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 start and serve as CEO of an IT-focused consulting company that would provide specialized courses, seminars, and workshops to improve IT consultants' knowledge.
Field: information technology consulting · Read the decision (uscis.gov)
EB-2 threshold — addressed
Director found Petitioner qualified as an advanced degree professional; not disputed on appeal.
Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive
“We concur with the Director that the record does not contain supporting evidence corroborating these projected employment and financial figures, as indicated in the business plan”
“the relevant query is not the importance of the industry or profession the individual will work, but on the specific endeavor the petitioner proposes to undertake”
“the Petitioner has not established his proposed endeavor would sufficiently extend beyond the individual clients and companies he works with to impact the field of TT more broadly”
AAO decision text
How the evidence was treated
- business plan · discounted
“the record does not contain supporting evidence corroborating these projected employment and financial figures”
AAO decision text - citations publications · discounted
“they address only the broader field rather than the Petitioner's specific endeavor”
AAO decision text
Where this case turned
- Economic claims unsupported · p1 — job/revenue projections with no corroborating basis
- Field importance conflated with endeavor · p1 — argues the field matters, not the specific endeavor
- Local, not national scope · p1 — impact confined to clients / a region
Notable
AAO applies the STEM classroom-teaching analogy from Policy Manual F.5(D)(2) and Dhanasar's own teaching-activity discussion to find the petitioner's training/course-based endeavor analogous to non-nationally-important classroom teaching, distinguishing it from STEM research/technology advancement.
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-
Cases in adjacent profiles
- The Beneficiary proposed to establish an asset investment management and compliance advisory firm in New York offering c
- The Petitioner proposed to develop and commercialize zeolite-based products in the United States, including agricultural
- The Petitioner proposed to operate a medical billing and healthcare revenue cycle management firm in the United States,
- The Petitioner proposed to establish and lead as CEO a cybersecurity and crisis management company in Florida, offering
- The Petitioner proposed to establish and operate an IT consultancy company in Michigan providing cloud migration, cybers