dismissed EB-2 NIW Case: Production Engineering

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
MATTER OF F-M-R-Z-
APPEAL OF TEXAS SERVICE CENTER DECISION 
Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
DATE: JUNE 13,2018 
PETITION: FORM l-140, IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR ALIEN WORKER 
The Petitioner, a production engineer, seeks second preference immigrant classification as a member 
of the professions holding an advanced degree, as well as a national interest waiver of the job otTer 
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). After a petitioner has established eligibility for EB-2 
classification, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) may, as matter of discretion, 
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 offer and thus of a labor certification. Maller of 
Dhanasar, 26l&N Dec. 884 (AAO 2016). 
The Director of the Texas Service Center denied the Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien 
Worker, finding that the Petitioner qualified for the underlying classification, but that she had not 
established that a waiver of the required job offer, and thus of the labor certiflcation, would be in the 
national interest. 
On appeal, the Petitioner submits a brief and further evidence, and contends that she is eligible for a 
national interest waiver under the Dhanasar framework. 
Upon de novo 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: 
Mauer of F-M-R-Z-
(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 ofjob 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. 
While neither the statute nor t~e pertinent regulations define the term "national interest," we set forth 
a framework tor adjudicating national interest waiver petitions in the precedent decision Mauer of 
Dhanasar, 26 l&N Dec. 884. 1 Dhanasar states that after EB-2 eligibility has been established, 
USCIS may, as a matter of discretion, grant a national interest waiver when the below prongs are 
met. 
The first prong, substantial merit and national importance, 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 eflorts; 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 
1 In announcing this framework, we vacated our prior precedent decision, Matter of New York State Department qf 
Transporlation, 22 I&N Dec. 215 (Act. Assoc. Comm'r 1998) (NYSD07). 
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Mauer of F-M-R-Z-
foreign national's qualific ations or the propo sed endeavor, it would be impr actical either for the 
foreign national to secure a job offer or for the petitioner to obtain a labor certification ; whether, 
even a ssuming that other qualified U.S. worker s are available, the United States would still benefit 
from the foreign national 's contributions ; and whether the national interest in the foreig n national' s 
contribution s is s ufficientl y urgent to warrant forgoing the labor certification proc ess. In each case , 
the factor(s) considered must, taken togethe r, indic ate that on balance, it would be beneficial to the 
United States to waive the reg uirements of a job offe r and thus of a labor certification. 2 
II. ANA LYSIS 
The Director found that the Petitoner qualifies tor the underlying visa classification , and the record 
corrobo rates her qualification as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree.3 The sole 
issue to be determined is whether the Petitioner has established that a waive r of the r eq uirement of a 
job otTer, and thus a labor certification, would be; in the national interest. 
Since Janu ary 20 I 7, the Petitioner has worked as a production superv isor and 
most rece ntly as an 
engineering manage r for a s ubsidiary of 4 
From December 2004 until March 2016, she was employed as body shop welding e ngineer, body 
shop superintendent, vehicle operation manufa cturin g mana ger, and production manager tor 
of Venezuela. · 
The Petitione r states that she intends "to continue her career as a Produc tion Engineer , in the tield of 
Automobile Manufacturing ." She contends that she "will work tor U.S. automobi le compa nies as an 
eng ineer, 
with the goal to become the Lea[d] Manufacturing Director within the next few years ."5 In 
addition, the Petitioner explains that her work will invol ve overseeing "implem entation of 
manufacturing processes to maintain proper product functiona lity, as well as cost efficiency . I am 
responsibl e for leading and directing the work of manufacturing engin eers and product engineers, 
and ensuring the engineering team and other manufac turing department s work together cohesively ." 
The Petiti one r further note s that she "was offere d a position as Body Lead Superv isor Production 
with at [its
] within Manufactur ing," but she did not 
accept this position.() Nonetheless, we find that the Petitioner's proposed automo tive productio n 
2 See Dhanasar, 26 l&N Dec. at 888-91 , for elaboration on these three prongs. 
3 The Petitioner received a mecha nica l engi neering degree from in 1997 and a master's 
degree in business administration from the in 2008. The record includes an academic credentials 
evaluation indicating that these Venezuelan degrees are the equivalent of a bache lor of science degree in mechanical 
engineering and a master of business administration degree from an accredited U.S. college or univers ity. See 8 C.F.R. 
