dismissed EB-2 NIW Case: Sales Management

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
Non-Precedent Decision of the
Administrative Appeals Office 
Date: JUNE 11, 2024 In Re: 31383630 
Appeal of Texas Service Center Decision 
Form 1-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers (National Interest Waiver) 
The Petitioner, a sales manager specializing in information technology (IT) and banking, seeks 
classification under the employment-based, second-preference (EB-2) immigrant visa category and a 
waiver of the category's job-offer requirement. See Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act) section 
203(b)(l)(B)(i), 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(l)(B)(i). U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has 
discretion to excuse job offers in this category - and, thus, related requirements for certifications from 
the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) - if petitioners demonstrate that waivers of these U.S.-worker 
protections would be "in the national interest." Id. 
The Director of the Texas Service Center denied the petition. The Director found the Petitioner 
eligible for EB-2 classification but concluded that she did not demonstrate the merits of her national 
interest waiver request. On appeal, the Petitioner claims the Director inadequately reviewed the 
record. She asserts that her proposed endeavor has "substantial merit" and "national importance" and 
that a waiver would, overa11, benefit the United States. 
The Petitioner bears the burden of demonstrating eligibility for the requested benefit by a 
preponderance of the evidence. Matter of Chawathe, 25 l&N Dec. 369, 375-76 (AAO 2010). 
Exercising de novo appe11ate review, see Matter of Christa 's, Inc., 26 I&N Dec. 537,537 n.2 (AAO 
2015), we conclude that she has established that her proposal has substantial merit. But, because she 
has not demonstrated the purported national importance of her venture, we wi11 dismiss the appeal. 
I. LAW 
To establish eligibility for national interest waivers, pet1t10ners must first demonstrate their 
qualifications for the EB-2 category, either as members of the professions holding "advanced degrees" 
or noncitizens of exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business. Section 203(b )(2)(A) of the Act. 
To protect the jobs of U.S. workers, this immigrant visa category usually requires prospective 
employers to offer noncitizens jobs and to obtain DOL certifications to permanently employ them in 
the country. See section 212(a)(5)(D) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(5)(D). Petitioners may avoid the 
job offer/labor certification requirements by demonstrating that waivers of the U.S.-worker protections 
would be "in the national interest." Section 203(b )(2)(B)(i) of the Act. 
Neither the Act nor regulations define the term "national interest." So, to adjudicate these waiver 
requests, we have established a framework. If otherwise qualified as advanced degree professionals 
or noncitizens of exceptional ability, petitioners may warrant waivers of the job-offer/labor 
certification requirements by demonstrating that: 
• Their proposed U.S. work has "substantial merit" and "national importance;" 
• They are "well positioned" to advance their intended endeavors; and 
• On balance, waivers of the job-offer/labor certification requirements would benefit the United 
States. 
Matter ofDhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. 884, 889-91 (AAO 2016); see generally 6 USCIS Policy Manual 
F.(5)(D)(l), www.uscis.gov/policy-manual. 
II. ANALYSIS 
A. The Proposed Endeavor 
The record shows that the Petitioner, a Russian native and citizen, earned a bachelor of economics 
degree in her home country. She has about seven years' experience in the banking industry, beginning 
as a sales representative and eventually becoming a sales manager. She then spent about three years 
in the IT field, working as an account manager, sales/account manager, and business development 
manager. 
The Petitioner first proposed to work in the United States for an employer, as a freelance consultant, 
or both in the sales management field, specializing in IT and banking. On appeal, she states only her 
intent to work as a freelance consultant in the field. A petitioner must demonstrate their eligibility "at 
the time of filing the benefit request." 8 C.F.R. § 103.2(b)(l). We will therefore hold the Petitioner 
to her initial proposal and consider her endeavor to include employment, freelance consulting, or both 
in the sales management field. See Matter ofDhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. at 891 (stating the petitioner's 
proposed endeavor as including both research in air and space propulsion systems and teaching 
university courses). 
B. EB-2 Eligibility 
The record supports the Director's finding that the Petitioner qualifies for EB-2 classification as an 
advanced degree professional. She documented her receipt of a foreign degree equating to a U.S. 
bachelor's degree, followed by at least five years of progressive experience in the specialty. See 
8 C.F.R. § 204.5(k)(2) (defining the term "advanced degree"). 
C. Substantial Merit 
Whether a proposed endeavor "has the potential to create a significant economic impact" or relates to 
"research, pure science, and the furtherance of human knowledge," it may have substantial merit. 
Matter ofDhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. at 889. 
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The Director found that "the [Petitioner's] proposal lacks adequate detail to establish the endeavor." 
The Director stated that, unlike the petitioner in Dhanasar, who proposed continuing his research into 
the design and development of air and space propulsion systems, the Petitioner did not provide 
"specific insight" as to what she would do in the United States. See 6 USCIS Policy Manual 
F.(5)(D)(l) ("[A] petitioner should offer details not only as to what the occupation normally involves, 
but what types of work the person proposes to undertake specifically within that occupation.") 
On appeal, the Petitioner contends that the Director's analysis conflicts with the decision's conclusion 
on Dhanasar' s second prong. The Petitioner argues that the Director could not have found her well 
positioned to advance her proposed endeavor without knowing what that endeavor was. She contends 
that her "professional plan," which she submitted in response to the Director's request for additional 
evidence, details her U.S. proposal. She also submitted an expert opinion letter from a U.S. professor 
of management. The expert letter states that her proposal has the potential to improve sales of U.S. 
businesses and create jobs. 
