NIW Bearings
dismissedOCT312023_04B52032023-10-31 · 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, a bilingual elementary teacher and education coordinator, proposed to work in the U.S. public school system implementing programs to reduce chronic absenteeism and promote student engagement.

Field: education administration / bilingual elementary teaching · Read the decision (uscis.gov)

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

the Petitioner must demonstrate the national importance of her specific, proposed endeavor of providing her services in the public school system as an educational coordinator or bilingual teacher rather than the importance of education or a spectrum of general issues
the shortage of an occupation does not render her proposed endeavor nationally important under the Dhanasar framework
the record does not show any benefits to the U.S. regional or national economy resulting from her services would reach the level of "substantial positive economic effects"
The record does not show through supporting documentation how her particular services sufficiently extend beyond her prospective students, teachers, or school[s] to impact the field or the U.S. economy more broadly

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

  • other · discounted
    Although the Petitioner argues the importance of education, bilingual and diverse teachers, attendance, and a wide variety of other the topics
    AAO decision text

Where this case turned

  • Economic claims unsupported · p1job/revenue projections with no corroborating basis
  • Endeavor too vague · p1described as a job role, not a defined undertaking
  • Field importance conflated with endeavor · p1argues the field matters, not the specific endeavor
  • Local, not national scope · p1impact confined to clients / a region
  • Occupational shortage argument rejected · p1argues a labor shortage — the labor-certification question, not Dhanasar
2,501coded decisions carry the failure named in this record. A placement shows where your profile sits among them, not what it predicts.See where your profile sits — 90 seconds

Notable

AAO relies on USCIS Policy Manual D.2 specifically regarding STEM/education classroom teaching not being indicative of field-wide impact, applying it by analogy to this non-STEM education case. Decision explicitly frames the prong 1 failure as an independent and alternate basis for dismissal.

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
  • Matter of L-A-C-

Cases in adjacent profiles