dismissed EB-2 NIW Case: Cloud Infrastructure Engineering

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
Non-Precedent Decision of the
Administrative Appeals Office 
Date: JULY 29, 2024 In Re: 32950514 
Appeal of Nebraska Service Center Decision 
Form 1-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers (National Interest Waiver) 
The Petitioner, a cloud infrastructure engineer, seeks employment-based second preference (EB-2) 
immigrant classification as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree, as well as a 
national interest waiver of the job offer requirement attached to this classification. See Immigration 
and Nationality Act (the Act) section 203(b)(2), 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(2). 
The Director of the Nebraska Service Center denied the petition, concluding the Petitioner qualified 
for EB-2 classification as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree, but did not 
establish that a waiver of the required job offer, and thus of the labor certification, would be in the 
national interest. The matter is now before us on appeal pursuant to 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 Christa's, Inc., 26 I&N Dec. 537,537 n.2 (AAO 2015). Upon de novo review, 
we will dismiss the appeal. 
I. LAW 
To qualify for EB-2 visa classification, a petitioner must establish they are an advanced degree 
professional or an individual of exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business. Section 
203(b )(2)(A) 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." 
Section 203(b )(2)(B)(i) of the Act. While neither the statute nor the pertinent regulations define the 
term "national interest," Matter of Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. 884, 889 (AAO 2016), provides the 
framework for adjudicating national interest waiver petitions. Dhanasar states that U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration Services (USCIS) may, as matter of discretion, 1 grant a national interest waiver if 
the petitioner demonstrates that: 
1 See Flores v. Garland, 72 F.4th 85 , 88 (5th Cir. 2023) (joining the Ninth, Eleventh, and D.C. Circuit Courts (and Third 
in an unpublish ed decision) in concluding that USCIS ' decision to grant or deny a national interest waiver is discretionary 
in nature). 
• 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. 
Id. 
II. ANALYSIS 
The Petitioner described her proposed endeavor as working as a cloud engineer and practitioner for 
either a private organization or the government. The Petitioner explained she would create, integrate 
and maintain cloud-based applications, upgrade cloud-based systems to improve operations and 
protect against data breaches and cybersecurity threats, troubleshoot actual or potential problems, and 
provide necessary cloud support services. 
The Director determined that the Petitioner qualified for EB-2 classification as a member of the 
professions holding an advanced degree. We agree. The only issue on appeal is whether she qualifies 
for and merits a waiver of the job offer requirement in the national interest. 
A. Substantial Merit and National Importance 
1. Substantial Merit 
The first Dhanasar prong, substantial merit and national importance, focuses on the specific endeavor 
that the individual proposes to undertake. Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. at 889. The endeavor's merit may 
be demonstrated in a range of areas such as business, entrepreneurialism, science, technology, culture, 
health, or education. Id. The Director determined the Petitioner had not described her proposed 
endeavor with specificity sufficient to assess its merit. Contrary to the Director's determination, the 
Petitioner described her proposed endeavor in detail and submitted articles relating to the cloud 
engineering field and cybersecurity. De novo review of the relevant evidence shows the Petitioner's 
proposed endeavor has substantial merit. 
2. National Importance 
The Director concluded the Petitioner did not establish the national importance of her proposed 
endeavor. In determining whether the proposed endeavor has national importance, we consider its 
potential prospective impact. Id. This consideration may include whether the proposed endeavor has 
significant potential to employ U.S. workers (particularly in an economically depressed area), has 
other substantial positive economic effects, has national or even global implications within the field, 
or has other broader implications indicating national importance. Id. at 889-90. The Director 
determined the Petitioner did not establish that her proposed endeavor would have substantial positive 
economic effects or a broader impact on her field. 
On appeal, the Petitioner claims the Director erroneously referred to the Petitioner as a civil engineer, 
a marketing specialist, and as working in the aviation field. These mistaken references to the 
Petitioner's occupation and field are hereby withdrawn. The Petitioner also asserts the Director 
erroneously considered substantial positive economic effects as a requirement to establish national 
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importance when Dhanasar described such effects as non-mandatory. We agree. See id. at 890 
( stating substantial positive economic effects "may" indicate national importance). This portion of 
the Director's decision is also withdrawn. 
The Petitioner asserts her proposed endeavor has national importance because it has national or even 
global implications in the field of cloud computing and engineering. Because "cloud computing is a 
transformative technology with broad-reaching effects in the United States," the Petitioner claims her 
proposed endeavor will have national implications through the potential for economic growth and job 
creation of businesses that the Petitioner assists, ensuring or contributing to national security through 
Amazon Web Services (A WS), and contributions to the national regulatory framework. The Petitioner 
also claims her proposed endeavor has global implications because cloud computing ensures 
interconnected economies, ensures international data flow and trade, collaborates with law 
enforcement and healthcare, and contributes to global data privacy. 
The Petitioner submitted articles on cloud computing, cloud engineering, state and federal government 
use of the Cloud, public sector cloud adoption, benefits of cloud computing, cloud cost optimization, 
cloud scalability, cloud computing security, cloud compliance standards and security frameworks, 
cloud storage data residency compliance, cloud adoption linked to stronger firm performance, how the 
cloud can drive economic growth, Financial Services Institutions migration to Google cloud, A WS, 
and A WS government contracts. These articles attest to the importance of cloud computing, but do 
not discuss the Petitioner's proposed endeavor. Our assessment of national importance does not focus 
on the importance of a field in general, rather it "focuses on the specific endeavor that the foreign 
national proposes to undertake." Id. at 889. Here, none of the articles mention the Petitioner, or 
otherwise address the potential prospective impact of her proposed endeavor. 
