dismissedMAY132024_01B52032024-05-13 · appeal · Nebraska 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 home health aide by background, proposed to establish and manage a home care consulting business advising elder-care organizations on staff training, program development, and patient wellness.

Field: home health care / elder care consulting · Read the decision (uscis.gov)

EB-2 threshold — not met

Petitioner did not show her foreign biology/entomology degree was the equivalent of a U.S. master's degree, that it related to her intended specialty of home elder care, that she had five years of progressive post-baccalaureate experience, or that her intended occupation (managing a home care consulting business, akin to a home health aide role requiring only a high school diploma) qualifies as a profession requiring a bachelor's degree.

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

“We recognize the importance of the home care industry, the fields of home care and elder care, and related careers; however, merely working in the home care industry or establishing a home care consulting business is insufficient to establish the national importance of the proposed endeavor.”

“We acknowledge that a shortage of home care professionals for the elderly demonstrates substantial merit of a proposed endeavor; however, it does not render a proposed endeavor nationally important under Dhanasar's framework.”

“The Petitioner has not provided corroborating independent and objective evidence to support her claims that her business' activities stand to provide economic and social welfare benefits to the United States.”

“The opinion's reliance on the Petitioner's academic credentials and professional experience to establish the national importance of her proposed endeavor is misplaced.”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

degree · discounted
“the Petitioner has not demonstrated that her diploma is the foreign equivalent of a U.S. master's degree.”
AAO decision text
resume experience · discounted
“the employment letters do not show the Petitioner has five years of progressive experience in her field.”
AAO decision text
business plan · discounted
“the evidence does not suggest that the Petitioner's work establishing a home care consulting business would impact the elder care and healthcare fields more broadly.”
AAO decision text
recommendation letter · discounted
“The submission of letters from experts supporting the petition is not presumptive evidence of eligibility.”
AAO decision text

Where this case turned

Economic claims unsupported · p1 — job/revenue projections with no corroborating basis
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

The AAO withdrew the Director's finding that the endeavor lacked substantial merit (crediting the RFE-submitted business plan for that limited purpose) but excluded that same later-dated evidence under Matter of Katigbak from the national-importance analysis, ultimately affirming denial solely on national importance and declining to reach prongs two and three.

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 Caron Int'l
Matter of Katigbak
Matter of L-A-C-

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