dismissed
EB-2 NIW
dismissed EB-2 NIW Case: Financial Compliance
Decision Summary
The motion to reopen was dismissed because the petitioner did not submit new, relevant facts as required. The motion to reconsider was dismissed because the petitioner failed to establish that the prior decision was based on an incorrect application of law or policy, and instead reargued facts and issues that had already been considered.
Criteria Discussed
National Importance
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U.S. Citizenship
and Immigration
Services
Non-Precedent Decision of the
Administrative Appeals Office
Date: FEB. 25, 2025 In Re: 37074052
Motion on Administrative Appeals Office Decision
Form 1-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers (National Interest Waiver)
The Petitioner, a compliance manager, 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 Texas Service Center denied the petition, concluding that the Petitioner did not
establish that waiver of the required job offer, and thus of a labor certification, would be in the national
interest. We dismissed a subsequent appeal. We also dismissed a subsequent combined motion to
reopen and motion to reconsider. The matter is now before us on a second combined motions to reopen
and reconsider.
The Petitioner bears the burden of proof to demonstrate eligibility by a preponderance of the evidence.
Matter of Chawathe, 25 l&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 motions.
In denying the initial petition, the Director concluded that the Petitioner had not demonstrated the
national importance of her proposed endeavor, among other eligibility requirements. On appeal, we
agreed that the Petitioner had not demonstrated the national importance of her proposed endeavor and
reserved the Petitioner's remaining eligibility requirements under the Dhanasar framework.
Regarding the Petitioner's first motion to reopen, the Petitioner did not submit new evidence relevant
to the reasons for our dismissal of her appeal. Therefore, we dismissed the motion to reopen because
it did not contain documentary evidence of new facts, as required. We also dismissed the Petitioner's
motion to reconsider because she did not demonstrate that our conclusion that she had not established
the national importance of her endeavor was incorrect according to law and policy.
A motion to reopen must state new facts and be supported by documentary evidence. 8 C.F .R.
§ 103.5(a)(2). Because the scope of a motion is limited to the prior decision, we will only review the
latest decision in these proceedings. 8 C.F.R. § 103.5(a)(l)(i), (ii). We may grant motions that satisfy
these requirements and demonstrate eligibility for the requested benefit. See Matter of Coelho, 20
I&N Dec. 464, 473 (BIA 1992) ( requiring that new evidence have the potential to change the
outcome).
On this motion to reopen, the Petitioner submits a copy of our decision dismissing the appeal, her
original petition (I-140), a copy of Matter of Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. 884 (AAO 2016), and three
articles published in December 2024 after our decision dismissing the Petitioner's first motion. These
articles are titled: "Money Laundering Poses a Risk to Financial Sector Stability," "Financial crime:
How banks and other financial institutions protect themselves against criminals," and "Entrepreneur
Led Economic Development: A New Strategy for Generating Local Growth and Productivity." We
interpret "new facts" to mean those that are relevant to the issues raised on motion and that have not
been previously submitted in the proceedings, which includes within the original petition. The
Petitioner's submissions on motion, most of which were previously a part of the record, do not state
new facts and therefore do not constitute "new facts" for the purposes of a motion to reopen. Similarly,
the submitted articles do not mention the Petitioner, her company, or otherwise speak to the potential
prospective impact of her proposed endeavor. The Petitioner makes no assertion on motion as to how
this submitted evidence contains new facts that establish her eligibility. As the Petitioner's motion
does not contain "new facts," it does not meet the requirements of a motion to reopen.
A motion to reconsider must establish that our prior decision was based on an incorrect application of
law or policy and that the decision was incorrect based on the evidence in the record of proceedings
at the time of the decision. 8 C.F.R. § 103.5(a)(3). Because the scope of a motion is limited to the
prior decision, we will only review the latest decision in these proceedings. 8 C.F.R. § 103.5(a)(l )(i),
(ii). We may grant motions that satisfy these requirements and demonstrate eligibility for the requested
benefit.
On motion to reconsider, the Petitioner re-asserts her eligibility for the national interest waiver and
renews claims made below. The Petitioner claims that our motion dismissal should have afforded
more evidentiary weight to the subject matter of her proposed endeavor, but the Petitioner does not
cite a relevant authority to show error or on our part in this regard. That decision, along with the
appeal dismissal, explained that the determination of national importance focuses on the specific
endeavor a Petitioner proposes to undertake, rather than the specific area or field. See Matter of
Dhanasar at 889. Contrary to the Petitioner's assertions, and as explained in our previous decision,
there is no "established list" of requirements to demonstrate national importance, nor is there a
"national initiative" requirement.
The Petitioner additionally argues that our decision "derogatorily and erroneously [ equated] the lack
of geographical implication and the lack of potential to employ U.S. workers as failure to show
national importance." Although the Petitioner made economic assertions regarding the small business
economy in her first motion to reconsider, we concluded that the Petitioner had not provided
information or an explanation to establish her own proposed endeavor would have substantial positive
effects in that environment. In the instant motion, the Petitioner again provides figures regarding small
businesses in the Florida economy. However, she similarly does not provide corroborating evidence
of her claims that her specific endeavor would contribute to the local economy on a scale reflecting
national importance. Moreover, even assuming these contentions were supported, they necessarily
could not demonstrate that our previous decision was incorrect according to the evidence in the record
at the time.
2
Next, the Petitioner contends that Matter of Dhanasar does not require "as a single and essential
requirement" proof of "concrete benefits in economically depressed areas". However, the Petitioner
has not explained how our decision dismissing her first motion required such a showing. As we stated
in that decision, we explicitly considered non-economic evidence submitted by the Petitioner
regarding her industry.
The Petitioner also makes several arguments related to the Director's decision and our decision
dismissing the appeal. However, these are not the decisions before us here. A motion's scope is limited
to the "prior decision" and the "latest decision in the proceeding," which, in this case, is our first
motion dismissal decision. 8 C.F.R. § 103.5(a)(l)(i), (ii).
Although the Petitioner has submitted additional evidence in support of the motion to reopen, the
Petitioner has not established eligibility or that he submitted "new facts." On motion to reconsider, the
Petitioner has not established that our previous decision was based on an incorrect application of law
or policy at the time we issued our decision. Therefore, the motions will be dismissed. 8 C.F.R.
§ 103.5(a)(4).
Although the Petitioner has submitted additional documentation in support of the motion to reopen,
the Petitioner has not established eligibility. On motion to reconsider, the Petitioner has not
established that our previous decision was based on an incorrect application of law or policy at the
time we issued our decision. Notably, the Petitioner's contentions in her current motion largely
reargue facts and issues we have already considered in our previous decisions. See e.g., Matter of 0-
S-G-, 24 I&N Dec. 56, 58 (BIA 2006) ("a motion to reconsider is not a process by which a party may
submit, in essence, the same brief presented on appeal and seek reconsideration by generally alleging
error in the prior Board decision"). We will not re-adjudicate the petition anew and, therefore, the
underlying petition remains denied and the motion will be dismissed. 8 C.F.R. § 103.5(a)(4).
ORDER: The motion to reopen is dismissed.
FURTHER ORDER: The motion to reconsider is dismissed.
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