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 work as General and Operations Manager of his ice cream company, overseeing executive management, operations, and planned expansion into new states through construction of additional factories.
Field: frozen dessert / ice cream manufacturing and distribution business · Read the decision (uscis.gov)
Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive
“the Petitioner has not shown that his proposed endeavor stands to sufficiently extend beyond his current company and its customers to impact the frozen dessert industry or the U.S. economy more broadly”
“such documentation standing alone does not demonstrate that the benefits to the regional or national economy resulting from the Petitioner's undertaking would reach the level of "substantial positive economic effects"”
“The Petitioner did not supplement the record with evidence such as business records, bank statements, or real estate investment proposals demonstrating the current level of investment”
AAO decision text
How the evidence was treated
- business plan · discounted
“such documentation standing alone does not demonstrate that the benefits to the regional or national economy resulting from the Petitioner's undertaking would reach the level of 'substantial positive economic effects' contemplated by Dhanasar”
AAO decision text - other · discounted
“the Petitioner has not offered sufficient evidence that the areas where his company will operate are economically depressed, that he would employ a significant population of workers”
AAO decision text - contract revenue · discounted
“he has not offered sufficient information and evidence to demonstrate that the prospective impact of his proposed endeavor rises to the level of 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
- Local, not national scope · p1 — impact confined to clients / a region
Notable
AAO explicitly frames its national-importance finding as an independent and alternate basis for dismissal, declining to reach prongs two and three; petitioner's economic-impact report used RIMS II input-output modeling, which AAO found insufficient standing 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.
- INA 203(b)(2)
- Poursina v. USCIS
What this case teaches
Analyst reading of the decision text.
Petitioner failed to substantiate speculative business/job-creation projections with financial records, investment proof, or evidence of economically depressed target areas, so national importance was unproven.
Support growth/job-creation projections with concrete financial documentation (tax records, investment proof, audited statements) tying scale of impact specifically to national or regional significance.
moderate
economic_job_creation · economic_growth_generic
mixed
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