dismissed EB-2 NIW Case: Epidemiology

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Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
DATE: AUG. 3, 2018 
APPEAL OF NEBRASKA SERVICE CENTER DECISION 
PETITION: FORM 1-140, IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR ALIEN WORKER 
The Petitioner, an epidemiologist, seeks second preference 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 EB-2 classification. See Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act) 
section 203(b)(2), 8 U.S.C. § 1153(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 of Dhanasar, 26 I&N 
Dec. 884 (AAO 2016). 
The Director of the Nebraska 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 she is eligible for a national 
interest waiver under 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: 
(2) Aliens who are members of the professions holding advanced degrees or aliens of 
exceptional ability. -
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(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 I&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 
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, 
1 In announcing this new framework, we vacated our prior precedent decision, Matter of New York State Department of 
Transportation, 22 I&N Dec. 215 (Act. Assoc. Comm'r 1998) (NYSD01). 
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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 found that the Petitioner qualifies as a member of the professions holding an advanced 
degree.3 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. 
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 
At the time of filing, the Petitioner was working as a 
for the 4 In this 
role, she works on projects which are part of the network.5 
The is described by a program manager at as "a national 
resource for surveillance, prevention, and control of emerging infectious diseases." Specifically, the 
Petitioner asserts that she uses her "medical knowledge, principles of epidemiology, [and] statistical 
prowess in an applied fashion to conduct research which aims at preventing and controlling 
infections nationally, and ensuring patient safety." Accordingly, we find that the Petitioner's 
proposed work to advance research on has substantial merit. 
To satisfy the national importance requirement, the Petitioner must demonstrate the "potential 
prospective impact" of her work. The Petitioner summarizes her proposed endeavor as follows: 
My goal is to become a nationally recognized voice in the field of patient safety and a 
strong advocate for health equity. I intend to achieve this by continuing research, 
providing technical guidance, infection prevention expertise, and preventing infection 
to patient and healthcare workers in a variety of healthcare environments. 
2 See Dhanasar, 26 l&N Dec. at 888-91, for elaboration on these three prongs. 
3 The Petitioner submitted evidence that she holds a Master of Public Health degree from the 
See 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(k)(3)(i)(A). 
4 On appeal, she submits evidence that she applied for the position of Term-limited Dialysis Infection Preventionist with 
the same agency. 
5 As the Petitioner is applying for a waiver of the job offer requirement, it is not necessary for her to have a job offer 
from a specific employer. However, we consider information about her position to illustrate the capacity in which she 
intends to work. 
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The evidence includes a copy of a September 18, 2014 executive order from President Barack 
Obama, and the accompanying National Strategy for Combatting Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria, 
which identify the detection and control of antibiotic resistance as a national priority. Regarding the 
Petitioner's specific role in this effort, an epidemiologist with asserts in her 
letter that the Petitioner's work in the study and ' will 
help to "create policies and procedures to reduce and to support national recommendations on 
the appropriate use of antimicrobial drugs." Further, letter states that the proposed 
work "will lead to improved estimates of the burden of healthcare-associated infections in the U.S., 
identification of antibiotic use patterns that may be contributing to resistance, and an increased 
understanding of risk factors for antimicrobial resistant infections." As the Petitioner has 
documented both the substantial merit and national importance of her proposed work to advance 
research on prevention and the control of antimicrobial resistance, we disagree with the 
Director's determination and find that the record establishes that the Petitioner meets the first prong 
of the Dhanasar framework. 6 
B. Well Positioned to Advance the Proposed Endeavor 
The second prong shifts the focus from the proposed endeavor to the Petitioner. The Petitioner 
submits documentation of her academic credentials, professional memberships, unpublished 
scholarly papers, as well as several reference letters describing her work for in the 
community and during her studies. On appeal, she notes that she has already made contributions in 
the area of through her work on four projects at Those contributions include 
contributing to the protocols and workflows of the projects, collaborating with other state health 
departments and the and working to generate reports to participating hospitals in Colorado to 
help them in their efforts to prevent infections. However, the Petitioner has not submitted 
documentary evidence to demonstrate that her work on these projects has led to the creation of 
policies and procedures at individual hospitals, within local or state health departments, or at the 
national level. Nor has she otherwise established that her work constitutes a track record of success 
regarding the prevention of 
In letters supporting the petition, public health officials and others describe the Petitioner's 
experience in projects relating to and antimicrobial resistance. notes that the 
Petitioner's contribution to research in these areas "were significant enough that she is a co-author 
on an upcoming peer-reviewed publication led by staff." Ms. Janelle states in her letter that 
6 The Petitioner also proposes to continue her volunteer activities in the area of healthcare disparities by working with 
non-profit organizations such as the The record indicates that the Petitioner has 
participated in local diabetes and blood pressure check programs and teaches CPR classes. While the evidence 
establishes that this endeavor has substantial merit, the record does not establish that the Petitioner's activities impact 
healthcare more broadly, as opposed to being limited to the individuals who attend these community health events. 
