remanded EB-2 NIW Case: Business Administration

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
In Re : 15320604 
Appeal of Texas Service Center Decision 
Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
Date: JUNE23, 2021 
Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker (Advanced Degree, Exceptional Ability, National 
Interest Waiver) 
The Petitioner seeks second preference immigrant classification, 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 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 asserts that he is eligible for a national interest waiver. 
In these proceedings, it is the petitioner's burden to establish eligibility for the immigration benefit 
sought. Section 291 of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1361. Upon de novo review, we will withdraw the 
Director's decision and remand the matter for further review of the record and issuance of a new 
decision. 
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 of job 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. 
Section I 01 (a)(32) of the Act provides that "[t]he term 'profession' shall include but not be limited to 
architects, engineers, lawyers, physicians, surgeons, and teachers in elementary or secondary schools, 
colleges, academics, or seminaries." 
The regulation at 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(k)(2) contains the following relevant definitions: 
Advanced degree means any United States academic or professional degree or a foreign 
equivalent degree above that of baccalaureate. A United States baccalaureate degree 
or a foreign equivalent degree followed by at least five years of progressive experience 
in the specialty shall be considered the equivalent of a master's degree. If a doctoral 
degree is customarily required by the specialty, the alien must have a United States 
doctorate or a foreign equivalent degree. 
Exceptional abiHty ;n the sciences, arts. or business means a degree of expertise 
significantly above that ordinarily encountered in the sciences, arts, or business. 
Profession means one of the occupations listed in section 10 l(a)(32) of the Act, as well 
as any occupation for which a United States baccalaureate degree or its foreign 
equivalent is the minimum requirement for entry in the occupation. 
In addition to the definition of "advanced degree" provided at 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(k)(2), the regulation 
at 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(k)(3)(i)(B) provides that a petitioner present "[a]n official academic record 
showing that the alien has a United States baccalaureate degree or a foreign equivalent degree, and 
evidence in the form of letters from currentorformeremployer(s) showingthatthe alien has at least 
five years of progressive post-baccalaureate experience in the specialty." 
To demonstrate eligibility as an individual of exceptional ability, a pet1t10ner must submit 
documentation that satisfies at least three of the six categories of evidence listed at 8 C.F.R. 
§ 204.5(k)(3)(ii). 
Furthermore, 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 
2 
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 off er and thus of a labor 
certification. 3 
II. ANALYSIS 
A. Eligibility for the Requested Classification 
As stated above, the first step to establishing eligibility for a national interest waiver is demonstrating 
qualification for the underlying EB-2 visa classification, as either an advanced degree professional or 
an individual of exceptional ability. Although the Director's decision did not address this issue, the 
request for evidence stated the record established that the Petitioner "holds [a] Master of Business 
Administration and thus qualifies as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree" and, 
therefore there was no "need to evaluate whether [the Petitioner] also qualifies as an alien of 
exceptional ability." 
For the reasons discussed below, however, we withdraw the Director's conclusion that the Petitioner 
has established that he is an advanced degree professional. 
The submitted "Evaluation of Training, Education, and Experience" ( evaluation) 4 claims that the 
Petitioner's two "certificates" froml lin Brazil for "the Post-GraduationD 
.__ _ __.lcourse[s]" are the equivalent of an "MBA in Business Management (2006)" and an "MBA in 
Financial Management, Controlling and Audit (2009)." 
According to the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) 
Electronic Database for Global Education (EDGE), 5 however, "[p ]rofessional development and 
specialization programs are considered lato sens us (wide sense graduate-level programs) and follow 
independent legislation. Such programs lead toward professional certificates, not graduate degrees." 
It also states that "[c]redits earned in lato sensu graduate programs may later be transferred into a 
1 In announcing this new framework, we vacated our prior precedent decision, Matter of New York State Department of 
Transportation, 22 I&NDec. 215 (Act. Assoc. Comm'r 1998) (NYSDOT). 
2 Sec also Poursinav. USCIS, 936F.3d 868, 2019 WL4051593 (9th Cir. 2019) (finding USCIS' decision to grant or deny 
a national interest wa iverto be discretionary in nature). 
3 See Dhanasar, 26 I&NDec. at 888-91, for elaboration onthesethreeprongs. 
4 We may, in our discretion, useanevaluationofa person's foreign education as anadvisoryopinion. J1atterofSea, Inc., 
19 I&N Dec. 817,820 (Comm'r 1988). However, where an opinion is not in accord with other information oris in any 
way questionable, we may discount or give less weight to that evaluation. Id. 