§ 204.5(k)(3Xi)(A). 
5 We note that the Petitioner indicates that she has "already been invited to work as the Engineering Manager for and 
that she intends to work toward the position of lead manufactur ing director there, but she does not explain how this position 
relates to automo bile manufacturing. · 
6 The record includes June 2017 letter offeri ng her the position. 
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Mauer of F-M-R-Z-
engineering work has-substantial merit, as it is aimed at supporting a future employer 's manufacturing 
processes and output. 
To satisfy the national importance requirem ent, the Petitioner must dem onstrate the "potential 
prospective impact" of her proposed work. The record include s various article s about the U.S. 
automotiv e 
industry, its benefit to our nation , a nd challenge s facing this industry. These articles 
highlight the industry's scale and· its positiv e economic contributions, including long-term 
sustainable job creation. 7 Additi onally, some of the articles menti on a shortage of qualified workers 
in the U.S. automotive manufacturing industry. While the aforementio ned artic les discuss 
challenges facing the U.S. automotive industry and this indu stry's positive economic impact on our 
country , they are not sufficient ~o demonstrate · the Petitioner' s propose d work as a production 
engineer has broader implications for her field , the automotive manufacturing industry, or the U.S. 
economy . In determining national importance, the relevant question is not the importance of the 
fields or industries in which the individual will work; instead we focus on the "the specific endeavor 
that the foreign national propo ses to undertak e." See Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. at 889. 
In the present matter , while the appeal brief ~e ferences the production capacity of 
and its contribution to the U.S. economy, we note that the 
Petitioner is presently working as an engineering manager for and h as not shown 
she will be working at the specitied plant or at Regardless, the scope of 
production alone is not sufficient to demonstrate the 
Petitioner 's proposed endeavor 's national importa nce. Rather, we must examine the prospective 
impact of the Petitioner's spec ific endeavor rathe_r than the scale of this plant's entire operatio ns. 
The job offer letter from stated that the Petitioner would be employed as "Body Lead 
Supervisor Production," but this letter does not provide sufficient detai ls about the capaci ty in which 
she would work so as to demonstrate the potenti al implication s of her proposed endeavor. 8 The 
Petitioner has not established that the economic benefits of her proposed work for 
or any other U.S. aut omobile manl:lfacturer stand to exte nd beyond her prospective 
employer and its operation s at a level sufficient to establish the national importa nce of her proposed 
endeavor. 9 While the Petition er emphasize s the positive effects of an automo tive assembly plant on 
job creation and the U.S. economy, she has not demon strated that her proposed engineering work for 
a single company and its manufacturing projects stands to impact the automotiv e indu stry, the 
7 For example, a November 2014 Center for Automotive Research report, entitled "Accelerating the Growth of the U.S. 
Automotive Manufacturing Industry at Home, Rather than Abroad," states that "each job a vehicle assembly plant produces 
eleven additional jobs in the U.S. economy." Furthennore, this report indicates that automotive investment is "of critical 
economic value not j ust to the community and state hosting the investment, but to the e ntire region around the assembly 
plant, typically spanning several states as part of the overall supply chain." 
As the Petitioner is applying for a waiver of the job offer requirement, she need not have a job offer from a specific 
employer, but infom1ation about the nature of the proposed endeavor is necessary for us to determine whether it has national 
importance. 
9 
In Dhanasar, we detennined 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. /d. at 893. 
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Matter of F-M-R-Z-
production engineering field, or our nation's economy more broadly. Accordingly, the Petitioner has 
not established that her proposed endeavor has national importance. 
As the documentation in the record does not establish the national importance of her proposed 
endeavor(s) 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 eligibility under the 
second and third prongs outlined in Dhanasar, therefore, would serve no meaningful purpose. 
Ill. CONCLUSION 
As the Petitioner has not met the requisite three prongs set forth in the Dhanasar analytical framework, 
we find 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. 
Cite as Matter ofF-M-R-Z-, ID# 1263763 (AAO June 13, 2018) 
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