NIW Bearings
dismissedMAY222024_02B52032024-05-22 · appeal · 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 sought to operate their own information technology consulting company providing software development and GPS tracking technology solutions to clients in the transportation and logistics sectors.

Field: information technology / software development and tracking technology consulting · Read the decision (uscis.gov)

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

The issue here, however, is not the national importance of the field, industry, or profession in which the individual will work
we conclude the Petitioner has not shown that their proposed endeavor stands to sufficiently extend beyond their company and its clientele
we are not persuaded by the claim that their proposed endeavor has national importance due to the shortage of professionals in the information technology and trucking industries
they did not elaborate on these projections or provide evidence supporting the need for these additional employees
they have not offered sufficient evidence that their endeavor offers a substantial economic benefit through employment levels, tax revenue, or business activity

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

  • business plan · discounted
    they did not adequately explain how these sales forecasts were calculated
    AAO decision text
  • recommendation letter · discounted
    does not contain sufficient information and explanation, nor does the record include adequate corroborating evidence
    AAO decision text
  • other · discounted
    shortages of qualified workers are directly addressed by the U.S. Department of Labor through the labor certification process
    AAO decision text

Where this case turned

  • Business plan speculative · p1projections without a documented basis or steps
  • Economic claims unsupported · p1job/revenue projections with no corroborating basis
  • Field importance conflated with endeavor · p1argues the field matters, not the specific endeavor
  • Local, not national scope · p1impact confined to clients / a region
  • Occupational shortage argument rejected · p1argues a labor shortage — the labor-certification question, not Dhanasar
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Notable

AAO credited the general merit of the IT/logistics field (citing extensive industry articles) but drew a sharp line between field-level importance and the specific endeavor, rejecting the expert letter's conflation of the two; the appeal was resolved entirely on prong 1 with prongs 2 and 3 expressly reserved.

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-

Cases in adjacent profiles