dismissed EB-2 NIW Case: Journalism

U.S. Citizenship
and Immigration 
Services 
Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
Date: SEPT. 16, 2024 In Re: 33361881 
Appeal of Texas Service Center Decision 
Form 1-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers (National Interest Waiver) 
The Petitioner, a journalist, seeks classification under the employment-based, second-preference (EB
-
2) immigrant visa category and a waiver of the category's job-offer requirement. See Immigration 
and Nationality Act (the Act) section 203(b)(2)(B)(i), 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(2)(B)(i). U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration Services (USCIS) has discretion to excuse job offers in this category - and thus 
related requirements for certifications from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) - if petitioners 
demonstrate that waivers of these U.S.-worker protections would be "in the national interest." Id. 
The Director of the Texas Service Center denied the petition. The Director concluded that although 
the Petitioner demonstrated his qualifications for the EB-2 category, the Petitioner did not establish 
that he is eligible for or otherwise merits a national interest waiver as a matter of discretion. The 
matter is now before us on appeal. 8 C.F.R. § 103.3. 
The Petitioner bears the burden of demonstrating eligibility for the requested benefit by a 
preponderance of the evidence. Matter of Chawathe, 25 l&N Dec. 369, 375-76 (AAO 2010). 
Exercising de nova appellate review, seeMatterofChristo's, Inc., 26 l&N Dec. 537, 537 n.2 (AAO 
2015), we conclude that the record does not support a national interest waiver because the Petitioner 
has not established the claimed "national importance" of his proposed U.S. venture. We will therefore 
dismiss the appeal. 
I. LAW 
To establish eligibility for national interest waivers, petitioners must demonstrate their qualifications 
for the EB-2 category, either as members of the professions holding an "advanced degree" or 
noncitizens of "exceptional ability" in the sciences, arts, or business. Section 203(b)(2)(A) of the Act. 
To protect the jobs of U.S. workers, this immigrant visa category usually requires prospective 
employers to offer noncitizens jobs and to obtain DOL certifications to permanently employ the 
individuals in the country. See section 212(a)(5)(D) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(5)(D). Petitioners 
may avoid the job offer/labor certification requirements by demonstrating that waivers of the U.S.­
worker protections would be in the national interest. Section 203(b)(2)(B)(i) of the Act. 
Neither the Act nor regulations define the term "national interest." So, to adjudicate these waiver 
requests, we have established a framework. If otherwise qualified as advanced degree professionals 
or noncitizens of exceptional ability, petitioners may warrant waivers of the job-offer/labor 
certification requirements by demonstrating that: 
• Their proposed U.S. work has "substantial merit" and "national importance;" 
• They are "well positioned" to advance their intended endeavors; and 
• On balance, waivers of the job-offer/labor certification requirements would benefit the United 
States. 
Matter of Dhanasar, 26 l&N Dec. 884, 889-91 (AAO 2016). 
11. ANALYSIS 
A. The Proposed Endeavor 
The Petitioner, a citizen of Brazil, states that his proposed endeavor is to provide his expertise and 
insights to the United States to serve as a journalist specializing in investigative research and the 
creation of informative articles and news pieces on critical social issues including education, housing, 
health, poverty, criminal justice, and race relations. His focus will be on working alongside 
underserved communities with a particular emphasis on Latino immigrant populations, aiming to 
deliver content that caters to the nuances of a multicultural and multilingual audience. His approach 
to journalism intends to narrate stories from the perspective of immigrants, fostering a narrative that 
not only speaks about them but also for them, encouraging a more diverse and inclusive representation 
of migration issues. In addition, he explained how he will also deploy his skills as a professor and 
mentor to train emerging journalists with missions on improving social equity. 
The Petitioner's professional plan states that he endeavors: 
...to enter the U.S. as a journalist researching and covering social equity issues such as 
poverty, education, housing, health, and race relations in underserved Latin American 
immigrant communities. In pursuing this project, he will be serving various industries 
in the U.S monetizing its services. Services are mainly focused on reproducing social 
equity content as well as teaching and performing public speaking events. The purpose 
of this endeavor is to raise awareness, amplify voices of communities; facilitate 
community engagement and provide information and resources with a multicultural 
and multilingual approach to the immigrant culture to improve social and economic 
conditions as well as cultural biases. The plan is to start in Florida, state with one of 
the highest immigration population suffering from social inequities in the U.S. and then 
leveraging his experience into other communities in other states across the nation. 
The Petitioner's professional plan further states that the endeavor "will be monetized targeting 
companies licensing the intellectual rights to reproduce its social equity content as well as teaching 
and performing public speaking events." 
The Director determined that the Petitioner qualified as a member of the professions holding an 
advanced degree. The remaining issue to be determined on appeal is whether the Petitioner established 
2 
that a waiver of the requirement of a job offer, and thus a labor certification, would be in the national 
interest. Regarding the requested national interest waiver, the Director found that the Petitioner's 
proposed endeavor has substantial merit. See Matter of Dhanasar, 26 l&N Dec. at 889. However, the 
Director concluded that the Petitioner did not establish that his endeavor has national importance. Id. 
at 889-90. As the Petitioner correctly noted, the Director did not discuss or reach any conclusions 
related to whether the Petitioner is well-positioned for the endeavor or whether on balance waivers of 
the job-offer/labor certification requirements would benefit the United States. 
