dismissed EB-2 NIW Case: Business/Entrepreneurship

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
Non-Precedent Decision of the
Administrative Appeals Office 
Date: JUN 11 , 2024 In Re: 31160563 
Appeal of Nebraska Service Center Decision 
Form 1-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers (National Interest Waiver) 
The Petitioner seeks employment-based second preference (EB-2) immigrant classification as a 
member of the professions holding an advanced degree. See Immigration and Nationality Act (the 
Act) section 203(b)(2), 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(2). The Petitioner also seeks a national interest waiver of 
the job offer requirement that is attached to this EB-2 immigrant classification. See section 
203(b )(2)(B)(i) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § l 153(b )(2)(B)(i). U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services 
(USCIS) may grant this discretionary waiver of the required job offer, and thus of a labor certification, 
when it is in the national interest to do so. 
The Director of the Nebraska Service Center denied the petition, concluding the record did not 
establish that the Petitioner qualified for a national interest waiver. The matter is now before us on 
appeal. 8 C.F.R. § 103.3. 
The Petitioner bears the burden of proof to demonstrate eligibility by a preponderance of the evidence. 
Matter ofChawathe, 25 I&N Dec. 369, 375-76 (AAO 2010). We review the questions in this matter 
de novo. Matter of Christo 's, Inc., 26 I&N Dec. 537, 537 n.2 (AAO 2015). Upon de novo review, 
we will dismiss the appeal. 
I. LAW 
To establish eligibility for a 
national interest waiver, a petitioner must first demonstrate qualification 
for the underlying EB-2 visa classification, as either an advanced degree professional or an individual 
of exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business. Section 203(b )(2)(B)(i) of the Act. 
If a petitioner demonstrates eligibility for the underlying EB-2 classification, they must then establish 
that they merit a discretionary waiver of the job offer requirement "in the national interest." Id. While 
neither the statute nor the pertinent regulations define the term "national interest," Matter ofDhanasar, 
26 I&N Dec. 884, 889 (AAO 2016), provides the framework for adjudicating national interest waiver 
pet1t10ns. Dhanasar states that USCTS may, as matter of discretion, 1 grant a national interest waiver 
if the petitioner demonstrates that: 
• The proposed endeavor has both substantial merit and national importance; 
• The individual is well-positioned to advance their proposed endeavor; and 
• On balance, waiving the job offer requirement would benefit the United States. 
See Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. at 888-91, for elaboration on these three prongs. 
TT. ANALYSTS 
The Director determined that the Petitioner qualified as a member of the professions holding an 
advanced degree. The remaining issue to be determined on appeal is whether the Petitioner established 
that a waiver of the requirement of a job offer, and thus a labor certification, would be in the national 
interest. 
In response to a request for evidence (RFE) requesting clarification of the Petitioner's proposed 
endeavor, he provided the following in a statement: 
[The Petitioner's] proposed endeavor is to start his own business as a sales manager. 
He intends to build a platform for what are referred to as "bounced leads" [or] leads 
that businesses have paid for through marketing but for some reason cannot follow up 
on. Businesses can theoretically give those leads to friendly competitors and therefore 
share the cost of the lead for which they have already paid. [The Petitioner] also plans 
to conduct customer development research, using the Lean Startup methodology .... 
He will create an MVP (Minimum Viable Product), which is a version of a new product 
that allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about 
customers with the least effort. 
Once he has an MVP which he can use to test, he is planning to test it for a product 
market fit. Product market fit is the degree to which a product satisfies a strong market 
demand. Once he has demonstrated that the has a valid business model and sustainable 
growth, he intends to apply for seed fonding from a variety of incubator firms .... 
The Director concluded that the Petitioner did not clearly describe his endeavor and, therefore, did not 
establish it had substantial merit or national importance. On appeal, the Petitioner asserts that the 
Director did not evaluate his proposed endeavor as described in the RFE response. Upon review and 
as more fully discussed below, the Petitioner has not sufficiently demonstrated the national importance 
of his endeavor in order to establish his eligibility under the first prong of the Dhanasar analytical 
framework. 
1 See Flores v. Garland, 72 F.4th 85, 88 (5th Cir. 2023) Goining the Ninth, Eleventh, and D.C. Circuit Courts (and Third 
in an unpublished decision) in concluding that USCIS' decision to grant or deny a national interest waiver to be 
discretionary in nature). 
