NIW Bearings
dismissedOCT032024_03B52032024-10-03 · 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 Petitioner proposed to work in the U.S. as an aircraft maintenance consultant, providing services such as aircraft maintenance management and monitoring, pre-purchase inspections, and import/export support through his own consulting company.

Field: aircraft maintenance consulting / aviation · Read the decision (uscis.gov)

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

“However, while the Petitioner has established that the proposed endeavor has substantial merit, the record does not establish its national importance.”
“The Petitioner's reliance on his prior projects does not establish the broader implications of his proposed endeavor as he has not shown how these projects resulted”
“Generalized conclusory statements that do not identify a specific impact to the field have little probative value.”
“Although the Petitioner submitted vague and non-specific business plans asserting the business would hire nine employees after the first five years of operation, it did not properly substantiate how this would have a national level impact”
“a shortage of workers alone does not establish that a proposed endeavor would likely have a prospective national impact”
“The Petitioner has not submitted specific and targeted business plans, but provides generic assertions about impacting commercial airlines, logistics, cargo transport, trade, tourism”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

  • recommendation letter · discounted
    “the reference letter stressed by the Petitioner discusses the Petitioner's assistance the refurbishment and import of one aircraft, leaving question as to its probative value”
    AAO decision text
  • business plan · discounted
    “the Petitioner submitted vague and non-specific business plans asserting the business would hire nine employees after the first five years of operation”
    AAO decision text
  • contract revenue · discounted
    “the Petitioner provided only two letters from potential clients in Florida that do not properly reflect their potential financial impact”
    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
  • Local, not national scope · p1 — impact confined to clients / a region
  • Occupational shortage argument rejected · p1 — argues a labor shortage — the labor-certification question, not Dhanasar
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Notable

AAO agreed the endeavor had substantial merit but rejected national importance, emphasizing that reliance on a single aircraft refurbishment/import project and generic industry-wide statistics (5% of GDP, 10 million workers) failed to show impact beyond immediate customers; also cites Flores v. Garland in a footnote regarding discretionary nature of NIW grants.

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. 204.5(k)(2)
  • Matter of L-A-C-

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