Therefore, without additional documentary evidence of the broader impact of the Petitioner's volunteer activities, they 
do not meet the "national importance" element of the Dhanasar framework's first prong. Similarly, in Dhanasar, we 
held 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. 
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the Petitioner's "expertise in extracting clinical information from detailed medical records" 
contributed to the successful completion of three research projects, including one focused on nursing 
homes which "can be used to create new local and national policies to reduce to improve 
future research and tracking efforts, and to improve proper use of antimicrobials in nursing 
homes." a Physician Leader with writes that the 
Petitioner's efforts "provide governing bodies measurements of the magnitude and types of 
occurring hospital-wide are needed to inform decisions by local and national policymakers and by 
hospital infection control personnel regarding appropriate targets and strategies for 
prevention." 7 
The record demonstrates that the Petitioner has conducted research and provided analysis during her 
career in public health. In addition to the letters discussed above, the Petitioner also has submitted 
evidence that she is a co-author on several papers submitted for publication in scientific journals, as 
well as an abstract presented at a conference in Africa. However, only one of these manuscripts, 
referenced by addressed the subject of her proposed endeavor, and their 
prevention and treatment.11 Further, since that manuscript has yet to be published, the results of the 
Petitioner's work has not been disseminated to others in her field, and thus has not generated interest 
among relevant parties or substantial positive discourse in the public health community. Therefore, 
this evidence does not show that the Petitioner has achieved progress towards achieving the goals of 
this research or that she has a track record of success, factors set forth in Dhanasar to determine 
whether a petitioner is well-positioned to advance the proposed endeavor. Id. at 890. 
In sum, the Petitioner has not demonstrated a record of success or progress in her field, or a degree 
of interest in her work from relevant parties, that rises to a level such that she is well-positioned to 
advance her proposed endeavor of prevention and the control of antimicrobial resistance. As 
the record does not establish that she is well-positioned to advance her proposed endeavor, she has 
not demonstrated 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 a labor 
certification. Here, the Petitioner claims that she is eligible for a waiver due to her combination of 
clinical experience and epidemiology skills, as well as her need for unrestricted employment 
authorization. However, as the Petitioner has not established that she is well positioned to advance 
her proposed endeavor as required by the second prong of the Dhanasar framework, she is not 
7 Several other letters were submitted by the Petitioner which focused on her volunteer work with non-profit 
organizations targeting health equity. While not all of these letters are mentioned in this decision, primarily because we 
find that that aspect of her proposed endeavor does not satisfy the first prong of the Dhanasar framework, all were 
reviewed. 
8 The Petitioner is one of multiple authors listed on a paper claimed to have been submitted to the 
"Changes in the prevalence and distribution of healthcare-associated infections in U.S. hospitals between 
2011 and 2015." 
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eligible for a national interest waiver and further discussion of the balancing factors under the third 
prong would serve no meaningful purpose. 
III. CONCLUSION 
As the Petitioner has not met the requisite three prongs set forth in the Dhanasar analytical 
framework, we find that she has not established that she is eligible for or otherwise merits a national 
interest waiver as a matter of discretion. 
ORDER: The appeal is dismissed. 
Cite as Matter ofT-D-O-, ID# 1422412 (AAO Aug. 3, 2018) 
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