dismissed EB-2 NIW Case: Linguistics

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
Date: JUNE 16, 2023 In Re: 26913611 
Appeal of Texas Service Center Decision 
Form 1-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers (National Interest Waiver) 
The Petitioner, a bilingual content analyst, seeks classification as a member of the professions holding 
an advanced degree. Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act) section 203(b)(2), 8 U .S.C. § 
1153(b)(2). The Petitioner also seeks a national interest waiver of the job offer requirement that is 
attached to this EB-2 immigrant classification. See section 203(b)(2)(B)(i) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 
1153(b)(2)(B)(i). U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) may grant this discretionary 
waiver of the required job offer, and thus of a labor certification, when it is in the national interest to 
do so. 
The Director of the Texas Service Center denied the petition, concluding that the record did not 
establish that the Petitioner 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 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 nova. Matter of Christo 's, Inc., 26 l&N Dec. 537, 537 n.2 (AAO 2015). 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. Section 203(b)(2)(B)(i) of the Act. Once a 
petitioner demonstrates eligibility as either a member of the professions holding an advanced degree 
or an individual of exceptional ability, they must then establish that they merit a discretionary waiver 
of the job offer requirement "in the national interest." Id. 
While neither the statute nor the pertinent regulations define the term "national interest," Matter of 
Dhanasar, 26 l&N Dec. 884, 889 (AAO 2016), provides the framework for adjudicating national 
interest waiver pet1t1ons. Dhanasar states that USCIS may, as matter of discretion 1, grant a national 
interest waiver if the petitioner demonstrates that: 
• 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. 
II. ANALYSIS 
The Petitioner proposes to work in the United States as a bilingual content analyst. The Petitioner 
earned a master's degree in international studies from IUniversity inl lNC 
in 2021, and then worked in the United States tori las a bilingual content 
reviewer. We agree with the Director that the Petitioner established her eligibility as a member of the 
professions holding an advanced degree. 
However, the Director concluded the Petitioner did not establish that a waiver of the requirement of a 
job offer, and thus a labor certification, would be in the national interest. The Director found that 
while the Petitioner demonstrated the proposed endeavor has substantial merit, she "has not 
established that the proposed endeavor is of national importance," as required by the first Dhanasar 
prong. The Director further found that the record does not satisfy the second or third Dhanasar prongs. 
Upon de novo review, we agree with the Director's determination that the Petitioner did not 
demonstrate that a waiver of the labor certification would be in the national interest. 
The first prong of the Dhanasar analytical framework, substantial merit and national importance, 
focuses on the specific endeavor that a petitioner proposes to undertake. The endeavor's merit may 
be demonstrated in a range of areas, such as business, entrepreneurial ism, science, technology, culture, 
health, or education. In determining whether the proposed endeavor has national importance, we 
consider its potential prospective impact. Matter of Dhanasar, 26 l&N Dec. at 889. If the Petitioner 
does not meet the first prong, the evidence is dispositive in finding the Petitioner ineligible for the 
national interest waiver, and we need not address the second and third prongs. 
The Petitioner submitted a statement with her Form 1-140 indicating that she intended to keep her 
current job at.__________ __.and stated, "Obtaining permanent residence in the United 
States will increase my work opportunities .... I am currently on a temporary work visa that cannot 
be renewed and am [sic] not being sponsored. I was told many times my performance and resume 
looked great, but the companies were not available to sponsor me at that time, so that made them 
decline many opportunities that I was a good fit for it." The Petitioner explained the United States has 
a need for bilingual workers and submitted a job offer letter from her current employer and a letter of 
support from her supervisor. 
In her reply to a request for evidence, the Petitioner further described her proposed endeavor as "a 
linguistics/languages worker" with potential "employment in both the public and private sectors, in 
fields like translation, technical writing, forensic science, and even the military, and also be self­
employed as a freelancer in translation and linguistic proofreading and editing." The Petitioner 
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). 
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submitted a statement and a business plan describing her skills and career goals, including "I want to 
advance my career in translation and linguistics services", her attaining certification with the American 
Translators Association, and her completing a "PhD in translation and interpretation studies". The 
Petitioner also describes how language services are provided to companies, stating "[t]he main 
employers in the language sector are language service providers and contract language providers." 
The business plan generally explains that her services in the linguistics-language industry would add 
value and profitability to businesses, "to help businesses thrive economically by working with external 
vendors and internal stakeholders to provide timely and market-appropriate localized products in a 
target language." 
The Director found that the Petitioner's proposed endeavor has substantial merit, but not national 
importance. On appeal, the Petitioner argues that she clearly stated her proposed endeavor working 
in the linguistics-language field and is "willing to bring national and global implications to that field." 
She reiterates that her work will benefit the U.S. economy contending the evidence submitted with her 
petition and in her reply to the request for evidence establishes national importance. 
We agree with the Director's determination that the Petitioner's proposed endeavor has substantial 
merit. We note that the Petitioner's proposed endeavor included personal goals, such as completing 
her education and obtaining lawful permanent resident status. We make no determination on those 
goals. However, we find her proposal to provide linguistic and translation services to businesses to 
have substantial merit and will limit our analysis to that portion of her proposed endeavor. 
When determining whether a proposed endeavor would have national importance, the relevant 
question is not the importance of the industry or profession where a petitioner will work, but the 
specific impact of that proposed endeavor. Matter of Dhanasar, 26 l&N Dec. at 889-890. Dhanasar 
provided examples of endeavors that may have national importance, as required by the first prong, 
having "national or even global implications within a particular field, such as those resulting from 
certain improved manufacturing processes or medical advances" and endeavors that have broader 
implications, such as "significant potential to employ U.S. workers or has other substantial positive 
economic effects, particularly in an economically depressed area." Id.; see generally 6 USCIS Policy 
Manual F.5(0)(1), https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual. While the Petitioner's business plan 
expresses her desire to contribute to the U.S. economy and communities, she has not established with 
specific, probative evidence that her endeavor will have broader implications on the linguistics­
language industry and extend beyond the company she works for or her potential business's clients. 
Further, the record does not include any other documentary evidence to suppmi the Petitioner's claims 
of benefit to the local or national economy. 
Because the Petitioner has not established eligibility under the first prong of the Dhanasar test, we 
need not address her eligibility under the second and third prongs and we hereby reserve them. See 
INS v. Bagamasbad, 429 U.S. 24, 25 (1976) ("courts and agencies are not required to make findings 
on issues the decision of which is unnecessary to the results they reach"). The petition will remain 
denied. 
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Ill. CONCLUSION 
The Petitioner has not met the requisite first prong of the Dhanasar analytical framework. As such, 
we conclude 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. 
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