As the Director found, the Petitioner did not provide many details about her proposed endeavor. But 
the record shows that, whether an employee or a freelance consultant, she would apply strategic sales 
approaches in efforts to expand sales bases, recommend prospective business solutions, and transfer 
knowledge about technologies. Because of her experience in banking and IT, she could particularly 
benefit companies in the growing financial technology sector. Those details and evidence supporting 
them demonstrate that her proposal could potentially improve U.S. business sales, thereby creating 
jobs. She also submitted evidence that her venture could help ease a reported shortage of salespeople 
in the country. 
Thus, a preponderance of the evidence demonstrates that the Petitioner's proposed endeavor has 
substantial merit. We will therefore withdraw the Director's contrary finding. 
D. National Importance 
When determining whether a proposed endeavor has national importance, USCIS must focus on the 
particular venture, specifically on its "potential prospective impact." Matter of Dhanasar, 26 I&N 
Dec. at 889. "An 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. A nationally important venture may even focus 
on only one geographic area of the United States. Id. at 889-90. "An 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. 
The Director found insufficient evidence that the Petitioner's specific proposed endeavor has 
significant potential to employ U.S. workers or otherwise offers substantial positive economic benefits 
to our country. The Director likened the Petitioner's proposal to the noncitizen's plan in Dhanasar 
to teach U.S. university students in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) 
disciplines. See Matter ofDhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. at 893. The Director stated: 
In the same way that Dhanasar finds that a classroom teacher's proposed endeavor is 
not nationally important because it will not impact the field more broadly, USCIS finds 
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that the petitioner has not shown [that the benefits of] the proposed endeavor in this 
case stands to sufficiently extend beyond an organization and its clients or the 
individuals the petitioner would serve to impact the industry or field more broadly. 
The expert opinion letter concludes that the Petitioner's proposed endeavor has national importance. 
The letter discusses the Petitioner's experience and cites many statistics regarding U.S. sales 
management and consulting. But the letter does not explain how the Petitioner's specific venture 
would affect the economy and the sales management field on a national level. See Matter of Caron 
Int'!, Inc., 19 I&N Dec. 791, 795 (Comm'r 1988) (allowing the immigration service to reject or afford 
lesser evidentiary weight to expert testimony that conflicts with other information or "is in any way 
questionable"). 
On appeal, the Petitioner makes several arguments for the purported national importance of her 
proposed endeavor, claiming that: 
• Her sales management abilities and international connections would provide substantial U.S. 
economic benefits by increasing business sales and creating jobs; 
• She intends to focus on "emerging enterprises" and startup businesses, contributing to the 
country's position as a global leader in technology and innovation; 
• She would conduct workshops and mentorship programs to help train the next generation of 
sales professionals; 
• Her proposal supports various U.S. policies and government initiatives, such as workplace 
equality for women and assistance to small businesses; and 
• Her venture would ease a nationwide shortage of sales managers. 
As previously indicated, however, when assessing national importance, we must focus on the 
particular proposed endeavor. See Matter of Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. at 889 ("The first prong, 
substantial merit and national importance, focuses on the specific endeavor that the foreign national 
proposes to undertake.") (emphasis added). The Petitioner outlines her proposal's potential benefits 
by stating that her venture would contribute to the national economy and various national goals and 
initiatives. But she has not demonstrated that her specific endeavor, alone, would benefit the economy 
or her field on a national level. The record, for example, does not indicate how much additional 
revenue she could help an employer or consulting clients to earn, or how many clients she could 
provide consulting services to. She has not established the size or scope of her proposed activities. 
The record therefore does not support the Petitioner's arguments. 
The Petitioner also argues that letters from her former employers establish the potential national 
impact of her proposed endeavor. She states: "These recommendation letters demonstrate [that the 
Petitioner] can have a wide impact on the banking, fintech [financial technology], and IT fields due to 
the breadth of her experience." 
The letters from the Petitioner's former employers, however, do not focus on her proposed endeavor, 
but rather on her skills and past achievements. The letters do not discuss the "potential prospective 
impact" of the Petitioner's U.S. proposal. See Matter ofDhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. at 889. The letters 
therefore do not demonstrate the purported national importance of her venture. 
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The Petitioner has not established that her proposed endeavor has national importance. We will 
therefore affirm the petition's denial. 
E. Waiver Benefits to the United States 
Our conclusion that the Petitioner has not demonstrated the purported national importance of her 
proposed endeavor resolves this appeal. We therefore decline to reach and hereby reserve her appellate 
arguments regarding the benefits of a waiver to the United States. See INS v. Bagamasbad, 429 U.S. 
24, 25 (1976) (stating that agencies need not make "purely advisory findings" on issues unnecessary 
to their ultimate decisions); see also Matter of L-A-C-, 26 I&N Dec. 516, 526 n.7 (BIA 2015) 
( declining to reach alternate issues on appeal where an applicant did not otherwise qualify for relief 
from removal). 
III. CONCLUSION 
The Petitioner has demonstrated that her proposed endeavor has substantial merit. But she has not 
established the purported national importance of the venture. Thus, under our framework, she does 
not qualify for a national interest waiver. We will therefore affirm the petition's denial for lack of a 
job offer and labor certification. 
ORDER: The appeal is dismissed. 
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