dismissed EB-2 NIW Case: Science Education

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
MATTER OF L-M-C-G-
APPEAL OF TEXAS SERVICE CENTER DECISION 
Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
DATE: MAY 25, 2016 
PETITION: FORM I-140, IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR ALIEN WORKER 
The Petitioner, a high school science teacher, seeks classification as a member of the professions 
holding an advanced degree. See Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act) section 203(b)(2), 8 U.S.C. 
§ 1153(b )(2). In addition, the Petitioner seeks a national interest waiver of the job offer requirement that 
is normally attached to this classification. See section 203(b)(2)(B)(i) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. 
§ 1153(b )(2)(B)(i). This discretionary waiver allows U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services 
(USCIS) to provide an exemption. from the requirement of a job offer, and thus a labor certification, 
when it serves the national interest to do so. 
The Director, Texas Service Center, denied the petition. The Director found that the Petitioner 
established her eligibility as an advanced degree professional, but did not establish that a waiver of the 
job offer requirement is in the national interest. 
The matter is now before us on appeal. On appeal, the Petitioner submits a brief in which she argues 
that the previously submitted evidence demonstrates her eligibility for a national interest waiver. 
Upon de novo review, we will dismiss the appeal. 
I. LAW 
To establish eligibility for a national interest waiver, a petitioner must first demonstrate his or her 
qualification for the underlying visa classification, as either an advanced degree professional or an 
individual of exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business. Because this classification 
normally 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 states, in pertinent part: 
(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 
Matter of L-M-C-G-
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. ... the 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.CJ 
Neither the statute nor the pertinent regulations define the term "national interest." Additionally, 
Congress did not provide a specific definition of "in the national interest." The Committee on the 
Judiciary merely noted in its report to the Senate that the committee had "focused on national 
interest by increasing the number and proportion of visas for immigrants who would benefit the 
United States economically and otherwise .... " S. Rep. No. 55, JOist Cong., 1st Sess., II (1989). 
Matter of New York State Department of Transportation, 22 I&N Dec. 215, 217-18 (Act. Assoc. 
Comm'r 1998) (NYSDOT), set forth several factors which must be considered when evaluating a 
request for a national interest waiver. First, a petitioner must demonstrate that he or she seeks 
employment in an area of substantial intrinsic merit. !d. at 217. Next, a petitioner must show that 
the proposed benefit will be national in scope. ld. Finally, the petitioner seeking the waiver must 
demonstrate that the national interest would be adversely affected if a labor certification were 
required by establishing that he or she will serve the national interest to a substantially greater degree 
than would an available U.S. worker having the same minimum qualifications. !d. at 217-18. 
While the national interest waiver hinges on prospective national benefit, a petitioner's assurance 
that he or she will, in the future, serve the national interest cannot suffice to establish prospective 
national benefit. Jd. at 219. Rather, a petitioner must justify projections of future benefit to the 
national interest by establishing a history of demonstrable achievement with some degree of 
influence on the field as a whole. !d. at 219, n.6. 
1 Pursuant to section 1517 of the Homeland Security Act of2002 ("HSA"), Pub. L. No. 107-296, 116 Stat. 2135,2311 
(codified at 6 U.S.C. § 557 (2012)), any reference to the Attorney General in a provision of the Act describing functions 
that were transferred from the Attorney General or other Department of Justice official to the Department of Homeland 
Security by the HSA "shall be deemed to refer to the Secretary" of Homeland Security. See also 6 U.S.C. § 542 note 
(2012); 8 U.S.C. § 1551 note (2012). 
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(b)(6)
Matter of L-M-C-G-
II. ANALYSIS 
The Director determined that the Petitioner qualifies as an advanced degree professional and that her 
proposed work as a high school science teacher has substantial intrinsic merit. The two findings at 
issue in this matter are (1) whether the Petitioner established that the benefits of such work are 
national in scope as required under the second prong of the NYSDOT national interest analysis, and 
(2) whether she demonstrated sufficient influence <?n her field to meet the third prong. 
