The Petitioner sought to operate a company providing sales and marketing consulting services to small and medium-sized businesses in Florida, including in an SBA-designated HUBZone, to allegedly stimulate economic growth.

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

“the record does not support his assertions that his work will result in broader implications to the field, beyond the potential benefits to his immediate clients”

“Generalized conclusory statements that do not identify a specific impact in the field have little probative value.”

“the plan does not provide sufficient detail of the basis for these projections or adequately explain how these sales and staffing targets will be realized”

“the Petitioner has not shown that the specific endeavor he proposes to undertake has significant potential to employ U.S. workers or otherwise offers substantial positive economic effects for the United States”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

• business plan · discounted

  “the plan does not provide sufficient detail of the basis for these projections or adequately explain how these sales and staffing targets will be realized”

  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
• 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

AAO rejected Petitioner's argument that the Director applied an improper (heightened) standard of proof, reaffirming preponderance of the evidence as the governing standard. AAO also engaged in an extended footnote analysis questioning whether the Petitioner would even be eligible for the HUBZone program he cited, given ownership requirements limiting eligibility to U.S. citizens or specified entities.

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 L-A-C-

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