dismissed EB-2 NIW Case: Information Technology

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
Non-Precedent Decision of the
Administrative Appeals Office 
Date: DEC. 1, 2023 In Re: 28963974 
Appeal of Texas Service Center Decision 
Form 1-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers (National Interest Waiver) 
The Petitioner, an information technology (IT) systems specialist, seeks second preference immigrant 
classification as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree or as an individual of 
exceptional ability, as well as a national interest waiver of the job offer requirement attached to this 
EB-2 classification. 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 the Petitioner had not 
established eligibility for 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. 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 Christo 's, Inc., 26 l&N Dec. 537, 537 n.2 (AAO 2015). Upon de novo review, 
we will dismiss the appeal. 
I. LAW 
To establish eligibility for a national interest waiver, petitioners must 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. Section 203(b )(2)(B)(i) of the Act. In addition, 
petitioners must show the merit of a discretionary waiver of the job offer requirement "in the national 
interest." Section 203(b )(2)(B)(i) of the Act. Matter ofDhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. 884, 889 (AAO 2016) 
provides that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) may, as matter of discretion 1, grant 
a national interest waiver if: 
• 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. 
1 See also Poursina v. USCIS, 936 F.3d 868 (9th Cir. 2019) (finding USCIS' decision to grant or deny a national interest 
waiver to be discretionary in nature). 
II. ANALYSIS 
Regarding the national interest waiver, the first prong relates to substantial merit and national 
importance of the specific proposed endeavor. Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. at 889. At initial filing, the 
Petitioner's cover letter stated: 
[The Petitioner] is an especially educated and experienced in IT infrastructure for 
business development, growth, and continuity. [The Petitioner] seeks to utilize her 
unique experience in the United States to provide this subset ofIT systems services for 
the benefit of United States' businesses, including those in the manufacturing and food 
production industries, as she did in her home country of Venezuela. 
The benefit of [the Petitioner's] work is of substantial merit because she will offer her 
unique background in Systems Engineering, providing a positive impact that improves 
the efficiency and reliability of U.S. companies' systems .... 
In addition, the Petitioner provided registration information for her business,
I I and documents relating to various topics, such as the U.S~.-S-m-al_l_B_u-s1-_n_e_s~s 
Administration, STEM [science, technology, engineering, and mathematics] for women and the U.S. 
economy, computer systems engineers, essential critical infrastructure workforce, and women, 
minorities, and persons with disabilities in science and engineering. 
In response to the Director's request for evidence, the Petitioner offered a statement indicating: 
My proposed endeavor is to work in the United States as a Computer System Engineer 
for U.S. companies and public entities. I~ 12018, I moved to the United States 
and established my own company named 'I [" a Florida 
corporation. Thus, I'm creating my own employment opportunity in the United States 
which has the potential of generating jobs for U.S. residents, paying taxes, and 
stimulating growth. 
My goals are to improve the U.S. LT. industry and to provide U.S. clients with safe and 
effective LT. solutions to enhance their businesses. To broaden the impact of my work 
on the U.S., I plan to consult with other LT. professionals and LT. departments, project 
managers, coders, and web and software developers, to enable them to bring their 
clients better results. I believe that U.S. citizens deserve better LT. solutions. 
I will leverage my extensive background in both market research and LT. business 
development to have a strong vision of how to boost LT. Infrastructure progress and 
help the US nation to simply its daily life .... 
The Petitioner also offered ownership, profit and loss, and lease documents for her company, a 
business plan, and evidence regarding critical infrastructure workers, cybersecurity, and "The 
American Jobs Plan." 
2 
Regarding the substantial merit, the endeavor's merit may be demonstrated in a range of areas such as 
business, entrepreneurialism, science, technology, culture, health, or education. Dhanasar, 26 I&N 
Dec. at 889. As indicative above, the Petitioner provided a wide range of topics and information 
relating to the IT field. Here, the Petitioner has shown the substantial merit of her proposed endeavor. 
In determining national importance, the relevant question is not the importance of the industry or 
profession in which the individual will work; instead, we focus on "the specific endeavor that the 
foreign national proposes to undertake." See Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. at 889. Although the Petitioner 
argues her submission of "Probative Research," the Petitioner must demonstrate the national 
importance of her specific, proposed endeavor of providing her particular IT services, including 
through her company, rather than the importance of IT, critical infrastructure workers, system 
engineers, and other related topics. 2 In Dhanasar, we noted that "we look for broader implications" 
of the proposed endeavor and that "[ a ]n undertaking may have national importance for example, 
because it has national or even global implications within a particular field." Id. We also stated that 
"[a]n endeavor that has significant potential to employ U.S. workers or has other substantial positive 
economic effects, particularly in an economically depressed area, for instance, may well be understood 
to have national importance." Id. at 890. 
