remanded EB-2 NIW Case: Computer Science

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
In Re: 19687750 
Appeal of Texas Service Center Decision 
Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
Date: DEC. 7, 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 submits a brief asserting that the Beneficiary 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 nova 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 101 (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 ability in 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 1 0l(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 demonstrate eligibility as an individual of exceptional ability, a petitioner 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 
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) 
1 In announcing this new framework, we vacated our prior precedent decision, Matter o{Ncw York State Department of 
Transportation, 22 I&NDec. 215 (Act. Assoc. Comm'r 1998) (NYSDOT). 
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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 
As an initial matter, we note that the Director did not address whether the Petitioner 1) is qualified for 
the underlying EB-2 visa classification and 2) established that his proposed endeavor has both 
substantial merit and national importance under Dhanasar' s first prong. The Director's new decision 
should include an analysis of these two issues. 
Regarding the proposed endeavor, on the Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, the 
Petitioner provided the following information: 
Part 5 - Additional Information About the Petitioner 
Section 11. Occupation: Computer Scientist 
Part 6 - Basic Information About the Proposed Employment 
Section 1. Job Title: Lecturer 
Section 2. SOC Code: 25-1021 4 
Section 3. Nontechnical Description of Job: Research and collaboration on computer 
science and data science projects, teaching computer science and IT courses, syllabus and 
material development, administrative and community services. 
In the initial filing, the Petitioner indicated that "[i]n the future, [his] plan is to continue [his] research 
work in th[e] field and improve existing data analytics techniques to address challenges, and apply 
them to various types of application scenarios such as education, health care and medicine, 
transportation, social media, logistics, finance, and more." The Petitioner also stated that his "long 
term plan is to continue [his] work in academia and research. There is a high demand for computer 
science, especially data management and data science researchers in both academia and national 
research centers." He further indicated that during his current appointment, which "will be renewed 
yearly at leastthrough May 2023," he "will look for a tenured track position at [his] current [ u ]niversity 
or other U[.]S[.] [ u ]niversities so that [he] can continue [his] research in the field." He "will also look 
for a permanent position at the F[ood and] D[rug] A[dministration] where [he[ can work on data 
science research in the health care and medicine domain." 
2 See also Poursina v. USCIS, No. 17-16579, 2019WL 4051593 (Aug. 28, 2019) (findingUSCIS' decision to grant or 
deny a national interestwa iverto be discretionaty in nature). 
3 SeeDhanasar, 26l&NDec. at 888-91, for elaboration on these three prongs. 
4 This standard occupational classification (SOC) code corresponds to the occupation of computer science teachers, 
postsecondary. See https:/ /www.onetonline.org/link/summary /25-1021.00#menu. 
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~-------~ chair of the department of computer science at the University ofl.__ ____ ___. 
explained in his July 15, 2019 letter that the Petitioner holds the position of lecturer "whose primaty 
responsibility is teaching." He also stated that they "appreciate and encourage research" and that the 
Petitioner "is involved in several research projects, where he performs research on various application 
scenarios such as logistics, health, smart cities, smart metering, productivity in the garment ind us tty, 
social media, and sensor data management." 
In response to the Director's request for evidence, the Petitioner submitted a new letter indicating that 
he "intend[s] to continue [his] research in the field of applied data science on various application 
scenarios for solving various data science problems, creating new business opportunities, revealing 
interesting information from diverse datasets, and thus improving human lives." The letter does not 
address his prior statements regarding his intention to either continue working in academia or obtain 
a position at the Food and Drug Administration. 
In light of the above, the Director should determine whether there is sufficient and consistent 
information concerning the nature of the Petitioner's proposed future endeavor, as we must rely on the 
specific proposed endeavor to determine whether (1) it has both substantial merit and national 
importance and (2) the foreign national is well positioned to advance it under the Dhanasar analysis. 
Id. at 889. For example, as the Petitioner plans to remain in his current position through May 2023, it 
is unclear how much time he is able to devote to research while his "primary responsibility is 
teaching." This is significant, as we determined in Dhanasar 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 89 3. Similarly, the Director should determine whether the Petitioner has sufficiently 
established the nature of his involvement in the proposed research projects, such as for whom he is 
perf mming the research or the source of any necessary funding. In addition, the Petitioner initially 
appeared to be engaged, at least in part, in an active employment search, either for a tenure track 
position at a university or a permanent position at the Food and Drug Administration. We note, 
however, that the purpose of a national interest waiver is not to afford a petitioner an opportunity to 
engage in a U.S. job search. As we explained in Dhanasar, a petitioner must identify "the specific 
endeavor that the foreign national proposes to undertake." Id. at 8 89. 
III. CONCLUSION 
For the reasons discussed above, we are remanding the petition for the Director to first address the 
Petitioner's qualifications for EB-2 classification, the threshold determination in national interest 
waiver cases. The Director should then determine whether the Petitioner has provided sufficient and 
consistent information regarding his specific proposed endeavor, such that a determination regarding 
his eligibility for a national interest waiver may be made. If the Director concludes that the proposed 
endeavor has been sufficiently established, the Director should provide an analysis of their conclusions 
for each of the three prongs of the Dhanasar analysis. 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. 
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