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 continue leading two schools in a U.S. commonwealth that teach Indigenous (Chammoro and Carolinian) and Russian languages, having designed a curriculum that is the only one in her region incorporating Indigenous languages into early education.
Field: Indigenous language education and cultural preservation · Read the decision (uscis.gov)
EB-2 threshold — addressed
Director found Petitioner qualifies as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree; not contested on appeal.
Prong 1 — national importanceestablished
“We withdraw the Director's determination that the Petitioner did not establish the national importance of her proposed endeavor under Dhanasar's first prong.”
“These letters, as well as other corroborating evidence contained in the record, are sufficient to demonstrate that the benefits of the Petitioner's proposed work offer broader implications for U.S. cultural enrichment.”
AAO decision text
Prong 2 — well positionedestablished
“We agree with the Director's determination that the Petitioner satisfies the second prong of the Dhanasar framework.”
“the Petitioner submitted evidence indicating that she received hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant fonding for her school”
AAO decision text
Prong 3 — balance of factorsestablished
“we conclude that she offers contributions of such value that, on balance, they would benefit the United States even assuming that other qualified U.S. workers are available.”
AAO decision text
How the evidence was treated
- recommendation letter · credited
- funding · credited
- degree · credited
- other · credited
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Notable
Rare appeal outcome sustaining all three Dhanasar prongs, with AAO explicitly withdrawing the Director's negative findings on prongs 1 and 3; the endeavor is unusually non-STEM, focused on Indigenous language/cultural preservation in a U.S. commonwealth, and heavy reliance on high-level government and community letters (governor, mayor, legislative chairwoman) was credited rather than discounted as conclusory.
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.
- INA 203(b)(2)
- Poursina v. USCIS
What this case teaches
Analyst reading of the decision text.
Robust, corroborated letters from government and community leaders showing the endeavor's broad regional importance to Indigenous language and culture preservation, satisfying national importance despite localized geography.
Even geographically localized endeavors can meet national importance if corroborated by multiple government/official letters detailing broader cultural, educational, or policy significance.
specific
field_advancement · geographic_or_shortage_area · other
endeavor_focused
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