sits in that record, not what it predicts. See where your profile sits — 90 seconds →
Notable
AAO adopted and affirmed the Director's exceptional-ability findings (Matter of Burbano) and expressly declined to reach the Dhanasar national-interest-waiver analysis as unnecessary given threshold ineligibility, though it noted in dicta that it agreed the NIW record was also insufficient. New employer letters were discounted partly because one postdated the RFE and thus was 'less probative,' citing contemporaneity principles from Matter of O-M-O- and Matter of Pineda.
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)(3)(ii)
- Chen v. INS
- Matter of L-A-C-
- Matter of Otiende
Cases in adjacent profiles
- The Petitioner, an aircraft mechanic and instructor, proposed to enhance aviation maintenance training programs, support
- The Petitioner seeks EB-2 classification as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree with a national inter
- The petitioner sought an EB-2 national interest waiver of the job offer requirement, but the substance of the proposed e
- The Beneficiary, sponsored by a private airline, sought EB-2 classification as an individual of exceptional ability in a
- The petitioner sought an EB-2 national interest waiver as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree; the sp