2 
The first prong, substantial merit and national importance, focuses on the specific endeavor that the 
individual proposes to undertake. The endeavor's merit may be demonstrated in a range of areas such 
as business, entrepreneurialism, science, technology, culture, health, or education. In determining 
whether the proposed endeavor has national importance, we consider its potential prospective impact. 
Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. at 889. 
In determining 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 "the specific endeavor that the 
foreign national proposes to undertake." See Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. at 889. In Dhanasar, we further 
noted that "we look for broader implications" of the proposed endeavor and that "[a ]n undertaking 
may have national importance for example, because it has national or even global implications within 
a particular field." Id. We also stated that "[a]n endeavor that has significant potential to employ U.S. 
workers or has other substantial positive economic effects, particularly in an economically depressed 
area, for instance, may well be understood to have national importance." Id. at 890. Further, to 
evaluate whether the Petitioner's proposed endeavor satisfies the national importance requirement, we 
look to evidence documenting the "potential prospective impact" of his work. In Dhanasar we 
determined that the petitioner's teaching activities did not rise to the level of having national 
importance because they would not impact his field more broadly. Id. at 893. 
The Petitioner initially provided the following with regard to his proposed endeavor: 
Upon achieving the milestone of my company attaining a billion-dollar valuation and 
reaching unicorn status, I intend to establish a fund aimed at providing starting capital 
and employment opportunities for immigrants like myself, enabling them to embark on 
their entrepreneurial endeavors in the United States. 
In essence, my objective is to effect positive change within the United States by 
fostering the creation of job opportunities for local American citizens who contribute 
significantly through their income taxes. To realize this vision, I plan to obtain a 
Permanent Residence permit ( commonly referred to as a green card) and initially 
engage in employment within the country. This approach will grant me valuable 
insights into existing market gaps that I can subsequently address through the 
establishment of a high-growth startup enterprise. By doing so, my ultimate aim is to 
bolster the US GDP and enhance the overall well-being of local American citizens. 
The Petitioner's proposed endeavor to create job opportunities has substantial merit. However, 
although the ultimate goal of a proposed endeavor may be to enhance societal welfare, we must 
consider the endeavor's significant potential to prospectively do so. 2 This wide-ranging aspiration to 
"bolster the US GDP and enhance the overall well-being of local American citizens" is vague; the 
Petitioner did not provide probative evidence sufficient to demonstrate the prospective impact of his 
endeavor. He provided letters from two individuals interested in hiring him as a sales manager and 
generally anticipated the interest of wealthy investors, but he did not provide evidence to substantiate 
the interest of any investor in his specific business endeavors. The Petitioner initially submitted 
2 See generally 6 USCIS Policy Manual F.5(D)( l ), https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-6-paii-f-chapter-5. 
3 
documentation related to the current presidential administration's small-business initiatives, the 
impact of the global pandemic, the economy, entrepreneurship, and immigration, but this material 
provided only general information on these topics. This evidence did not provide insight into any 
specific plan formulated by the Petitioner to develop a platform attracting, as he described, "venture 
capitalists or angel investors" to help fund his company. A petitioner must support assertions with 
relevant, probative, and credible evidence. See Matter ofChawathe, 25 I&N Dec. at 376. 
Further, the Petitioner has not sufficiently explained how he would execute his proposed endeavor. 
The Petitioner did not discuss any logistics necessary in carrying out his endeavor. For example, he 
did not explain with sufficient detail how he would implement his research and launch his proposed 
platform at a scale that would have a national impact. It is noteworthy that the Petitioner does not 
discuss or document any previous experience undertaking a similar project, and the record indicates 
that his previous experience was as a sales manager. The Petitioner's lack of experience in such 
research or an undertaking similar to that described is relevant to whether his proposed endeavor can 
credibly be undertaken and carried out successfully within a realistic timeframe such that it would 
benefit the United States on a national scale. These considerations are essential to an assessment of 
the proposed endeavor's potential prospective impact, and they do not reflect an endeavor that, more 
likely than not, would materialize on the expansive level envisioned by the Petitioner. 