At the time of filing the Form 1-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, the Petitioner was 
employed as a science teacher and science department chair at The 
record indicates that she had worked for m 
Kentucky, since 2008, after having previously taught in the Philippines since 1985. 
In support of the Form I-140, the Petitioner provided evidence of her credentials and experience as 
an educator. She submitted copies of her academic diplomas and transcripts, documentation 
showing her certification in Kentucky to teach high school biological science, high school physics, 
and middle grade science, copies of certificates for trainings that she completed , and evidence of her 
membership in professional associations. She provided letters and employment contracts 
documenting her work experience in the United States and in the Philippines , and verification of her 
salary in the United States. 
As evidence of her accomplishments as a teacher, the Petitioner submitted copies of certificates of 
recognition and appreciation and letters of thanks for her teaching, her support of student groups, 
and her participation as a coach and mentor during science competitions and other events. The 
Petitioner indicated that her work has received media coverage including an article about her as a 
featured educator in the an article in a Philippine 
newspaper about her participation as a mentor in the and 
articles about her work in high school publications? In addition, she provided numerous letters from 
current and former colleagues, supervisors, students, and parents attesting to the Petitioner's 
noteworthy dedication and effectiveness as a science teacher and a mentor to her students. 
In a request for evidence (RFE), the Director requested additional documentation to establish that the 
benefits of the Petitioner's proposed work are national in scope. In addition, the Director sought 
additional evidence under the third prong of the NYSDOT analysis, including documentation 
showing that the Petitioner has a past record of specific prior achievement with some degree of 
influence on the field as a whole. 
In response to the request regarding the national scope of her proposed work, the Petitioner argued 
that she will be meeting a national need for qualified teachers of science, especially for physics 
instructors. She submitted evidence regarding the demand for physics teachers in the United States, 
2 The Petitioner provided photocopies of several articles , but the images did not include sufficient identifying 
information to confirm the sources of the articles or details regarding their publication. 
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(b)(6)
Matter of L-M-C-G-
including an article from the Physics Teacher Education Coalition discussing a "severe, long-term 
shortage of qualified physics teachers." As an additional rationale regarding the national-level 
benefits of her proposed work, the Petitioner noted that President Obama has recognized education's 
importance to the national economy. 
With regard to her record of achievement, the Petitioner submitted a recent certificate recognizing 
her as a member of the 20 14 
and inviting her to nominate students to attend the 2014 
and to select a student to receive an academic scholarship. The certificate 
expressed 
"great appreciation for assisting outstanding students stay true to their dreams and helping 
solve one of America's great challenges: the growing shortage of medical professionals and of 
young people entering the [science, technology, engineering, and math] fields." She provided 
further documentation regarding her credentials and training, as well as letters of recommendation. 
As additional evidence of her effectiveness as a teacher and mentor at the petitioner submitted 
copies of favorable performance evaluations and evidence that she had been ranked as the most 
influential student mentor at during multiple school years. In 
addition, she provided evidence regarding her role as initiator and coordinator for an international 
humanitarian project at her school to send school supplies to an area of the Philippines damaged by a 
typhoon. 
In denying the Form I-140, the Director found that the Petitioner had not shown that the benefits of 
her proposed work would be national in scope as required under the second prong of the NYSDOT 
analysis, and that she had not demonstrated sufficient influence on her field to meet the third prong. 
Addressing the Petitioner's argument of a shortage of qualified physics teachers, the Director cited 
language from NYSDOT stating that a national interest waiver "is not warranted solely for the 
purpose of ameliorating a local labor shortage, because the labor certification process is already in 
place to address such shortages." Id. at 218. 
