dismissed EB-2 NIW Case: Nutrition

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
In Re : 11212030 
Appeal of Nebraska Service Center Decision 
Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
Date: JUN. 8, 2021 
Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker (Advanced Degree, Exceptional Ability, National 
Interest Waiver) 
The Petitioner, a nutritionist, seeks second preference immigrant classification as a member of the 
professions holding an advanced degree and as an individual of exceptional ability, as well as a 
national interest waiver of the job offer requirement attached to this EB-2 classification. See 
Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act) section 203(b)(2), 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b )(2). 
The Director of theNebraskaService Center denied the petition, concluding that the Petitioner qualified 
for classification as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree, but that she had not 
established that a waiver of the required job offer, and thus of the labor certification, would be in the 
national interest. 
On appeal , the Petitioner submits a brief asserting that she is eligible for a national interest waiver. 
In these proceedings, it is the petitioner 's burden to establish eligibility for the immigration benefit 
sought. Section 291 of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1361. 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. Because this classification requires that the 
individual's services be sought by a U.S. employer, a separate showing is required to establish that a 
waiver of the job offer requirement is in the national interest. 
Section 203 (b) of the Act sets out this sequential framework: 
(2) Aliens who are members of the professions holding advanced degrees or aliens of 
exceptional ability. -
(A) In general. - Visas shall be made available . .. to qualified immigrants who are 
members of the professions holding advanced degrees or their equivalent or 
who because of their exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business, will 
substantially benefit prospectively the national economy, cultural or 
educational interests, or welfare of the United States, and whose services in the 
sciences, arts, professions, or business are sought by an employer in the United 
States. 
(B) Waiver of job offer-
(i) National interest waiver. ... [T]he Attorney General may, when the Attorney 
General deems it to be in the national interest, waive the requirements of 
subparagraph (A) that an alien's services in the sciences, arts, professions, or 
business be sought by an employer in the United States. 
Furthermore, while neither the statute nor the pertinent regulations define the term "national interest," 
we set forth a framework for adjudicating national interest waiver petitions in the precedent decision 
Matter of Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. 884 (AAO 2016). 1 Dhanasar states that after a petitioner has 
established eligibility for EB-2 classification, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) 
may, as matter of discretion 2, grant a national interest waiver if the petitioner demonstrates: (1) that 
the foreign national's proposed endeavor has both substantial merit and national importance; (2) that 
the foreign national is well positioned to advance the proposed endeavor; and (3) that, on balance, it 
would be beneficial to the United States to waive the requirements of a job off er and thus of a labor 
certification. 
The first prong, substantial merit and national impmiance, focuses on the specific endeavor that the 
foreign national proposes to undertake. The endeavor's merit may be demonstrated in a range of areas 
such as business, entrepreneurialism, science, technology, culture, health, or education. In 
determining whether the proposed endeavor has national importance, we consider its potential 
prospective impact. 
The second prong shifts the focus from the proposed endeavor to the foreign national. To determine 
whether he or she is well positioned to advance the proposed endeavor, we consider factors including, 
but not limited to: the individual's education, skills, knowledge and record of success in related or 
similar efforts; a model or plan for future activities; any progress towards achieving the proposed 
endeavor; and the interest of potential customers, users, investors, or other relevant entities or 
individuals. 
The third prong requires the petitioner to demonstrate 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. In performing 
this analysis, USCIS may evaluate factors such as: whether, in light of the nature of the foreign 
national's qualifications or the proposed endeavor, it would be impractical either for the foreign 
national to secure a job off er or for the petitioner too btain a labor ce1iification; whether, even assuming 
that other qualified U.S. workers are available, the United States would still benefit from the foreign 
1 In announcing this new framework, we vacated our prior precedent decision, Matter of New York State Department of 
Transportation, 22 I&NDec. 215 (Act. Assoc. Comm'r 1998) (NYSDOT). 
2 See also Poursina v. USCJS, No. 1 7-16579, 2019 WL 4051593 (Aug. 28, 2019) (finding USC IS' decision to grant or 
deny a nationalinterestwaiverto be discretionaiy in nature). 
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national's contributions; and whether the national interest in the foreign national's contributions is 
sufficiently urgent to warrant forgoing the labor certification process. In each case, the factor(s) 
considered must, taken together, indicate 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. 3 
II. ANALYSIS 
The Director found that the Petitioner qualifies as a member of the professions holding an advanced 
degree. The remaining issue to be determined is whether the Petitioner has established that a waiver of 
the requirement of a job offer, and thus a labor certification, would be in the national interest. For the 
reasons discussed below, we agree with the Director that the Petitioner has not sufficiently 
demonstrated eligibility under the first prong of the Dhanasar analytical framework. 
Regarding her claim of eligibility under Dhanasar's first prong, the Petitioner initially provided a 
statement indicating: 
I intend to continue using my expertise and knowledge in the fields of clinical nutrition 
and healthcare management by continuing my careeras a Nutritionist in the United States, 
providing my services to hospitals, schools, businesses, medical clinics, private 
individuals, and gyms. 
