dismissed EB-2 NIW Case: Food Science

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
In Re: 24993445 
Appeal of Texas Service Center Decision 
Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
Date: MAR. 10, 2023 
Form 1-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker (National Interest Waiver) 
The self-Petitioner, a "food innovation consultant," seeks immigrant visa classification as a member 
of the professions holding an advanced degree and a waiver of the category's normal job-offer 
requirement. See Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act) section 203(b)(2)(B)(i), 8 U.S.C. 
§ l 153(b)(2)(B)(i). U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has discretion to forgo the 
job-offer requirement if a waiver is "in the national interest." Id. 
The Director of the Texas Service Center denied the petition. While finding the Petitioner qualified 
for the requested visa category as an advanced degree professional, the Director concluded that she 
did not establish her proposed U.S. employment to be in the national interest. On appeal, the Petitioner 
asserts that the Director misapplied the standard of proof and disregarded evidence. 
The Petitioner bears the burden of demonstrating eligibility for the requested benefit by a 
preponderance of evidence. Matter ofChawathe, 25 I&N Dec. 369, 375-76 (AAO 2010). Exercising 
de novo appellate review, see Matter of Christa's, Inc., 26 I&N Dec. 537, 537 n.2 (AAO 2015), we 
agree with the Director that the Petitioner did not demonstrate the required "national importance" of 
her proposed work. We will therefore dismiss the appeal. 
I. LAW 
To establish eligibility for a national interest waiver, a noncitizen petitioner must first demonstrate 
their qualifications for the underlying immigrant visa category, as either an advanced degree 
professional or an individual of exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business. Section 
203(b )(2)(A) of the Act. In this category, a U.S. employer must normally seek a noncitizen's services 
and obtain U.S. Department of Labor certification to permanently employ them in the country. Section 
212(a)(5)(A)(i) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(5)(A)(i). To avoid the need for a job offer/labor 
certification, a petitioner must demonstrate that waiving the requirement is in the national interest. 
Section 203(b)(2)(B)(l) of the Act. 
Neither the Act nor regulations define the term "national interest." But we have established a 
framework for adjudicating requests for national interest waivers . See Matter of Dhanasar, 26 I&N 
Dec. 884, 889 (AAO 2016). If a noncitizen otherwise qualifies as an advanced degree professional or 
an individual of exceptional ability, USCIS may waive the job-offer/labor certification requirement if 
the petitioner establishes that: 
Id. 
• Their proposed U.S. work has "substantial merit" and "national importance;" 
• They are "well-positioned" to advance their proposed endeavor; and 
• On balance, a waiver of the normal job-offer/labor certification requirement would benefit the 
United States. 
II. ANALYSIS 
The Petitioner, a native and citizen of Venezuela, earned university degrees in chemical engineering 
and "agrofood chain studies." She worked as a researcher for a food institute and has advised food 
companies on their products and operations. She proposes to help small U.S. food businesses focus 
on their customers and introduce safer, healthier products. In 2020, before filing this petition, she 
established her food consultancy in the United States and submits evidence that it already has clients. 
A. The Requested Immigrant Visa Classification 
The record supports the Petitioner's qualifications as an advanced degree professional. She 
demonstrated that her profession requires an advanced degree and her possession of the foreign 
equivalent of a U.S. master's degree in agriculture. See 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(k)(2) (defining the term 
"advanced degree" to include the foreign equivalent of a U.S. academic degree "above that of 
baccalaureate"). 
B. Substantial Merit 
To determine whether a noncitizen's proposed U.S. work has substantial merit, USCIS focuses on the 
specific, planned endeavor. Matter of Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. at 889. Petitioners may demonstrate 
merit in a variety of fields, including business and health. Id. USCIS favorably considers "[ee ]vidence 
that the endeavor has the potential to create a significant economic impact." Id. 
The Petitioner submitted a business plan indicating that, by its seventh year of operation, her 
consultancy would employ six people, have 68 small-enterprise clients, and generate revenues of about 
$425,000. She also provided a letter from a U.S. emeritus professor of food science stating that the 
Petitioner's proposed endeavor would further the joint goal of the U.S Department of Agriculture, 
Environmental Protection Agency, and Food and Drug Administration to cut U.S. food waste in half 
by 2030, reducing environmental damage and improving food security. Further, a local college 
indicated its intent to hire the Petitioner to teach and train food business owners on food innovation, 
sustainability, and technologies. Thus, the record shows that the Petitioner's plan could provide 
economic and health benefits. We therefore agree with the Director that her proposal has substantial 
merit. 
