dismissed EB-2 NIW Case: Nursing

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
Non-Precedent Decision of the
Administrative Appeals Office 
Date: JUNE 18, 2024 In Re: 31111634 
Appeal of Texas Service Center Decision 
Form 1-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers (National Interest Waiver) 
The Petitioner, a nurse, seeks employment-based second preference (EB-2) immigrant classification 
as either a member of the professions holding an advanced degree or an individual of exceptional 
ability. 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 (USC IS) 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. The Director concluded that the 
Petitioner did not establish she merits ad iscretionary waiver of the job offer requirement 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 apreponderance 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 a/Christa'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 for the underlying classification, the petitioner must then 
establish eligibility for ad iscretionary waiver of the job offer requirement "in the national interest." 
Section 203(b)(2)(B)(i) of the Act. 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 petitions. Dhanasar states that USCIS may, as a 
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. 
Id. 
11. ANALYSIS 
The Director determined that the Petitioner established her eligibility for the underlying EB-2 
classification as an advanced degree professional. Upon de nova review, we agree with the Director's 
determination.2 
The issue on appeal is whether the Petitioner is eligible or otherwise merits a waiver of the 
classification's job offer requirement. The Director concluded the Petitioner did not establish that a 
waiver of the requirement of a job offer, and thus alabor certification, would be in the national interest. 
The Director found that while the Petitioner demonstrated the proposed endeavor has substantial merit, 
she did not establish that the proposed endeavor is of national importance, as required by the first 
prong of the Dhanasar analytical framework. The Director further found that the Petitioner did not 
establish that she is well positioned to undertake the endeavor under Dhanasar 's second prong, or that, 
on balance, it would be beneficial to the United States to waive the requirements of a job offer, and 
thus of a labor certification under Dhanasar's third prong. Upon de nova review, the Petitioner has 
not established that a waiver of the labor certification would be in the national interest. 3 
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 national importance, the relevant question is not the importance 
of the field, industry, or profession in which the individual will work; instead, we focus on the "the 
specific endeavor that the foreign national proposes to undertake." Id. 
The Petitioner proposes to work in the United States as a nurse specializing in geriatric care. The 
Petitioner states she would "help assist hospitals and clinics, along with the retirement community, 
with elderly needs." Her work would include implementing her technical knowledge to help 
institutions that take care of the elderly to plan, structure, and monitor fall ind ictors; assist in the 
prevention and treatment of chronic and acute diseases; and provide multilingual services to help serve 
non-English speaking patients. She would also "educate other healthcare professionals in monitming 
the level ofrisk and independence among the elderly, as well as their mental and physical state." The 
1 See Flores v. Garland, 72 F.4th 85, 88 (5th Cir. 2023) (joining the Ninth, Eleventh, and D.C. Circuit Courts (and Third 
Circuit Court in an unpublished decision) in concluding that USCIS' decision to grant or deny a national interest waiver 
to be discretionary in nature). 
2 To demonstrate she is an advanced degree professiona I, the Petitioner submitted herd iploma, her academic transcript, an 
academic evaluation, labor cards, and employment letters. The record demonstrates that she holds the foreign equivalent 
of a U.S. bachelor's degree followed by more than five years of progressive experience in her specialty. 
See 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(k)(3). 
3 While we may not discuss every document submitted, we have reviewed and considered each one. 
2 
Petitioner indicates that her work will contribute to overcoming the shortage of knowledgeable and 
qualified nurses in the healthcare industry and improve public health and elder healthcare. We agree 
with the Director that the Petitioner's endeavor has substantial merit. 
Even though the Petitioner's proposed endeavor has substantial merit, the Director found that the 
Petitioner did not establish that her proposed endeavor has the potential to extend beyond her patients 
to impact the field of nursing or the healthcare industry more broadly. The Director further found that 
the Petitioner did not demonstrate her endeavor has significant potential to offer substantial positive 
economic effects. Therefore, the Director determined that the Petitioner did not demonstrate that her 
endeavor is of national importance and did not meet the first prong of the Dhanasar framework. Upan 
de nova review, the Petitioner has not established that her proposed endeavor satisfies the national 
importance element of Dhanasar 's first prong, as discussed below. 
On appeal, the Petitioner contends that she submitted sufficient evidence detailing and supporting the 
national importance of her proposed endeavor. She argues that the Director ignored "the totality of 
the evidence submitted" and overlooked arguments and evidence submitted with the petition and her 
response to a request for evidence. Specifically, she references her supporting letter, a professional 
plan, letters of recommendation from industry professionals, and research and articles showing she 
will contribute to the field and help ease the U.S. nursing shortage. 
