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.
A telecommunications engineer sought to continue working in the U.S. designing, developing, and implementing fiber optic networks, initially as a network cloud engineer and later as a fiber engineer for a digital engineering company.
Field: telecommunications engineering · Read the decision (uscis.gov)
EB-2 threshold — addressed
AAO agreed Petitioner qualified as an advanced degree professional based on a bachelor's equivalent degree plus five years of progressive experience.
Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive
“the Petitioner has not demonstrated that the specific projects on which he would work have national implications in the telecommunications field or on the national economy”
“the record does not indicate whether the specific project affects services nationwide or regionally”
“The letters focus on the telecommunications field rather than on the Petitioner's particular, proposed work.”
“the Petitioner has not demonstrated that his proposed venture has national importance”
AAO decision text
How the evidence was treated
- recommendation letter · discounted
“the professors' letters do not demonstrate that his specific endeavor has national implications”
AAO decision text - resume experience · credited
- degree · credited
Where this case turned
- 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
Notable
Petitioner changed job/endeavor details (from network cloud engineer to fiber engineer) after filing in response to an RFE; AAO declined to resolve whether this was an impermissible material change, finding the new endeavor also failed national importance regardless. Petitioner's argument that USCIS applied a heightened standard of proof was rejected for lack of supporting examples.
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)
- Matter of Izummi
- Matter of L-A-C-
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