A PhD student in engineering, upon completing his doctorate, planned to work as a U.S. university assistant professor while independently conducting research on improved algorithm training methods for large language models, drawing on linguistics, cognitive science, and game theory, with proposed projects in medical AI, data-efficient learning algorithms, and algorithmic collusion.

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

“The Petitioner's statement, however, provides summaries, without specific details or supporting evidence, of his three intended projects.”

“it does not support or demonstrate its prospective potential impact nationally, or even globally, or through broader implications rising to a level of national importance”

“The importance of an industry or field is not sufficient to meet the national importance requirement under the Dhanasar framework.”

“The Petitioner mainly relies on his statements, without corroborating evidence, to characterize his proposed research work as valuable for advancing the field of artificial intelligence.”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

• recommendation letter · discounted

  “have not detailed or established his plans to introduce the claimed novel and innovative advancements”

  AAO decision text
• other · discounted

  “The importance of an industry or field is not sufficient to meet the national importance requirement under the Dhanasar framework.”

  AAO decision text
• degree · credited

Where this case turned

• 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

Notable

The AAO expressly reserved the second and third Dhanasar prongs even though SCOPS had found the second prong satisfied, resting the entire dismissal on the first prong's national-importance requirement; the AAO also drew a direct comparison to the Dhanasar precedent's own hypersonic-propulsion facts to illustrate the specificity and corroboration it found lacking here.

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
• Flores v. Garland
• Matter of E-M-
• Matter of L-A-C-
• USCIS Policy Manual F.5(D)(2)

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