dismissed EB-2 NIW Case: Education

MATTER OF S-X-H-S-
APPEAL OF TEXAS SERVICE CENTER DECISION 
Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
DATE: OCT. 3, 2018 
PETITION: FORM 1-140, IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR ALIEN WORKER 
The Petitioner, a private high school, seeks to classify the Beneficiary as a member of the professions 
holding an advanced degree, and also seeks a national interest waiver of the job offer requirement 
attached to this EB-2 classification. See Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act) section 203(b )(2), 
8 U.S.C. § l l 53(b)(2). After a petitioner has established eligibility for EB-2 classification, U.S. 
Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) may, as matter of discretion, grant a national interest 
waiver if the petitioner demonstrates: (1) that the foreign national's proposed endeavor has both 
substantial merit and national importance; (2) that the foreign national is well positioned to advance the 
proposed endeavor; and (3) that, on balance, it would be beneficial to the United States to waive the 
requirements of a job offer and thus of a labor certification. Matter qf Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. 884 
(AAO 2016). 
The Director of the Texas Service Center denied the petition, concluding that the record did not 
establish, as required, that a waiver of the required job offer, and thus of the labor certification, 
would be in the national interest. 
On appeal, the Petitioner submits additional evidence and asserts that the Director abused his 
discretion in denying its petition, and that the Beneficiary has met the first and third prongs of the 
Dhanasar framework. 
Upon de nova 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. Because this classification 
requires that the individual's services be sought by a U.S. employer, a separate showing is required 
to establish that a waiver of the job offer requirement is in the national interest. 
Section 203(b) of the Act sets out this sequential framework: 
Matter of S-X-H-S-
(2) Aliens who are members of the professions holding advanced degrees or aliens of 
exceptional ability. -
(A)In general. - Visas shall be made available ... to qualified immigrants who 
are members of the professions holding advanced degrees or their equivalent 
or who because of their exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business, 
will substantially benefit prospectively the national economy, cultural or 
educational interests, or welfare of the United States, and whose services in 
the sciences, arts, professions, or business are sought by an employer in the 
United States. 
(B) Waiver of job offer -
(i) National interest waiver. ... [T]he Attorney General may, when the 
Attorney General deems it to be in the national interest, waive the 
requirements of subparagraph (A) that an alien's services in the sciences, 
arts, professions, or business be sought by an employer in the United 
States. 
While neither the statute nor the pertinent regulations define the term "national interest," we set forth 
a framework for adjudicating national interest waiver petitions in the precedent decision Matter of 
Dhanasar, 26 l&N Dec. 884. 1 Dhanasar states that after EB-2 eligibility has been established, 
USCIS may, as a matter of discretion, grant a national interest waiver when the below prongs are 
met. 
The first prong, substantial merit and national importance, focuses on the specific endeavor that the 
foreign national 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. 
The second prong shifts the focus from the proposed endeavor to the foreign national. To determine 
whether he or she is well positioned to advance the proposed endeavor, we consider factors 
•including, but not limited to: the individual's education, skills, knowledge and record of success in 
related or similar efforts; a model or plan for future activities; any progress towards achieving the 
proposed endeavor; and the interest of potential customers, users, investors, or other relevant entities 
or individuals. 
The third prong requires the petitioner to demonstrate that, on balance, it would be beneficial to the 
United States to waive the requirements of a job offer and thus of a labor certification. In 
1 In announcing this new framework, we vacated our prior precedent decision, Matter of New York State Department of 
Transportation, 22 l&N Dec. 215 (Act. Assoc. Comm'r 1998) (NYSDOT). 
2 
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Matier ofS-X-H-S-
performing this analysis, USCIS may evaluate factors such as: whether, in light of the nature of the 
foreign national's qualifications or the proposed endeavor, it would be impractical either for the 
foreign national to secure a job offer or for the petitioner to obtain a labor certification; whether, 
even assuming that other qualified U.S. workers are available, the United States would still benefit 
from the foreign national's contributions; and whether the national interest in the foreign national's 
contributions is sufficiently urgent to warrant forgoing the labor certification process. In each case, 
the factor(s) considered must, taken together, indicate that on balance, it would be beneficial to the 
United States to waive the requirements of a job offer and thus of a labor certification.2 
II. ANALYSIS 
The Director determined that the Beneficiary established her qualification as an advanced degree 
professional, noting the evidence of her Doctor of Education degree from The 
sole issue to be determined is whether the Petitioner has established that a waiver of the_requirement 
of a job offer, and thus a labor certification, would be in the national interest. 
