The Petitioner, a quality assurance engineer, proposed to provide QA software services to U.S. companies in sectors like healthcare and finance, teach and expand the QA professional community through courses, and continue open-source contributions creating test automation tools.

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

“Neither author of these recommendation letters described whether the Petitioner's solutions were shared or could be shared outside of their respective companies”

“he does not specify how providing his quality assurance software services for a U.S based company would more broadly impact the field of software engineering”

“he has not shown that his endeavor would have any projected positive U.S. economic impact or job creation at a level commensurate with national importance”

“the relevant question is not the importance of the industry or profession in which the individual will work; instead, we focus on "the specific endeavor that the Petitioner proposes to undertake."”

“these letters do not demonstrate how his proposed endeavor of educating the professional community would have any projected U.S. economic impact or job creation”

“the evidence does not explain who is using the referenced tool and how it is being used in the industry to sufficiently demonstrate global or national implications”

“the Petitioner has not shown that his endeavor would impact the field of software engineering or software quality assurance education more broadly”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

• recommendation letter · discounted

  “Neither author of these recommendation letters described whether the Petitioner's solutions were shared or could be shared outside of their respective companies”

  AAO decision text
• resume experience · discounted

  “the Petitioner's knowledge, skills, and abilities relate to the second prong of the Dhanasar framework”

  AAO decision text
• media · discounted

  “the evidence does not explain who is using the referenced tool and how it is being used in the industry”

  AAO decision text
• other · discounted

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

  AAO decision text
• awards · discounted

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
• Letters not independent · p1 — letters come from employers and close collaborators, not independent experts
• Local, not national scope · p1 — impact confined to clients / a region

Notable

AAO expressly declined to reach prong 3 (citing INS v. Bagamasbad and Matter of L-A-C- for not making advisory findings) after finding prong 1 dispositive, even though the Director's denial had rested on both prongs 1 and 3. The decision also carefully distinguishes evidence relevant to prong 2 (petitioner's personal experience/skills) from prong 1 (endeavor's prospective national impact), rejecting the petitioner's argument that acceptance of his experience evidence should carry over to the national importance analysis.

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 L-A-C-

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