The Petitioner sought to establish a startup IT consulting firm in Texas providing cybersecurity services and IT governance/project management consulting primarily to mid-size to large enterprises, initially targeting the Austin region before expanding nationally.

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

“The record does not adequately describe how the Petitioner's cyber security services would broadly implicate the field of cyber security.”

“The Petitioner here has not demonstrated how conferring the benefit to the "mid-size to large enterprises" they intend to solicit have any implication or benefit rising to a level beyond them and touching matters of national importance.”

“it is not clear from the record how this job creation for the proposed endeavor itself would have a substantial prospective positive economic effect commensurate with national importance.”

“the record does not provide context as to the significance of potential for job creation through the proposed endeavor rising to a level of national importance”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

• business plan · discounted

  “the record does not adequately justify how the preparation of an IT department at a "mid-size to large enterprise" ... broadly implicates matters in the field”

  AAO decision text
• recommendation letter · discounted

  “The Petitioner's employment verification and employment letters did not reflect how the proposed endeavor implicates national importance because the letters focused on the Petitioner's past work.”

  AAO decision text
• certification membership · ignored
• resume experience · discounted

  “The Petitioner's demonstration of prior similar work does not have an influence on the proposed endeavor's potential prospective impact”

  AAO decision text
• media · discounted

  “these relate more to the substantiality of the proposed endeavor's merit than its national importance”

  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
• Employer-specific benefit · p1 — "work furthers my company's product" — value accrues to one firm
• Local, not national scope · p1 — impact confined to clients / a region

Notable

AAO expressly disagreed with parts of the Director's rationale (e.g., relevance of Petitioner's technical skills, self-funding, and reputation/marketing concerns to prong 1), correcting the analytical framework while still affirming denial on national importance grounds; also clarified that job creation and remote-work employment claims lacked sufficient context to show national importance.

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 L-A-C-
• Matter of Y-B-
• Poursina v. USCIS

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