dismissed EB-2 NIW Case: Public Relations

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
In Re: 22700701 
Appeal of Texas Service Center Decision 
Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
Date : SEP. 23, 2022 
Form 1-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker (Advanced Degree, Exceptional Ability, National 
Interest Waiver) 
The Petitioner, a public relations manager, 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 
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 the Texas Service 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 additional documentation and a brief asserting that 
she is eligible for a national interest waiver. 
In these proceedings, it is the Applicant's burden to establish eligibility for the requested benefit by a 
preponderance of evidence. Section 291 of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1361; Matter of Chawathe, 25 I&N 
Dec . 369, 376 (AAO 2010) . 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 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 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 offer and thus of a labor certification. 
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 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 offer or for the petitioner to obtain a labor certification; whether, even assuming 
that other qualified U.S. workers are available, the United States would still benefit from the foreign 
national's contributions; and whether the national interest in the foreign national's contributions is 
1 In announcing this new framework, we vacated our prior precedent decision, Matter of New York State Department of 
Transportation, 22 l&N Dec. 215 (Act. Assoc. Comm'r 1998) (NYSDOT). 
2 See also Poursina v. USCIS, No. 17-16579, 2019 WL 4051593 (Aug. 28, 2019) (finding USCIS' decision to grant or 
deny a national interest waiver to be discretionary in nature). 
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sufficiently urgent to warrant forgoing the labor certification process. 3 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. 
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 the national importance of her proposed endeavor under the first prong of the Dhanasar 
analytical framework. 
Regarding her claim of eligibility under Dhanasar' s first prong, the Petitioner indicated that she intends 
to continue her career in the United States in the public relations field, asserting that through her proposed 
endeavor she will: 
[O]ffer my expertise as a public relations and fundraising management professional to 
assist U.S. companies who need to implement communication strategies to allow their 
businesses to grow, improve their relations with employees, prepare executives to public 
expositor, manage sensitive issues that could affect their available image, and more, to 
increment their market value and the impact of their business on their local and national 
community. 
The Petitioner further explained that her undertaking includes facilitating "cross-border business 
development and product sales, contract negotiations, and projects between the U.S., Latin America, and 
countries that speak Spanish and Portuguese, such as Brazil, Spain, and Portugal." 
Additionally, the record includes information about the growing demand for individuals with public 
relations and marketing skills, the importance of marketing for the success of businesses, the 
challenges that large U.S. corporations face in the Latin American marketplace, the importance of 
trade and globalization, the impacts of COVID-19 on the public relations industry, how to foster global 
competence within the business community, the role of the public relations manager, and the value of 
brand recognition. The Petitioner also provided articles discussing the job outlook for public relations 
and marketing managers, recent research regarding ways in which immigrants help businesses grow, 
and why the United States needs more immigrants. The record therefore shows that the Petitioner's 
proposed work as a public relations manager has substantial merit. 
On appeal, the Petitioner points to letters of support discussing her knowledge, skills, and work 
experience, but these letters do not sufficiently explain the national importance of her proposed work 
under the Dhanasar' s first prong. The Petitioner's knowledge, skills, and experience in her field relate 
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. 
3 See Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. at 888-91, for elaboration on these three prongs. 
3 
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." See Dhanasar , 26 I&N Dec. at 889. 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 asserts that her proposed endeavor stands to "contribute significantly to 
the U.S., stimulating the American economy and generating job opportunities." She contends that 
"through my support, U.S businesses can grow their companies and reach consumers on a larger scale, 
leading to improvement in job-growth opportunities and an increase in U.S. revenue overall." The 
Petitioner avers that through her proposed work she "will play a critical role in the marketing and 
commercial process in different segments, directly impacting a number of companies and revenues in the 
United States." 
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 valuable public relations and marketing services 
through self-employment with her own company, employment with her current and prospective U.S. 
employers, and her clients, she has not offered sufficient information and evidence to demonstrate that 
the prospective impact of her proposed endeavor rises to the level of national importance. 
For instance, on appeal, the Petitioner indicates that she will continue to work as a public relations 
manager for her current employer, performing services such as "coordinating [s]ocial media and 
creat[ing] briefings for marketing agencies, producing institutional releases to media, review[ing] and 
create[ing] new content for reaching new customers; coordinating websites , graphic materials and 
internal communication such as catalogs, banners, and visual identity of exhibitions .... " In Dhanasar 
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 conclude the 
record does not show that the Petitioner 's proposed endeavor stands to sufficiently extend beyond her 
company, employers, and clientele to impact her field or the U.S. economy 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 marketing projects would reach the level of 
"substantial positive economic effects" contemplated by Dhanasar. Id. at 890. Accordingly, the 
Petitioner's proposed work does not meet the first prong of the Dhanasar 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 Dhanasar precedent decision, the Petitioner has not 
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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. See INS v. 
Bagamasbad, 429 U.S. 24, 25 (1976) (finding it unnecessary to analyze additional grounds when 
another independent issue is dispositive of the appeal); see also Matter of L-A-C-, 26 I&N Dec. 516, 
526 n.7 (BIA 2015) (declining to reach alternative issues on appeal where an applicant is otherwise 
ineligible) . 
III. CONCLUSION 
As the Petitioner has not met the requisite first prong of the Dhanasar analytical framework, we conclude 
that she has not established 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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