NIW Bearings
dismissedSEP062023_01B52032023-09-06 · appeal · Texas 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 establish and manage a digital marketing consulting and advertising agency in Florida, serving small and medium-sized food and beverage/hospitality businesses.

Field: digital marketing consulting and advertising · Read the decision (uscis.gov)

EB-2 threshold — addressed

Director found, and AAO did not disturb, that Petitioner established eligibility as an advanced degree professional based on foreign equivalent bachelor's degree plus five years of progressive experience.

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

“the record did not establish that her proposed endeavor has the potential to extend beyond her business and her clients”
“The Petitioner has not provided corroborating evidence to support her claims that her business' activities stand to provide substantial economic benefits”
“the record does not sufficiently detail the basis for its financial and staffing projections, or adequately explain how these projections will be realized”
“merely working in the marketing field or starting a digital marketing consulting and advertising agency business is insufficient to establish the national importance”
“The industry reports and articles submitted do not discuss any projected U.S. economic impact or job creation specifically attributable to the Petitioner's proposed endeavor”
“The Petitioner does not demonstrate that her proposed endeavor extends beyond her business and her future clients to impact the field”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

  • business plan · discounted
    “the record does not sufficiently detail the basis for its financial and staffing projections, or adequately explain how these projections will be realized”
    AAO decision text
  • recommendation letter · discounted
    “The content of the opinion is lacking relevance because it discusses how the Petitioner's expertise would be beneficial to U.S. companies doing business in Latin America”
    AAO decision text
  • resume experience · discounted
    “Her academic credentials, professional experience, and achievements relate to the second prong of the Dhanasar framework”
    AAO decision text
  • media · discounted
    “merely working in the marketing field or starting a digital marketing consulting and advertising agency business is insufficient to establish the national importance”
    AAO decision text
  • degree · credited

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
  • 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
1,312coded 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 explicitly reserved and declined to reach prongs 2 and 3 as unnecessary, citing INS v. Bagamasbad and Matter of L-A-C- for the proposition that agencies need not decide issues unnecessary to the result.

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 D-R-
  • Matter of E-M-
  • Matter of L-A-C-
  • Poursina v. USCIS

Cases in adjacent profiles

← Back to the case explorer