The Petitioner initially asserted that there is a shortage of sales managers and submitted an article 
discussing "a growing crisis in sales talent," and he reiterates this on appeal. However, he does not 
explain how his intention to fill a single position as a sales manager would alleviate an asserted 
national shortage of sales managers. The importance of a purported nationwide issue does not confer 
national importance on the Petitioner's proposed endeavor to work as a sales manager. Again, in 
determining national importance within the Dhanasar framework, the relevant question is not the 
importance of the field, industry, or profession in which the individual will work, but the specific 
endeavor that the individual will undertake. Id. at 889. 
On appeal, the Petitioner cites previously submitted documentation discussing White House initiatives 
to narrow racial wealth disparities between small businesses and encourage individuals to pursue 
entrepreneurial ambitions. The Petitioner asserts the following: 
[The Petitioner's] proposed endeavor supports this goal by providing small businesses 
with sales talent and skills needed to reach more customers and make sales, increasing 
revenue. Thus, [the Petitioners] proposed endeavor to use his expertise to develop a 
digital marketing platform is aligned with federal priorities to aid small businesses. 
This statement is vague, and the Petitioner does not support his assertion with an explanation of how 
his proposal to create a platform for businesses to share leads or, as he also stated, "conduct customer 
development research" and create an unspecified "Minimum Viable Product" would impact the White 
House's small business initiatives on a national level. The Petitioner's general assumptions about the 
impact of his proposed endeavor do not serve as objective evidence of its national importance. 
The Petitioner also pointed to his education and USCIS Policy Manual guidance recognizing the 
importance of progress in STEM fields and the essential role of individuals with advanced STEM 
degrees. However, a degree, alone, does not demonstrate the prospective positive impact of the 
4 
recipient's proposed endeavor, and we note that the USCIS Policy Manual addresses STEM degrees 
as evidence to consider under the second prong of the Dhanasar adjudicative framework, not the first. 
The portion of the USCIS Policy Manual relating to STEM states that we may conclude that a STEM 
endeavor has national importance when the evidence sufficiently demonstrates that it would help the 
United States to remain ahead of strategic competitors or current and potential adversaries or when it 
relates to a field where appropriate activity and investment may contribute to the United States 
achieving or maintaining technology leadership or peer status among allies and partners. 3 The 
Petitioner has not explained how his proposed endeavor to develop a platform to assist businesses in 
sharing leads would position the United States ahead of other nations or achieve or retain technology 
leadership or peer status with other countries. And given his insistence on the importance and potential 
impact of his endeavor, it is notable that he did not address whether or why similar platforms do or do 
not already exist. 
The Petitioner has not provided independent evidence to support-or otherwise explained-how his 
project would have a prospective national impact on any locality or the United States overall. The 
Petitioner has not demonstrated that his proposed endeavor has significant potential to employ U.S. 
workers or otherwise offer substantial positive economic effects for the nation. As such, the Petitioner 
has not demonstrated that the prospective benefits to the regional or national economy resulting from 
his endeavor would reach the level of "substantial positive economic effects" contemplated by 
Dhanasar. Id. at 890. 
The record does not establish the national importance of the proposed endeavor as required by the first 
prong of the Dhanasar precedent decision. Therefore, the Petitioner has not demonstrated eligibility 
for a national interest waiver. Because the identified reasons for dismissal are dispositive of the 
Petitioner's appeal, we decline to reach and hereby reserve remaining arguments concerning eligibility 
under the Dhanasar framework. See INS v. Bagamasbad, 429 U.S. 24, 25 (1976) (stating that agencies 
are not required to make "purely advisory findings" on issues that are unnecessary to the ultimate 
decision); see also Matter of L-A-C-, 26 I&N Dec. 516, 526 n. 7 (BIA 2015) ( declining to reach 
alternative issues on appeal where an applicant is otherwise ineligible). 
III. CONCLUSION 
The Petitioner has not demonstrated that the proposed endeavor has national importance. As the 
Petitioner has not met the requisite first prong of the Dhanasar analytical framework, she has not 
established that she is eligible for or otherwise merits a national interest waiver as a matter of 
discretion. The petition will remain denied. 
ORDER: The appeal is dismissed. 
3 See generally 6 USCIS Policy Manual F.5(D)(2). 
5