When USCIS provides a reasoned consideration to the petition, and has made adequate findings, it 
will not be required to specifically address each claim a petitioner makes, nor is it necessary for it to 
address every piece of evidence a petitioner presents. Guaman-Loja v. Holder, 707 F.3d 119, 123 
(1st Cir. 2013) (citing Martinez v. INS, 970 F.2d 973, 976 (1st Cir.1992)); see also Kazemzadeh v. U.S. 
Atty. Gen., 577 F.3d 1341, 1351 (11th Cir. 2009); Casalena v. U.S. INS, 984 F.2d 105, 107 
(4th Cir. 1993). Here, although the Director's decision did not individually analyze each piece of 
evidence, it reflects a reasoned consideration of the evidence. The Director, in evaluating whether the 
Petitioner had established that she meets the first prong of the Dhanasar framework, weighed all the 
evidence but determined that the evidence overall lacked probative value. See Matter of Chawathe, 
25 I &N Dec. at 376 (explaining that under the preponderance of the evidence standard, we consider 
not only the quantity, but also the quality (including relevance, probative value, and credibility) of the 
evidence); Matter of E-M-, 20 l&N Dec. 77, 79-80 (Comm'r 1989). 
The Petitioner then argues that the Director incorrectly focused on her endeavor's lack of economic 
or job productivity benefits, instead of her claims that her endeavor has national importance based on 
potential health and societal welfare benefits, which are accepted under the USCIS Policy Manual. 
See generally 6 USC IS Policy Manual, F.5(D)(l), https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual. She stresses 
the need for immigrant nurses in the United States to alleviate the shortage of qualified nurses. By 
hiring qualified nurses such as herself, she maintains that her work would provide "positive health 
outcomes and reduce the risk of patient mortality, which has national implications in the healthcare 
field." (emphasis omitted). She argues that one nurse, such as herself, "has an impact in the nursing 
field and healthcare industry more broadly by lowering the patient-to nurse ratio and lowering the risk 
of mortality." (emphasis omitted). She relies on studies in the record to show a "significant reduction 
in patient mortality by the increase of [one] full-time registered nurse." (emphasis omitted). She 
argues that reports and articles in the record show the important role that nurse professionals play in 
the health field, particularly the quality of health for the elderly population. 
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With the petition, the Petitioner submitted a professional plan explaining the growing need for 
qualified nurses, the U.S. shortage of nurses and healthcare professionals, and her willingness to help 
the increasing elderly population. Her professional plan also stresses her bilingual skills and the 
importance of such skills in the healthcare field. She also submitted industry reports and articles to 
show her work as a nurse would help mitigate the shortage of qualified nurses for the elder population 
and the importance of her bilingual skills for the healthcare industry. The reports and articles relate 
to the role of nurses; a nursing industry analysis; the importance of safe nurse staffing ratios; nurse 
staffing shortages in the United States; immigration policies affecting nursing shortages; disease 
prevention; protecting seniors by improving safety and quality of nursing homes; preventing falls in 
older age; effects of nursing home staff shortage on hospitals; impacts of nursing shortages on patient 
care and increased healthcare costs; changes to long-term care post COVI D-19; long-term care for 
patients with dementia; financing long-term care; patients with cancer; care for the aging population; 
chronic health conditions in older adults; the benefits of bilingual nurses; the role of regulatory bodies 
in healthcare; and government initiates attracting science, technology, engineering, and mathematics 
talent to strengthen the U.S. economy and its competitiveness. 
We recognize the importance of the healthcare industry, the nursing field, and related careers, and the 
significant contributions from immigrants who are nurses in the United States; however, merely 
working in the healthcare field as a nurse is insufficient to establish the national importance of the 
proposed endeavor. Instead of focusing on the importance of an industry or the need for workers in a 
specific industry, we focus on the "the specific endeavor that the foreign national proposes to 
undertake." Matter of Dhanasar, 26 l&N Dec. at 889. We acknowledge that a shortage of nurses and 
healthcare professionals demonstrates substantial merit of a proposed endeavor; however, it does not 
render a proposed endeavor nationally important under Dhanasar's framework, as it does not in itself 
establish the proposed endeavor's impact in the field. The U.S. Department of Labor through the labor 
certification process directly addresses such shortages of qualified workers. The issue here is whether 
the Petitioner has established how her proposed endeavor would affect national nursing and healthcare 
employment levels or the U.S. economy more broadly consistent with national importance. 
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. Also, evidence demonstrating a "proposed endeavor has the significant potential to broadly 
enhance societal welfare . . may rise to the level of national importance." 
See generally 6 USCIS Policy Manual, supra, at F.5(D)(l). However, the industry reports and articles 
and other evidence submitted do not discuss how the Petitioner working as a nurse for a healthcare 
facility will address or overcome the shortage of nurses and healthcare workers in the United States. 
