NIW Bearings
dismissedMAY142025_01B52032025-05-14 · appeal

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, an aviation consultant, planned to serve as CEO of a management consulting company providing airport/airline services such as master plan preparation, safety analysis and management, initially based in Florida and expanding to other U.S. states and abroad.

Field: aviation consulting · Read the decision (uscis.gov)

EB-2 threshold — addressed

Director found, and AAO agreed, that the Petitioner qualifies as an advanced degree professional based on his Master of Science in aviation.

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

“The Petitioner cites no evidence to support these claims.”
“does not establish how his company's work would extend beyond individual airports and airlines to impact the management consulting or aviation industries more broadly”
“Our assessment of national importance does not focus on the importance of issues to an industry in general, but instead "focuses on the specific endeavor that the foreign national proposes to undertake."”
“but does not address the Petitioner's proposed endeavor.”
“These projections do not indicate that the Petitioner's company has significant potential to employ U.S. workers or will have substantial positive economic effects”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

  • business plan · discounted
    “These projections do not indicate that the Petitioner's company has significant potential to employ U.S. workers”
    AAO decision text
  • recommendation letter · discounted
    “but does not discuss his proposed endeavor.”
    AAO decision text
  • media · discounted
    “do not discuss the Petitioner's company or establish its potential prospective impact.”
    AAO decision text
  • degree · credited

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
  • Field importance conflated with endeavor · p1 — argues the field matters, not the specific endeavor
  • Letters conclusory · p1 — letters praise skills in general terms without tracing specific impact
  • Local, not national scope · p1 — impact confined to clients / a region
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Notable

AAO's footnote cites Flores v. Garland and other circuit courts confirming that NIW grants are discretionary in nature, an observation not central to the outcome but included as background law.

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

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