dismissed EB-2 NIW Case: Supply Chain Analysis

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
MATTER OF E-L-
Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
DATE: DEC. 8, 2017 
APPEAL OF NEBRASKA SERVICE CENTER DECISION 
PETITION: FORM I-140, IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR ALIEN WORKER 
The Petitioner, a supply chain analyst, seeks second preference immigrant classification as a member 
of the professions holding an advanced degree, as wel1 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). After the 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. Matter ol 
Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. 884 (AAO 2016). 
The Director of the Nebraska Service Center denied the Form I -140, Immigrant Petition for Alien 
Worker, finding 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 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 otTer requirement is in the national interest. 
Matter of E-L-
Section 203(b) ofthe 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) Waiverofjoboffer-
(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 recently 
set forth a new framework for adjudicating national interest waiver petitions. See Dhanasar, 26 I&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. [n 
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 etTorts; 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. 
1 
In announcing this new framework, we vacated our prior precedent decision, Matter of New York State Department of 
Transportation, 22 I&N Dec. 2 I 5 (Act. Assoc. Comm 'r 1998) (NYSDOT). 
2 
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Matter (~f E-L-
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 otTer and thus of a labor certification. In 
performing this analysis, USC IS 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 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. 2 
II. ANALYSIS 
The Director found that the Petitoner qualifies 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 waiver of the 
requirement of a job otTer, and thus a labor certification, would be in the national interest. 
In a letter accompanying the petition, the Petitioner first indicated that she would perform search 
engine optimization research. In response to the Director's November 2016 request for evidence 
(RFE) under NYSDOT, the Petitioner listed her proposed job title as "mathematical statistician,'' but 
also stated that she was contemplating working for a "healthcare company.'' Subsequently, in 
response to the Director's March 2017 RFE under Dhanasar, she described her proposed endeavor 
as "statistical analysis and optimization research ... in the realm of information technology." The 
Director denied the petition finding that the Petitioner had not identified her proposed endeavor with 
adequate specificity or consistency to demonstrate that it has substantial merit and national 
importance, that she is well-positioned to advance it, and 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 the decision denying the Petition, the Director stated three times that the Petitioner's statements 
regarding her proposed endeavor were not "definitive." We note that, while 
information about the 
nature of the Petitioner's proposed endeavor is necessary for us to determine whether she satisfies 
the Dhanasar framework, she need not have a job otTer from a specific employer as she is applying 
for a waiver of the job offer requirement. Despite the aforementioned problematic language in the 
Director's decision, the record before her supported the determination that the Petitioner's 
statements were "inconsistent with respect to [her] area of intended employment" and that she 
provided insufficient information concerning her proposed endeavor. In Dhanasar. we held that a 
petitioner must identify "the specific endeavor that the foreign national proposes to undertake." !d. 
at 889. 
2 See Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. at 888-91, for elaboration on these three prongs. 
3 The record reflects that the Petitioner received a master of engineering (2007) from in Japan and a 
master of business administration (20 12) from in Korea. 
3 
.
Matter of E-L-
In her appeal brief, the Petitioner now indicates that she intends to work "as a supply chain (logistic 
information) analyst" for a company that manufactures and 
distributes 
organic foods. We note that this work is not consistent with any of the Petitioner's 
previously proposed activities. Regardless, for the reasons discussed below, the Petitioner has not 
demonstrated her eligibility for a national interest waiver based on this proposed endeavor. 
A. Substantial Merit and National Importance of the Proposed Endeavor 
The Petitioner explains that, in her intended role for Pulmuone, she is "in charge of transportation 
route planning for organic products." The Petitioner further states: "I work closely with the supply 
chain management team to understand their data and research needs and to conduct research 
accordingly in the traffic route optimization. . 
. . My job is to make strategic and operational 
decisions, optimize and manage their logistics system processes efficiently." The record includes a 
May 2017 letter from reflecting that the Petitioner "will hold the position of Research 
Analyst for Supply Chain Department located in California.'' In addition, the Petitioner 
submits two articles about acquisition of and 
She also submits product listings and two coupon contracts 
for organic spinach. 
