The Petitioner sought to establish a Florida-based company providing high-end fiberglass swimming pool installation, management, and automation services, which he would manage using his electronics/industry-specific management experience.

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

“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.”

“these projections are not supported by details showing their basis or an explanation of how they will be achieved.”

“We are not persuaded by the argument that the Petitioner's proposed endeavor has national importance due to the shortage of workers in his field.”

“the relevant question is not the overall importance of the field or industry in which the individual will work, the general benefits of fostering innovation and sustainability, or the value of immigrant entrepreneurship”

“It is insufficient to claim an endeavor has national importance or would create a broad impact without providing evidence to substantiate such claims.”

“he has not shown that his proposed endeavor stands to sufficiently extend beyond his company and its clientele to impact his field or industry, societal welfare, government initiatives”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

• business plan · discounted

  “these projections are not supported by details showing their basis or an explanation of how they will be achieved”

  AAO decision text
• recommendation letter · discounted

  “do not contain sufficient information and explanation ... to show that the Petitioner's specific proposed work offers broader implications”

  AAO decision text
• motion resubmission · discounted

  “it does not assist him in establishing that he meets the requirements set forth in the Dhanasar framework”

  AAO decision text
• other · discounted

  “the relevant question is not the overall importance of the field or industry in which the individual will work”

  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
• 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
• 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

Notable

The AAO rejected the Petitioner's argument that the Director had misquoted or altered the Dhanasar standard (e.g., 'substantial positive economic benefit' vs. 'substantial positive economic effects'), finding no material error. The decision explicitly reserved the second and third Dhanasar prongs and the underlying exceptional-ability classification issue as unnecessary to reach, citing INS v. Bagamasbad and Matter of L-A-C-. The AAO also declined to credit a second, updated business plan submitted in response to an RFE because it post-dated the filing date, citing Matter of Katigbak and Matter of Izummi.

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. 103.2(b)(1)
• 8 C.F.R. 204.5(k)(2)
• 8 C.F.R. 204.5(k)(3)(ii)
• Flores v. Garland
• Matter of Izummi
• Matter of Katigbak
• Matter of L-A-C-
• USCIS Policy Manual F.5(B)(2)

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