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C. National Importance 
In determining whether a proposed endeavor has national importance, USCIS considers "its potential 
prospective impact." Id. An endeavor may have national importance "because it has national or even 
global implications within a particular field, such as certain improved manufacturing processes or 
medical advances." Id. A finding of national importance may also reflect "significant potential to 
employ U.S. workers" or "other substantial positive economic effects, particularly in an economically 
depressed area." Id. 
The Petitioner contends that her evidence specifically addresses the national importance of her 
proposed endeavor. She stated that her consulting would redirect the research and development 
budgets of U.S. food companies into consumer-centered products, lowering the businesses' risks of 
investment and boosting their sales. She said her work would also encourage U.S. companies to 
incorporate waste prevention measures into their production processes and produce healthier food. 
The Petitioner's business plan states that, in the wake of business closings and disruptions caused by 
the COVID-19 pandemic, her company's work would help U.S. small businesses adapt and survive 
future disruptions. 
As previously indicated, we agree that the Petitioner's proposed activities have merit. But she has not 
demonstrated that the potential impact of her specific plan has significant regional or national 
implications. Her seventh-year projections of six employees and revenues of $425,000 do not indicate 
a substantial, economic impact on the United States or her region. Also, as the Director found, the 
company's federal income tax returns for 2020 and 2021 report no salary or wage payments, indicating 
that the business has no employees. The 2021 return also reports revenues of about $200,000 and net 
income of less than $20,000. Thus, the company's financial records do not indicate that it has 
significant potential to economically impact the region or country. We recognize that the Petitioner's 
consulting activities might help her small business clients increase their revenues and employee 
numbers. But the record lacks sufficient evidence that these gains would be significant enough to 
establish her proposed endeavor's national importance. 
The professor's letter states that the Petitioner's consulting activities would help small U.S. food 
producers and distributors: adapt to growing demands for sustainable and environmentally friendly 
products; achieve greater success in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic; and financially grow and 
expand their operations, leading to the employment of more U.S. workers and other positive economic 
benefits. The professor said the Petitioner's endeavor would also significantly benefit the American 
people by helping to bring higher-quality, cheaper, and more sustainable food products to market and 
improving the population's health. The letter states that promotion of sustainable products can also 
help: preserve animal species and their habitats; reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and minimize the 
effects of global environmental change. 
We agree that the Petitioner's proposed activities would potentially help achieve these worthy goals. 
But, under Dhanasar, the first national interest prong - substantial merit and national importance -
"focuses on the specific endeavor" and requires USCIS to consider the potential prospective impact 
of "the proposed endeavor." Matter of Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. at 889 ( emphasis added). The 
professor's letter does not sufficiently demonstrate that the Petitioner's specific proposed endeavor -
alone - has significant potential to employ U.S. workers or has other substantial positive economic and 
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health effects. The record also does not demonstrate that the Petitioner's specific work would 
introduce improved processes or advances in the food industry or in the field of food innovation. 
The local college's proposal to hire the Petitioner as a teacher also does not demonstrate her endeavor's 
national importance. As we found when considering a teaching proposal in Dhanasar, "the record 
does not indicate by a preponderance of the evidence that the petitioner would be engaged in activities 
that would impact the field of [food innovation] more broadly." Matter of Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. at 
893. 
For the foregoing reasons, the Petitioner has not established the national importance of her proposed 
endeavor. Because she does not meet the first prong of Dhanasar' s national interest waiver test, we 
need not consider her qualifications for the remaining two. See INS v. Bagamasbad, 429 U.S. 24, 25 
(1976) ("[A ]gencies are not [generally] required to make findings on issues the decision of which is 
unnecessary to the results they reach."). We will therefore reserve consideration of the remaining 
national interest criteria. 
III. CONCLUSION 
The Petitioner demonstrated her qualifications as an advanced degree professional and that her 
proposed food consulting activities in the United States have substantial merit. But she did not 
establish the national importance of her proposed endeavor. 
ORDER: The appeal is dismissed. 
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