In her brief on appeal, the Petitioner states that the proposed benefits of her work are national in 
scope due to the nationwide shortage of physics teachers. She contends that "NYSDOT emphasizes 
that local labor shortages of qualified U.S. workers can be addressed through the labor certification 
process," but that the "same reasoning does not apply to national labor shortages because the labor 
certification process tests the local labor market not the national labor market." (Emphasis in 
original). Regarding the third prong of NYSDOT, the Petitioner argues that the national interest 
would be adversely affected if a labor certification were required because there is "no administrative 
labor certification process in place to test nationwide markets." In addition, she maintains that her 
accomplishments are consistent with the level of past achievement required under NYSDOT. 
A. National Scope 
We find the Petitioner has not shown that the benefits of her proposed work are national in scope. 
The Petitioner has asserted that her proposed work will impart national-level benefits by helping to 
fill a nationwide shortage of qualified physics teachers. While we will address the petitioner's 
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Matter of L-M-C-G-
shortage argument in detail below, for the purpose of this prong we note that the Petitioner has not 
demonstrated that her proposed work as an individual teacher would have a nationally significant 
effect on such a shortage. Likewise, while the Petitioner's RFE response discussed the importance 
of education to national economic success, the record does not indicate that the impact of her own 
proposed work as a science teacher would offer national benefits. This finding is consistent with 
NYSDOT, which cited a classroom teacher as an example of a meritorious occupation that would 
lack the requisite national scope to establish eligibility. !d. at 217, n.3. 
B. Influence on the Field 
The Petitioner has not demonstrated sufficient influence on her field to satisfy the third prong of the. 
NYSDOT analysis. While NYSDOT states that a petitioner must· demonstrate that the national 
interest would be adversely affected if a labor certification were required, it goes on to explain that a 
petitioner makes such a demonstration by establishing that he or she will serve the national interest 
to a substantially greater degree than would an available U.S. worker having the same minimum 
qualifications. !d. at 217-18. It further clarifies that, to do this, a petitioner must establish "a past 
history of demonstrable achievement with some degree of influence on the field as a whole." !d. at 
219,n.6. 
In this instance, the Petitioner has submitted documentation of her work at the local level, including 
evidence demonstrating the positive impact she has had on her own students and school district. The 
evidence does not establish, however, that she has had an influence on the field of science or physics 
education generally. While particularly significant awards may serve as evidence of impact on a 
field, the Petitioner did not demonstrate that any of the certificates she submitted are indicative of 
such influence. For these reasons, we find the record insufficient to establish that the petitioner has 
had some degree of influence on the field as a whole. 
As stated previously, the Petitioner argues that requiring a labor certification in this case would 
adversely affect the national interest because the labor certification process does not test for national 
labor shortages. The labor certification process requires an employer to demonstrate that there are 
no qualified U.S. workers available for a given position before it hires a foreign national. While -the 
Petitioner is correct that the process only involves a local test of the labor market, it is not clear why 
the nation-wide scale of a shortage would prevent an employer from successfully obtaining a labor 
certification on the Petitioner's behalf.3 Regardless, the issue of whether similarly-trained workers 
are available in the U.S. is an issue under the jurisdiction of the Department of Labor. !d. at 221. 
3 We note the petitioner in NYSDOT submitted statements regarding a national labor shortage in his field, and such 
arguments were found insufficient to demonstrate eligibility for a waiver. /d. at 219-220, 222. NYSDOT indicated that 
contentions regarding a shortage of qualified workers would weigh in favor of obtaining, rather than waiving, a labor 
certification. 
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Matter of L-M-C-G-
III. CONCLUSION 
The burden is on the Petitioner to show eligibility for the immigration benefit sought. Section 291 of 
the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1361; Matter ofOtiende, 26 I&N Dec. 127, 128 (BIA 2013). The Petitioner in 
this case has not established by a preponderance of the evidence that the benefits of her proposed 
work are national in scope or that she has a past record of demonstrable achievement with some 
degree of influence on the field as a whole. Therefore, she has not demonstrated that a waiver of the 
job offer requirement will be in the national interest of the United States. Accordingly, the appeal 
will be dismissed. 
ORDER: The appeal is dismissed. 
Cite as Matter of L-M-C-G-, ID# 16499 (AAO May 25, 2016) 
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