In describing the value of her work, the Petitioner states: "A vitally important operational decision 
concerns finding optimal vehicle routes because efficient routes otTer great potential to reduce costs 
and to improve service quality." The Petitioner further explains that her "main contributions are to 
synchronize trucks and log-loaders and to extend the log-truck 
scheduling problem to the weekly 
horizon, where inventories at are taken into consideration in order to work in a just in time 
mode." We find that the Petitioner's proposed route planning and vehicle scheduling work has 
substantial merit, as it is aimed at supporting her employer's timely and efficient distribution of organic 
food products across the United States. 
To satisfy the national importance requirement, the Petitioner must demonstrate the "potential 
prospective impact" of her work. She asserts that distributes "a number of organic food 
products which go to almost every region in the U.S.'' and that her "work has an impact on the national 
organic food distribution network." The Petitioner, however, has not established that her proposed 
work for has implications 
beyond her company and its customers at a level sutlicient to 
establish the national importance of her endeavor. 4 For example, the record does not show that the 
specific work she proposes to undertake offers original innovations that advance the industry, or 
otherwise has broader implications in the supply chain management field. As the Petitioner has not 
established that her specific endeavor's prospective impact supports a finding of national 
importance, she has not met the first prong of the Dhanasar framework. 5 
4 
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. /d. at 893. 
5 
In addressing the second prong of the Dhanasar framework, the Petitioner mentions that she is writing a paper for her 
Ph.D. dissertation based on data from her project at to improve the company's log-truck scheduling. While 
4 
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Matter of E-L-
B. Well Positioned to Advance the Proposed Endeavor 
The second prong shifts the focus from the proposed 
endeavor to the Petitioner's qualifications. The 
Petitioner submits academic records, her curriculum vitae, and evidence of her graduate work 
(research articles and conference papers). She also offers reference letters from her professors and 
colleagues discussing her research projects and work experience in the areas of chemical and 
materials engineering, healthcare data analysis, search engine optimization, and route planning. For 
example, a professor in the Department of Statistics and Applied Probability at 
states that the Petitioner has done "statistical analysis on the 
transportation analysis" and that "[h ]er research improves the understanding about information 
management in terms of the route planning quality." In addition, a professor of 
business and economics at indicates that the Petitioner investigated "the 
equilibrium revenue structures of two competing E-commerce platforms that are horizontally 
differentiated." further notes that the Petitioner's "study demonstrates that when 
transportation cost is small and the degree of competition among sellers is weak, both platforms tend 
to adopt advertising revenue structures in equilibrium." 
6 
The evidence discussed above is sutlicient to demonstrate that the Petitioner is well positioned to 
advance her proposed endeavor of analyzing Pulmuone's logistical operations. Accordingly, she has 
established that she satisfies the second prong of the Dhanasar framework. 
C. Balancing Factors 
to Determine Waiver's Benefit to the United States 
As explained above, 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. Here, the Petitioner claims that she is eligible for a waiver due to her knowledge and 
experience, fluency in three languages, and a lack of qualified U.S. workers for her current position. 
However, as the Petitioner has not established the national importance of her proposed endeavor as 
required by the first prong of the Dhanasar framework, she is not eligible for a national interest 
waiver and further discussion of the balancing factors under the third prong would serve no 
meaningful purpose. 
the Petitioner indicates that she will continue with her Ph.D. research until she graduates, she has not identified 
conducting and publishing academic research as her proposed endeavor. Rather, the record shows that she intends to 
perform supply chain analysis and traffic route optimization for 
6 Although the Petitioner's graduate work at involved operations management research, we note that 
her proposed endeavor at focuses on her company's Supply Chain Department projects. Nevertheless, had the 
Petitioner demonstrated that she would be primarily engaged in conducting and disseminating original research to others 
in the field of operations management, she has not shown that her work constitutes a record of success or progress in this 
field, or has garnered degree of interest in her work from relevant parties, that rises to the level of rendering her well 
positioned to advance such an endeavor. 
5 
Matter (?f E-L-
III. 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 eligibility for or otherwise merits a national interest waiver as a 
matter of discretion. 
ORDER: The appeal is dismissed. 
Cite as Matter of E-L-, ID# 784849 (AAO Dec. 8, 20 17)