The Petitioner submitted evidence of her technical certifications and recommendation letters which 
attest to her qualifications and experience, but do not indicate that her proposed endeavor would have 
national or even global implications in her field. The Petitioner submitted evidence of her certification 
in AWS DevOps and certified security, Microsoft DevOps and Azure Administrator, and HashiCorp 
Terraform Associate, but did not submit evidence that her work would develop or otherwise 
significantly contribute to these systems in a manner with national or global implications for her field. 
Support letters also commend the Petitioner's skills and accomplishments, but do not evidence any 
national or global implications. D-M-2 praised the Petitioner's knowledge and use of DevOps skills 
at P-K-R- praised the Petitioner's "extensive grasp of diverse DevOps tools and 
Methodologies," her implementation of "a robust CI/CD pipeline" and "a monitoring dashboard 
utilizing the ELK stack." O-M- described the Petitioner as "an exceptional professional poised to make 
substantial contributions in the cloud engineering field." D-M-, P-K-R- and O-M- did not indicate 
that the Petitioner's work had extended or would extend beyond her employment for individual 
employers to have national or even global implications in her field. See id. (discussing improved 
manufacturing processes or medical advances as examples of national or even global implications 
within a particular field). 
The Petitioner also claims her proposed endeavor has national importance because it will broadly 
enhance societal welfare as cloud computing plays a vital role in healthcare. The Petitioner submitted 
2 We use initials to protect the privacy of the referenced individuals. 
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articles on coverage of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIP AA) rules, penalties 
for HIPP AA violations, the Health Information Trust Alliance Common Security Framework, cross­
border health data flows, and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health 
(HITECH) Act. The Petitioner did not specify, however, how her work would extend beyond her 
individual employer(s) to impact the healthcare industry. See id. ( explaining "we look for broader 
implications"). 
The Petitioner further asserts her proposed endeavor impacts a matter that a government entity has 
described as having national importance or is the subject of national initiatives. The Petitioner 
submitted articles on National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) compliance, Executive 
Order 14028 (Improving the Nation's Cybersecurity), the Biden-Harris Administration's National 
Cybersecurity Strategy, Executive Order on Taking Additional Steps to Address the National 
Emergency with Respect to Significant Malicious Cyber-Enabled Activities, and the Department of 
Homeland Security's Cyber Safety Review Board's review of cloud security. These articles reflect 
the national importance of cyber security, but do not address the Petitioner's proposed endeavor. 
Again, our assessment of national importance does not focus on the importance of a field in general, 
but "focuses on the specific endeavor that the foreign national proposes to undertake." Id. Here, none 
of the articles mention the Petitioner, or otherwise address the potential prospective impact of her 
proposed endeavor. 
The Petitioner also claims the Director erroneously determined her proposed endeavor does not have 
national importance because it would not extend beyond her work for a specific employer to have 
broader implications for her field. The Petitioner claims the benefits of her proposed endeavor extend 
both to her prospective employer and the field of cloud computing. For example, the Petitioner 
explains that her work would help a potential employer build efficient and secure cloud infrastructure, 
and comply with cloud computing laws and guidelines, while also helping to safeguard Americans' 
personal data. 
The Petitioner submitted letters from employers and colleagues attesting to her past achievements and 
expressing confidence in her ability to succeed in future positions. For example, J-W- praised the 
Petitioner's work for andand expressed his belief that her "area of profession has potential for 
contributing to economic growth, protecting critical infrastructure, supporting technological 
innovation, and strengthening the United States' position in the global IT industry space." Y-T­
praised the Petitioner's skills and qualifications and described her as "an invaluable asset to the cloud 
engineering community" who "has a lot to contribute to the system" and "a lot of businesses will 
benefit from her expertise." J-W- and Y-T- did not specify how the Petitioner would make such 
contributions beyond her work for an individual employer to impact her field more broadly. Cf id. at 
892 (stating Dhanasar submitted probative expert letters describing the importance of his specific 
research as it relates to U.S. strategic interests). 
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. Here, the 
record does not show that the Petitioner's proposed endeavor stands to sufficiently extend beyond her 
prospective employer to impact her field more broadly at a level commensurate with national 
importance. 
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C. The Remaining Dhanasar Prongs 
The Petitioner has not established 
the national importance of her specific proposed endeavor and she 
does not meet the first prong of the Dhanasar framework. As this issue is dispositive of the 
Petitioner's appeal, we decline to reach and hereby reserve determination of her eligibility under the 
second and third prongs of the Dhanasar framework. See INS v. Bagamasbad, 429 U.S. 24, 25 (1976) 
( stating that "courts and agencies are not required to make findings on issues the decision of which is 
unnecessary to the results they reach"); 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 established the national importance of her proposed endeavor and does not meet 
the first prong of the Dhanasar analytical framework. Consequently, she has not demonstrated that 
she is eligible for or merits a waiver of the job offer requirement in the national interest as a matter of 
discretion. 
ORDER: The appeal is dismissed. 
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