NIW Bearings
dismissedNOV212024_03B52032024-11-21 · appeal · Nebraska 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 beneficiary sought to continue working as a project controls engineer for a firm managing capital improvement (construction) programs for a public school district, initiating and tracking contracts with architects and contractors.

Field: construction/project controls engineering · Read the decision (uscis.gov)

EB-2 threshold — addressed

Director found the Beneficiary qualified as an advanced degree professional; this was not disputed on appeal.

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

“the economic and employment data proffered by the Petitioner relates to rather than the Beneficiary.”
“the importance of the proposed endeavor is not evaluated by the importance of the profession in which he proposes to engage, but rather the specific potential prospective impact of the specific endeavor.”
“The Petitioner has not established that the Beneficiary's performance of his duties advance STEM technologies or research or has sufficiently broad implications for the field to demonstrate its national importance.”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

  • contract revenue · discounted
    “the economic and employment data proffered by the Petitioner relates to rather than the Beneficiary.”
    AAO decision text
  • other · discounted
    “the general significance or potential impact of the industries in which works does not specifically inform the importance of the Beneficiary's own proposed work.”
    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
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Notable

AAO analogized the endeavor to USCIS Policy Manual guidance on STEM classroom teaching, finding that merely working in a STEM-adjacent industry does not itself establish national importance; footnote cites multiple circuits agreeing NIW denials are discretionary and thus unreviewable on that basis alone.

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.

  • Flores v. Garland
  • Matter of L-A-C-
  • USCIS Policy Manual F.5(D)(2)

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