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, a civil engineering PhD graduate, proposed to use artificial intelligence to automate the generation and analysis of construction documents and project workflow, and to predict locomotion for powered exoskeletons.
Field: civil engineering / AI-based construction automation · Read the decision (uscis.gov)
EB-2 threshold — addressed
SCOPS found, and AAO did not disturb, that the Petitioner qualifies as an advanced degree professional; this was not in dispute on appeal.
Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive
“the record does not establish how the specific endeavor the Petitioner proposes to undertake has the type of broader implications indicative of national importance”
“the publications ... do not address how the specific endeavor the Petitioner proposes to undertake may have the type of broader implications indicative of national importance”
“the letter of recommendation the Petitioner submitted ... consists of unsubstantiated, conclusory, and subjective statements”
“being simply listed as one of multiple authors on a research project publication does not establish how that research has national or even global implications”
AAO decision text
How the evidence was treated
- recommendation letter · discounted
“it provides little help for us to determine a fact in issue and it bears minimal probative value for establishing whether the proposed endeavor may have national importance”
AAO decision text - citations publications · discounted
“they bear minimal probative value to this prong and we need not address them further”
AAO decision text - funding · discounted
“bears limited probative value regarding the significance of the Petitioner's contributions to the research funded by the grant”
AAO decision text
Where this case turned
- Citations insufficient · p1 — citation counts without qualitative account of impact
- Endeavor too vague · p1 — described as a job role, not a defined undertaking
- Field importance conflated with endeavor · p1 — argues the field matters, not the specific endeavor
- Letters conclusory · p1 — letters praise skills in general terms without tracing specific impact
Notable
AAO characterized SCOPS' erroneous citation to the vacated NYSDOT framework and conflation of second-prong language into the first-prong analysis as harmless error, since the substance of SCOPS' reasoning tracked Dhanasar's first-prong requirement. AAO also rejected the Petitioner's procedural argument that SCOPS failed to adequately explain its denial under USCIS Policy Manual E.9(B)(3), finding SCOPS need not address every piece of evidence in writing.
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
- 8 C.F.R. 103.5
- Flores v. Garland
- INA 203(b)(2)
- Matter of L-A-C-
- Matter of O-R-E-
What this case teaches
Analyst reading of the decision text.
Record failed to show the specific proposed endeavor (not just the field or industry) had broader national or global implications; evidence was generalized, conclusory, or tied to petitioner's role in others' research rather than the endeavor's independent impact.
Tie evidence directly to the specific endeavor's prospective scale and broader implications (national/global impact, job creation, economic effects), not the general importance of the field or petitioner's credentials.
moderate
critical_emerging_tech · stem_positive_factor · field_advancement · economic_job_creation
person_focused
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