At the time of filing, the Beneficiary was a high school Chinese language teacher. For the reasons 
discussed below, we find the Petitioner has not established eligibility for a national interest waiver 
under the analytical framework set forth in Dhanasar. 
A. Substantial Merit and National Importance of the Proposed Endeavor 
We agree with the Director's finding that the Beneficiary's proposed endeavor, teaching Chinese 
language classes to high school students, has substantial merit in terms of its educational, cultural 
and economic benefits. The Petitioner provi9ed several articles in response to the Director's request 
for evidence (RFE) which describe the growing importance of the Chinese language in international 
business and culture, as well as the potential benefits to students. 
To satisfy the national importance requirement, the Petitioner must demonstrate the "potential 
prospective · impact" of the Beneficiary's work. The Petitioner submitted evidence describing 
programs developed by the United States government to encourage and support the learning of 
critical foreign languages, including Mandarin. On appeal, the Petitioner provides additional 
information about the run by the United States Department 
of State, which allows primary and secondary schools to host a language teacher from China, Egypt 
or Morocco. In addition, the Petitioner submits the names of some of the Ben_eficiary's former 
students who were accepted into the _ program, also 
run by the U.S. State Department, along with letters and emails of appreciation from some of those 
students and their parents. The Petitioner also explains that because of the Beneficiary's advanced 
qualifications, it was able to offer students a four-year program in Chinese instead of the previous 
two-year program. 
2 See Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. at 888-91, for elaboration on these three prongs. 
3 
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Matter of S-X-H-S-
There is no doubt that foreign language education programs in general, especially in those languages 
such as Chinese that have been identified as "critical," and provide significant cultural, economic, 
and national security benefits to the United States. We also ackno_wledge that the Beneficiary's 
credentials and experience allow her to design and teach an advanced Chinese language curriculum 
that provides a significant benefit to both the Petitioner and its students. However, the evidence does 
not demonstrate that her proposed endeavor offers benefits that reach beyond the Petitioner to impact 
the field of Chinese language instruction more broadly, or that it otherwise offers broader 
implications consistent with a finding of national importance. 3 While the Petitioner asserts that the 
Beneficiary's attendance at several conferences presented by the 
demonstrates the wider impact of her work, the record does not 
establish that her participation extends beyond personal professional development, or that she 
proposes to expand her influence on Chinese language education beyond the Petitioner's institution. 
B. Well Positioned to Advance the Proposed Endeavor 
The second prong, shifts the focus from the proposed endeavor to the Beneficiary. The Petitioner 
submitted evidence of the Beneficiary's academic credentials, experience and professional 
development activities. In addition, several recommendation letters from her colleagues describe the 
Beneficiary's skill as a teacher and her development of the Petitioner's Chinese language program. 
For example, Chair of the Petitioner's writes 
that "our Chinese program has significantly grown" through the Beneficiary's work, and that she 
"showed leadership by leading professional development sessions for our department and for the 
entire school." The record reflects the Beneficiary's advanced qualifications as a teacher, the impact 
she has made on the Petitioner's foreign language program, and the praise from her colleagues and 
students. Accordingly, we find that the Beneficiary is well positioned to advance her proposed 
endeavor of teaching the Chinese language to high school students, and therefore that she satisfies 
the second prong of the Dhanasar framework. 
C. Balancing Factors to Determine Waiver's Benefit to the United States 
As explained above, the third prong requires the Petitioner to demonstrate that, on balance, it would 
be beneficial to the United States to waive the requirements of a job offer and thus of as labor 
certification. Here, the Petitioner has submitted evidence that the United States is facing a teacher 
shortage in the area of foreifn languages, and asserts that it has faced difficulties in finding qualified 
Chinese language teachers. However, as the Petitioner has not established that the Beneficiary's 
proposed endeavor is of national importance as required under the first prong of the Dhanasar 
framework, she is not eligible for a national interest waiver, and further discussion of the balancing 
factors under the third prong would serve no meaningful purpose. 
3 Similarly, 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. See Dhanasar at 893. 
4 We note that the U.S. Department of Labor addresses shortages of qualified workers through the labor certification 
process. 
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Matter of S-X-H-S-
III. CONCLUSION 
Because the Petitioner has not established that the Beneficiary meets the requisite three prongs set 
forth in the Dhanasar analytical framework, we find that she is not eligible for or otherwise merits a 
national interest waiver as a matter of discretion. 
ORDER: The appeal is dismissed. 
Cite as Matter ofS-X-H-S-, ID# 1616848 (AAO Oct. 3, 2018) 
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