5 We consider EDGE to be a reliable source ofinformation about foreign credentialequivalencies. See Confluence Intem., 
Inc. v. Holder, Civil No. 08-2665 (DSD-JJG), 2009 WL 825793 (D. Minn. Mar. 27, 2009); Tisco Group, Inc. v. Napolitano, 
No. 09-cv-l 0072, 20 lOWL 3464314(£.D. Mich. Aug. 30, 20lO);SunshineRehabServices, Inc. No. 09-13605, 2010\VL 
3325442(£.D. Mich.Aug. 20,2010).Sccalso Viraj, LLCv. Holder, No. 2: 12-CV-00127-RWS,2013 WL 1943431 (N.D. 
Ga.May 18,2013). 
3 
master's degree program given that institutional requirements are met and institutional approval is 
granted." 6 
Although the evaluator claims to be a member of AACRAO, he fails to address the discrepancies 
between EDGE's conclusions and his own in his evaluation. 
Fmiher, the evaluator concludes that (note: errors in the original text have not been changed): 
Considering that a bachelor's degree, a postgraduate specialization course and two 
MBAs, followed by more than five years of full-time work experience in the field of 
finance, IT, project management, and production management is equivalent to a MBA 
in Business Administration - Financial Management, it is my expert opinion that [the 
Petitioner], with a bachelor's degree, a postgraduate specialization course and two 
MBAs, and more than 13 years of experience, has no less than the equivalent of a MBA 
in Business Administration - Financial Management. 
Notably, the evaluation fails to indicate the length of the bachelor's degree program. 7 According to 
EDGE: 
The 3-year Titulo de Bacharel/Grau de Bach are! represents attainment of a level of 
education comparable to 3 years of university study in the United States. Credit may 
be awarded on a course-by-course basis. The 4- or 5-year Titulo de Bacharel/Grau de 
Bacharel represents attainment of a level of education comparable to a bachelor's 
degree in the United States. 
Without additional evidence, the Petitioner also has not established that he holds the foreign equivalent 
of a U.S. bachelor's degree. 
In addition, although the evaluator also provided a conclusion regarding the combination of the 
Petitioner's education and professional experience, he does not claim to have reviewed any 
employment letters to establish the Petitioner's work history or experience, as required by 8 C.F.R. 
§ 204.5(k)(3)(i)(B). 8 Further, the basis for his statement that the Petitioner "served in positions of 
increasing professional responsibility and sophistication, together with peers, under the supervision of 
managers, at a level of employment commensurate with Master's level training" has not been 
established. 
The Petitioner must resolve the above inconsistencies with independent, objective evidence pointing 
to where the truth lies. Matter of Ho, 19 I&N Dec. 582, 591-92 (BIA 1988). Unresolved material 
inconsistencies may lead us to reevaluate the reliability and sufficiency of other evidence submitted 
in support of the requested immigration benefit. Id. 
6 Seehttps://www.aacrao.org/ edge/ country/brazil for information regarding the education system in Brazil and credential 
equivalencies (last accessed June 23, 2021 ). 
7 We are also unable to determine the length of the program from the documents submitted. 
R The job duties listed in the "professional experience" section of the evaluation are taken directly from the Petitioner's 
resume. 
4 
In light of the above, the Director should first determine whether the Petitioner has sufficiently 
demonstrated that he holds the foreign equivalent of a U.S. bachelor's degree. If the Director 
concludes that the Petitioner has provided independent, objective evidence to establish receipt of such 
a degree, he should then determine whether the record contains "letters from current or former 
employer(s)" which establish "at least five years of progressive post-baccalaureate experience in the 
specialty," as required by the regulation at 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(k)(3)(i)(B) 
If the Director concludes that the Petitioner is not an advanced degree professional, he should then 
determine whether the Petitioner qualifies as an individual of exceptional ability. 
B. Dhanasar Analysis 
Regarding the Petitioner's claims of eligibility under the Dhanasar analysis, we agree with the 
Director's ultimate conclusions that the Petitioner has not established that a waiver of the required job 
offer, and thus of the labor certification, would be in the national interest. The Director did determine 
that, although the Petitioner did not meet the first or third prong of Dhanasar, he had met the second 
prong. However, as the Director's determination appears to be based, at least in part, on the evaluator's 
determination that the Petitioner holds the equivalent of a master of business administration degree, 
we must also withdraw the Director's conclusion that the Petitioner is well positioned to advance the 
proposed endeavor. 
III. CONCLUSION 
For the reasons discussed above, we are remanding the petition for the Director to consider anew 
whether the Petitioner I) qualifies for EB-2 classification, the threshold determination in national 
interest waiver cases and 2) is well positioned to advance the proposed endeavor. The Director may 
request any additional evidence considered pertinent to the new determination. 
ORDER: The decision of the Director is withdrawn. The matter is remanded for further 
proceedings consistent with the foregoing analysis and entry of a new decision. 
5