B. Substantial Merit 
A proposed undertaking may have substantial merit whether it "has the potential to create a significant 
economic impact" or relates to "research, pure science, and the furtherance of human knowledge." 
Matter of Dhanasar, 26 l&N Dec. at 889. The record suppmis the Director's finding that the 
Petitioner's proposed endeavor has substantial merit and we agree. 
C. National Importance 
When determining whether a proposed endeavor has national importance, USCIS must focus on the 
particular venture, specifically on its "potential prospective impact." Matter of Dhanasar, 26 l&N 
Dec. at 889. "An undertaking may have national importance, for example, because it has national or 
even global implications within a particular field, such as those resulting from certain improved 
manufacturing processes or medical advances." Id. A nationally important venture may even focus 
on only one geographic area of the United States. Id. at 889-90. "An 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 impmiance." Id. 
We agree with the Director that the Petitioner "has not demonstrated that the specific endeavor he 
proposes to undertake has a significant potential to impact the field of endeavor, to employ U.S. 
workers, or otherwise offers substantial positive economic effects for our nation. The petitioner has 
not shown that benefits to the regional or national economy resulting from his proposed endeavor 
would reach the level of 'substantial positive economic effects' contemplated by Dhanasar. Id at 890." 
On appeal, the Petitioner contends that "the significance of journalism in shaping the national 
identity and promoting informed citizenship in the United States cannot be overstated." 
(Emphasis in the original.) In his appeal, the Petitioner discusses the value of journalism in facilitating 
the democratic process, responding to critical issues, supporting commerce, and driving the 
transformation of culture. However, the Petitioner does not explain how his particular endeavor will 
specifically monetize the economy, employ U.S. citizens, or advance the field of journalism. 
The Petitioner's professional plan does not specify where his journalistic endeavors will appear nor 
the circulation of those journalistic conduits. The Petitioner provided an expert opinion stating that 
the Petitioner intends to "write journalistic articles for publication in the many Spanish and Portuguese 
language periodicals in the state [of Florida]." Neither the expe1i opinion letter1 provided nor the 
1 USCIS may, in its discretion, use advisory opinion statements from universities, professional organizations, or other 
3 
professional plan specify the identity, quality, reach, or circulation of these unspecified periodicals, 
therefore the impact of publication is speculative. The Petitioner's professional plan states vaguely 
that he plans to monetize his journalistic endeavor but offers no projections on what income is 
expected. It is not asserted that the Petitioner's particular endeavor will create jobs. 
In addition to "reproducing social equity content," the professional plan states that the other main 
focus of the endeavor is "teaching and performing public speaking events." The Petitioner's proposed 
endeavor relates to a proposal discussed in Dhanasar. There, we found that a plan to teach U.S. 
university students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines had 
substantial merit. Matter of Dhanasar, 26 l&N Dec. at 893. But we concluded that the proposal 
lacked national importance because "the record does not indicate by apreponderance of the evidence 
that the petitioner would be engaged in activities that would impact the field of STEM education more 
broadly." Id. Here, we conclude the Petitioner has not shown that the teaching and lecture component 
of his proposed endeavor stands to sufficiently extend beyond his students or audience to impact his 
field or journalism more broadly at a level commensurate with national importance. 
Like the petitioner in Dhanasar, the Petitioner's proposed endeavor has substantial merit. But also 
like that petitioner, he has not sufficiently demonstrated that his proposed endeavor would impact the 
economy or the field of journalism "more broadly." The Petitioner therefore has not demonstrated the 
claimed national importance of his proposed endeavor. 
D. The Remaining Issues 
Our decision regarding the national importance of the Petitioner's proposed venture resolves this 
appeal. Thus, we decline to reach and hereby reserve consideration regarding his positioning to 
advance his proposed venture and a waiver's purported benefits to the United States. See 
Bagamasbad, 429 U.S. at 25; see also Matter of L-A-C-, 26 l&N Dec. at 526 n.7. The Petitioner 
incorrectly asserts that the Director's silence on the second and third prongs of the analysis equate to 
a finding that the Petitioner met his burden on these prongs. We note that the Director's conclusion 
that the Petitioner did not meet the first prong was dispositive, and no purpose would have been 
served in reaching the second and third prongs. 
111. CONCLUSION 
The Petitioner has not demonstrated that his proposed endeavor has national importance. Thus, under 
our framework, he does not qualify for a national interest waiver. Therefore, the petition will remain 
denied. 
ORDER: The appeal is dismissed. 
sources submitted in evidence as expert testimony. See Matter of Caron Int'l, 19 I&N Dec. 791, 795 (Comm'r 1988). 
However, the submission of letters from experts supporting a petition is not presumptive evidence of eligibility. Id. 
4