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 open and manage an environmental consultancy firm based in Massachusetts providing consulting, training, and technical services related to workplace safety, health, environmental compliance (including OSHA standards), and performance improvement for small, medium, and large companies.
Field: occupational health and safety / environmental consulting · Read the decision (uscis.gov)
Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive
“We agree that the Petitioner has not established the national importance of his proposed endeavor and therefore cannot meet the requirements for a national interest waiver.”
“However, the alleged shortage of occupations or occupational skills does not render his proposed endeavor nationally important under the Dhanasar framework.”
“However, the letters do not show the broader impact of the Petitioner's work rather than limited to his specific projects and clients.”
“The Petitioner did not establish the significance of this data to show that the benefits to the regional or national economy would reach the level of "substantial positive economic effects"”
“The record does not show through supporting documentation how the Petitioner's endeavor sufficiently extends beyond his prospective clients and employees to impact the field or the U.S. economy more broadly”
“Rather, the Petitioner must demonstrate the national importance of his specific, proposed endeavor of operating an occupational safety consultancy firm in Massachusetts.”
“he does not provide detail or data to show the economic impact of his specific, proposed endeavor”
AAO decision text
How the evidence was treated
- business plan · discounted
“the Petitioner did not establish the significance of this data to show that the benefits to the regional or national economy would reach the level of "substantial positive economic effects"”
AAO decision text - recommendation letter · discounted
“the letters do not show the broader impact of the Petitioner's work rather than limited to his specific projects and clients”
AAO decision text - other · discounted
“the matter here is not whether these issues are nationally important”
AAO decision text - contract revenue · discounted
“did not provide details about those plans or data about the economic impacts his company would have in those regions”
AAO decision text
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
- 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 conclusory · p1 — letters praise skills in general terms without tracing specific impact
- 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
Notable
AAO noted internal inconsistencies in the record regarding the planned business location (Massachusetts city unclear) and the Petitioner's mailing address changing to Washington, DC, questioning whether this affected his business plans; also noted a likely erroneous self-description as 'Tourism Professional Consultant' in the appeal brief.
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-
What this case teaches
Analyst reading of the decision text.
Petitioner failed to show the specific consultancy endeavor's impact extended beyond its own clients/employees to a nationally significant scale, despite business plan projections.
Quantify and contextualize projected economic/employment impact against regional/national benchmarks; don't rely on field importance or unsupported projections alone.
moderate
economic_job_creation · economic_growth_generic · public_health · geographic_or_shortage_area
person_focused
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