The Petitioner also emphasizes her "extensive background" and "the evidence proactively 
demonstrated that [she] possesses skills that go well above and beyond skills needed to merely fill a 
shortage." However, the Petitioner's skills, experience, and abilities relate to the second prong of the 
Dhanasar framework, which "shifts the focus from the proposed endeavor to the foreign national." 
Id. at 890. The issue here is whether the specific endeavor she proposes to undertake has national 
importance under Dhanasar's first prong. Similarly, the Petitioner argues her submission of "[l]etters 
from clients." While the letters discuss the Petitioner's particular services to each respective client, 
including her work on two project apps, the letters do not show the broader impact of the Petitioner's 
work rather than limited to her clients, who employ her for her services. Moreover, the letters discuss 
the Petitioner's prior work and accomplishments and relate to the second prong rather than the first 
prong. 
Further, the Petitioner contends that she presented two expert opinion letters who found the proposed 
endeavor has national importance. The letters, however, makes the same arguments, discussed above, 
relating to the importance of IT, small businesses, computer system engineers, STEM occupations, 
economic benefits from immigrants, national initiatives, and other general topics rather than focusing 
on the national importance of the Petitioner's particular services and company. Furthermore, the 
letters do not sufficiently explain and articulate how the Petitioner's services and business have 
broader implications for our country. To evaluate whether the Petitioner's proposed endeavor satisfies 
the national importance requirement, we look to evidence documenting the "potential prospective 
impact" of her work. Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. at 889. Here, the Petitioner did not demonstrate how 
her proposed endeavor largely influences the field and rises to the level of national importance. In 
Dhanasar, we determined 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. Likewise, the record 
does not show through supporting documentation how her business stands to sufficiently extend 
2 The Petitioner's arguments and evidence relate to the substantial merit aspect of the proposed endeavor rather than the 
national importance part. 
3 
beyond her prospective clients, to impact the industry or the U.S. economy more broadly at a level 
commensurate with national importance. 
In addition, although the Petitioner provided a business plan, the Petitioner did not demonstrate how 
her business' claimed revenue and employment projections, even if credible or plausible, have 
significant potential to employ U.S. workers or otherwise offers substantial positive economic effects 
for our nation. While the sales forecast $342K in year 1 to $1.lM in year 5, the business plan does 
not establish the benefits to the regional or national economy would reach the level of "substantial 
positive economic effects" contemplated by Dhanasar. Id. at 890. Similarly, although the plan claims 
the business would create 6 positions in year 1 to 19 positions in year 5, the Petitioner did not 
demonstrate that such future staffing levels would provide substantial economic benefits to Florida or 
the region or U.S. economy more broadly at a level commensurate with national importance. The 
Petitioner, for instance, did not show that such employment figures would utilize a significant 
population of workers in the area or would substantially impact job creation and economic growth, 
either regionally or nationally. For all these reasons, the record does not establish that, beyond the 
limited benefits provided to its prospective clients and employees, the Petitioner's proposed endeavor 
has broader implications rising to the level of having national importance or that it would offer 
substantial positive economic effects. 
Because the documentation in the record does not establish the national importance of her proposed 
endeavor as required by the first prong of the Dhanasar precedent decision, the Petitioner has not 
demonstrated eligibility for a national interest waiver. Further analysis of her qualification under the 
second and third prongs outlined in Dhanasar, therefore, would serve no meaningful purpose. 3 
III. CONCLUSION 
As the Petitioner has not met the 
requisite first prong ofthe Dhanasar analytical framework, we conclude 
that she has not demonstrated eligibility for or otherwise merits a national interest waiver as a matter 
of discretion. The appeal will be dismissed for the above stated reasons, with each considered as an 
independent and alternate basis for the decision. 
ORDER: The appeal is dismissed. 
3 See INS v. Bagamasbad, 429 U.S. 24, 25 (1976) (stating that agencies are not required to make "purely advisory findings" 
on issues that are unnecessary to the ultimate decision); see also Matter ofL-A-C-, 26 l&N Dec. 516,526 n.7 (BIA 2015) 
( declining to reach alternate issues on appeal where applicants do not otherwise meet their burden of proof). 
4