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 environmental protection technician/specialist, initially proposed to work as a technician/specialist within the U.S. oil industry sector, but after filing changed her proposed endeavor to owning and operating her own environmental risk-consulting firm.
Field: environmental protection / environmental risk assessment in oil and gas industry · Read the decision (uscis.gov)
EB-2 threshold — not met
The record does not establish that the Petitioner's foreign undergraduate credentials are the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor's degree, and the expert opinion letter and credentials evaluation report conflict with each other and lack supporting transcripts; if her 2018 degree were treated as the qualifying bachelor's degree, she would not have five years of post-baccalaureate experience by the filing date.
Prong 1 — national importancenot established
“the materially changed proposed endeavor should not have formed the basis of the Director's analysis of the Petitioner's eligibility for a national interest waiver”
“The Petitioner must establish eligibility at the time of filing.”
“the evidence of record does not appear to demonstrate that the Petitioner met the requirements of the analytical framework set forth in Dhanasar”
AAO decision text
How the evidence was treated
- degree · discounted
“credential evaluations are advisory and may be given less weight”
AAO decision text - resume experience · discounted
- business plan · discounted
“the materially changed proposed endeavor should not have formed the basis of the Director's analysis”
AAO decision text
Where this case turned
- Business plan speculative · p1 — projections without a documented basis or steps
- Material change of endeavor · p1 — the endeavor described on appeal is not the one filed
Notable
AAO withdrew the Director's decision partly because the Director based the national-importance finding on a materially changed endeavor (from technician/specialist to firm owner/director) first raised in an RFE response, contrary to the requirement that eligibility be established at time of filing. The case was remanded rather than dismissed, with both the threshold advanced-degree issue and the Dhanasar analysis left open for the Director to redo; no single prong was treated as dispositive since the decision itself was found incomplete.
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. 103.2(b)(1)
- Matter of Ho
- Matter of Izummi
- Matter of Katigbak
What this case teaches
Analyst reading of the decision text.
Director's national importance finding rested on a materially changed endeavor (entrepreneur/firm owner) first raised in RFE response, contradicting the filing-date description and Katigbak/Izummi rules; also degree-equivalency evidence was internally inconsistent and unsupported by transcripts.
Keep the proposed endeavor description consistent from filing through RFE response, and support foreign degree equivalency with transcripts and internally consistent expert/credential evaluations.
vague
public_health · economic_growth_generic
person_focused
Cases in adjacent profiles
- The Petitioner, a mechanical engineer, proposed to advance thermal management solutions for high-power, compact, and rel
- The Petitioner, a senior engineering program manager specializing in electromechanical systems, proposed to advance moto
- The Petitioner proposed to provide innovative solutions to optimize freight and vessel operations in the U.S. shipping i
- The Petitioner, a sales manager, proposed an endeavor in the United States for which he sought an EB-2 national interest
- The Petitioner proposed to lead a nationwide initiative to develop and implement a standardized materials management mod