My endeavors, which will primarily focus on nutrition and wellness consulting services, 
will ultimately contribute to providing effective solutions that will reduce the prevalence 
of disease due to poor nutrition and will substantially address the nation's nutrition crisis. 
My career plan in the United States is to continue working as a Nutritionist, namely in the 
medical and health industries, in order to continue developing superior diet plans. I will 
provide preventative and corrective nutritional services geared towards reducing 
detrimental illnesses caused by poornutritionin the United States. I will continue to work 
closely with medical professionals and other nutritional experts to carryout my objectives 
and will strive to make a huge difference in the health of the American public. 
I intend to continue implementing ingenious nutritional plans for patients and clients, 
maintaining positive relationships with professional colleagues, and identifying any 
opportunities for business development through extensive research. I also intend to lead 
meaningful professional client relationships and business partnerships with the objective 
of enhancing the acquisition of clients, patients, and sales for any company that chooses 
to hire me. 
3 SccDhanasar, 26l&NDec. at 888-91, for elaboration onthesethreeprongs. 
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In response to the Director's request for evidence, the Petitioner offered an updated statement indicating 
that she "will bridge the gap between clinicians and patients, and [she] will do this by serving as a one­
stop service to patients' treatment plans and solutions" and "will continue to provide consulting services 
to both health-based institutions and individual patients alike." Additionally, the Petitioner asserted that 
she is currenlly work.lg in her field "as thd I Lead for the largest grocery store chain in the 
United States and listed 17 "companies in which[she] intends to pursue a job placement,as well 
as their current open positions, which perfectly match [her] career qualifications." 4 
The Petitioner maintains on appeal that "as a multiskilled nutritionist, ... there is no doubt that [she] 
would work in the United States in an area of national importance, capable of producing substantially 
positive effects, due to the ripple effects of her professional activities within the health education and 
wellness sectors." The record includes job descriptions of dieticians, nutritionists, and overall 
healthcare workers; healthcare reports relating to obesity and diabetes, chronic disease prevention and 
health promotion, nutrition, and dietary guidelines; articles regarding diet programs, health and 
wellness coaching, nutrition and health, and diets; and studies pertaining to nutritional treatments and 
education. The record therefore shows that the Petitioner's proposed work as a nutritionist has 
substantial merit. 
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 "the specific endeavor that the 
foreign national proposes to undertake ." See Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec . at 889. Here, the Petitioner 
must demonstrate the national importance of her providing nutrition and wellness consulting services 
rather than the national importance of the nutrition or healthcare field or industry. In Dhanasar, we 
further 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. 
In her appeal brief, the Petitioner emphasizes her "over 8 years of progressive, and highly qualified 
experienced in the field of nutrition, wellness, health, and nutrition education." The Petitioner's 
experience and education in her field relates 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 that she 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. Although the 
Petitioner's statements reflect her intention to provide nutrition and well-being services, she has not 
4 Included among her list of 17 prospective "Positions found via Linkedln and Glassdoor" jobs at Community Health 
Network,Howard HughesMedicallnstitute, and CVS Health, for example. As the Petitioner is applying fora waiver of 
the job offer requirement, it is not necessary for her to have a job offer from a specific employer. However , we will 
consider information about her current and prospective positions to illustrate the capacity in which she intends to woik in 
order to determine whether her proposed endeavor meets the requirements of the first prong of theDhanasarframework. 
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offered sufficient, specific information and evidence to demo nstrate that the prospecti ve impact of her 
proposed endeavor rises to the level of national importan ce. In Dhanasa r we determined that 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 . Here, we find the record doe s not show that the 
Petitioner's proposed endeavor stands to sufficiently extend beyond her potential custom ers, either as 
a private contractor or emplo yed by any of her pro spective businesses, to impa ct the nu trition and 
healthcare field or U.S. econom y more broadly at a level commensurate with national importance . 
Furthermore , the Petitioner has not demonstrated that the specific endeavor she proposes to undertake 
has significant potential to employ U.S. workers or otherwise offers substantial positive economic 
effects for our nation. Without sufficient information or evidence regarding any projected U.S. economic 
impact or job creation attributable to her future work, the record does not show that benefits to the U.S. 
regional or national economy resulting from the Petitioner's nutritionist work would reach the level of 
"sub stantial positive economic effect s" contemplated by Dhana sar. Id. at 890 . Accordingly, the 
Petition er's propo sed endeavor does not meet the first prong of the Dhanasa r framework. 
Because the documentation in the record does not establish the national importance of her proposed 
endeavor as required by the first prong of the Dhanasa r precedent decision , the Petitioner has not 
demonstrated eligibility for a national interest waiver. Further analysis of her eligibility under the second 
and third prongs outlined in Dhanasar, therefore, would serve no meaningful purpose . 
III. CONCLUSION 
As the Petitioner has notmetthe requisite first prong of theDhana sar analytical framewotk , we conclude 
that she has not demonstrated that she is eligible for or otherwise merits a national interest waiver as 
a matterof discretion . The appeal will be dismissed for the abo ve stated reasons, with each considered 
as an independent and alternate basis for the decision . 
ORDER: The appeal is dismissed. 
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