The Petitioner further claims thatthe national importance of her endeavor is demonstrated by her intent 
to educate other healthcare professionals in monitoring the elderly population's level of risk and 
independence, as well as their mental and physical state. Referencing her more than 20 years of 
nursing experience, with 13 years supervising geriatric medical care teams, she argues her work 
educating other nurses has significant potential to broadly enhance societal welfare and contribute to 
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the care and treatment of the elderly. In Dhanasar, we determined that the petitioner's teaching 
activities did not rise to the level of having national importance because they wou Id not impact the 
field more broadly. Matter of Dhanasar, 26 l&N Dec. at 893. Similarly, the record does not 
demonstrate that the Petitioner's proposed work of educating other healthcare professionals has the 
potential to substantially benefit the healthcare field, as contemplated by Dhanasar: "[a]n 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. The evidence does not suggest that the Petitioner's work educating other healthcare 
professionals would impact the healthcare field more broadly. 
The Petitioner also argues that letters of recommendation from her employers and colleagues show 
the national importance of her work. The recommendation letters attest to the Petitioner 's technical 
nursing knowledge by describing her successful treatment results for individual patients and her 
commitment to her employers and patients. We acknowledge that the Petitioner provided valuable 
nursing services for her employers and her patients, but the Petitioner has not offered sufficient 
information and evidence based on these recommendation letters to demonstrate her claims of 
providing broader impact in her field rising to the level of national importance. While the Petitioner's 
employers and colleagues generally attest to the Petitioner's dedication to her patients and to 
improving their health, the content of these letters relates to the second prong of the Dhanasar 
framework, instead of speaking to the national importance of the Petitioner's proposed endeavor. The 
second prong of the Dhanasar framework "shifts the focus from the proposed endeavor to the foreign 
national." Id. at 890. The issue here is whether the specific endeavor that the Petitioner proposes to 
undertake has national importance under Dhanasar 's first prong. 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. Id. at 889. Here, the Petitioner has not submitted 
sufficient documentary evidence to establish that her proposed job duties as a co-owner, chief 
physiotherapy officer, and clinic manager of her health and wellness clinic business would impact the 
physical therapy field more broadly, rather than benefiting her business and her clients. 
To further support the national importance of her endeavor, the Petitioner submitted an opinion from 
a professor for the nursing department at The opinion states the 
Petitioner 's "work is in demand and of national importance in the field of [n]ursing. Nursing jobs are 
growing, and it is projected that more nurses will be needed in the coming years. Therefore, her 
proposed endeavor has both substantial merit and national importance." The opinion describes the 
expected growth of the healthcare industry and related careers, and the increase demand for nurses 
based on the increase of the aging population. However, the opinion focuses on the need for nurses 
and how the Petitioner 's nursing experience in Brazil makes her capable to provide nursing services 
in the United States, instead of the Petitioner's specific endeavor having a prospective impact in the 
field of nursing. The submission of letters from experts supporting the petition is not presumptive 
evidence of eligibility. Matter of Caron lnt 'I, 19 l&N Dec. 791, 795 (Comm'r. 1988); see also Matter 
of D-R, 25 l&N Dec. 445, 460 n.13 (BIA 2011) (discussing the varying weight that may be given 
expert testimony based on relevance, reliability, and the overall probative value). As previously 
discussed , stating that the Petitioner's work would support an important industry with a shortage of 
qualified professionals is not sufficient to meet the "national importance" requirement under the 
Dhanasar framework. 
5 
Based on the above, the Petitioner has not demonstrated that her proposed endeavor has the potential 
to extend beyond her prospective employers and her future patients to impact the healthcare field or 
U.S. societal welfare more broadly at a level commensurate with national importance. She has not 
demonstrated that the work she proposes to undertake as a nurse for a healthcare facility offers 
innovations that contribute to advancements in her industry or otherwise has broader implications for 
her field or societal welfare. As a result, the Petitioner has not established that her proposed endeavor 
satisfies the national importance element of Dhanasar's first prong. 
111. CONCLUSION 
Because the Petitioner has not established the national importance of her proposed endeavor as 
required by the first prong of the Dhanasar precedent decision, she has not demonstrated eligibility 
for anational interest waiver as a matter of discretion. The identified basis for denial is dispositive of 
the Petitioner's appeal, therefore we decline to reach and hereby reserve the Petitioner's eligibility and 
appellate arguments regarding the second and third prongs under the Dhanasar framework. See INS 
v. Bagamasbad, 429 U.S. 24, 25 (1976) (noting that "courts and agencies are not required to make 
findings on issues the decision of which is unnecessary to the results they reach"); see also Matter of 
L-A-C-, 26 l&N Dec. 516, 526 n.7 (BIA 2015) (declining to reach alternative issues on appeal where 
an applicant is otherwise ineligible). 
The appeal will be dismissed for the above stated reasons. 
ORDER: The appeal is dismissed. 
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