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 proposed to work as co-owner and CEO of her own digital marketing consulting services business in Florida, providing market assessment, campaign, and branding services to start-up and small businesses, with planned expansion to New York and Michigan.
Field: digital marketing consulting · Read the decision (uscis.gov)
EB-2 threshold — addressed
Director found, and AAO did not disturb, that the Petitioner qualified as an advanced degree professional based on her bachelor's degree plus five years of progressive experience.
Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive
“her proposed endeavor in this case stands to sufficiently extend beyond an organization or its clients, to impact the industry or field more broadly”
“The Petitioner has not provided corroborating evidence to support her claims that her business' activities stand to provide substantial economic benefits”
“Instead, of focusing on the importance of an industry or a shortage of workers in an industry, we focus on the "the specific endeavor that the foreign national proposes to undertake."”
“merely working in the marketing field or starting a digital marketing consulting services business is insufficient to establish the national importance of the proposed endeavor”
AAO decision text
How the evidence was treated
- business plan · discounted
“the record does not sufficiently document the potential prospective impact, including the asserted economic benefits”
AAO decision text - recommendation letter · discounted
“Simply stating that her work would support an important industry which is expected to have job growth is not sufficient”
AAO decision text - resume experience · discounted
“the Petitioner's reliance on her professional experience and achievements to establish the national importance of her proposed endeavor is misplaced”
AAO decision text - media · discounted
“merely working in the marketing field or starting a digital marketing consulting services business is insufficient to establish the national importance”
AAO decision text
Where this case turned
- Economic claims unsupported · p1 — job/revenue projections with no corroborating basis
- Employer-specific benefit · p1 — "work furthers my company's product" — value accrues to one firm
- 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
Notable
The AAO disagreed with the Director's finding that a revised business plan submitted with the RFE response was inadmissible as postdating the priority date, but found it immaterial since the new plan was substantially the same as the original and did not change the outcome.
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
- Matter of Caron Int'l
- Matter of D-R-
- Matter of E-M-
- Matter of L-A-C-
- Poursina v. USCIS
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