sustained EB-2 NIW Case: Aerospace Engineering

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
MATTER OF J-D-0-D-L-R-
APPEAL OF TEXAS SERVICE CENTER DECISION 
Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
DATE: NOV. 19,2015 
PETITION: FORM I-140, IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR ALIEN WORKER 
The Petitioner, an aerospace engineer and structural aviation fatigue researcher, seeks classification 
as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree. See Immigration and Nationality Act 
(the Act) § 203(b )(2), 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b )(2). The Director, Texas Service Center, denied the 
immigrant visa petition. The matter is now before us on appeal. The appeal will be sustained. 
The Petitioner asserts that an exemption from the requirement of a job offer, and thus of a labor 
certification, is in the national interest of the United States. The Director found that the Petitioner 
qualifies for classification as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree, but that the 
Petitioner has not established that an exemption from the requirement of a job offer would be in the 
national interest of the United States. On appeal, the Petitioner submits a statement addressing the 
Director's decision, additional letters of support, and further evidence of his participation in engineering 
conferences. 
I. LAW 
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 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) ... 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 
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Matter of J-D-0-D-L-R-
services in the sciences, arts, professions, or business be sought by an employer 
in the United States. 
II. ISSUES 
The Petitioner received a Master of Science degree (2009) and a Ph.D. degree (2013) in mechanical 
engineering from the Accordingly, the Petitioner qualifies 
as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree. The sole issue in contention is whether the 
Petitioner has established that a waiver of the job offer requirement, and thus a labor certification, is in 
the national interest. 
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." Matter of New York State 
Dep't ofTransp. (NYSDOT), 22 I&N Dec. 215, 217-18 (Act. Assoc. Comm'r 1998), set forth several 
factors which must be considered when evaluating a request for a national interest waiver. First, a 
petitioner must establish that he seeks employment in an area of substantial intrinsic merit. !d. at 217. 
Next, a petitioner must demonstrate that the proposed benefit will be national in scope. Jd. Finally, the 
petitioner seeking the waiver must show that he will serve the national interest to a substantially greater 
degree than would an available U.S. worker having the same minimum qualifications. Id. at 217-18. 
The Petitioner has established that his work as an aerospace engineer and structural aviation fatigue 
researcher in an area of substantial intrinsic merit and that the proposed benefits of his research 
concerning structural fatigue, structural reliability, and probabilistic damage tolerance analysis 
would be national in scope. It remains, then, to determine whether the Petitioner will benefit the 
national interest to a greater extent than an available U.S. worker with the same minimum 
qualifications. 
Although the national interest waiver hinges on prospective national benefit, the petitiOner must 
establish his past record justifies projections of future benefit to the national interest. Jd. at 219. The 
petitioner's subjective assurance that he will, in the future, serve the national interest cannot suffice to 
establish prospective national benefit. The inclusion of the term "prospective" is used here to require 
future contributions by the petitioner, rather than to facilitate the entry of an individual with no 
demonstrable prior achievements, and whose benefit to the national interest would thus be entirely 
speculative. Jd. 
Furthermore, eligibility for the waiver must rest with the petitioner's own qualifications rather than 
with the position sought. Assertions regarding the overall importance of a petitioner's area of 
expertise cannot suffice to establish eligibility for a national interest waiver. Jd. at 220. At issue is 
whether this petitioner's contributions in the field are of such significance that he merits the special 
benefit of a national interest waiver, a benefit separate and distinct from the visa classification he 
seeks. A petitioner must demonstrate a past history of achievement with some degree of influence 
on the field as a whole. !d. at 219, n. 6. In evaluating the petitioner's achievements, original 
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innovation, such as demonstrated by a patent, is insufficient by itself. Whether the specific 
innovation serves the national interest must be decided on a case-by-case basis. !d. at 221, n. 7. 
III. FACTS AND ANALYSIS 
The Petitioner filed the Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, on March 25, 2014. At the 
time of filing, the Petitioner was working as a Special Research Associate in the Department of 
Mechanical Engineering at The Director determined that the Petitioner's impact and influence 
on his field did not satisfy the third prong of the NYSDOT national interest analysis. 
The Petitioner seeks to continue his research at to further develop a probabilistic assessment for 
determining the reliability of aerospace structures. Regarding his planned research activities, the 
Petitioner stated: "My work directly affects private and commercial aircraft safety as I have developed 
and continue to refine , a probabilistic fatigue and damage tolerance software to conduct risk 
assessments and risk management for small planes." The Petitioner submitted documentation reflecting 
that his research is funded by grants from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the U.S. 
Department of Defense (DOD). 
In addition to documentation of his published and presented work, the Petitioner submitted various 
reference letters discussing his work in the field. For example, Professor and 
Chair, Department of Mechanical Engineering, , stated: 
[The Petitioner] developed a probabilistic linear damage model, and a probabilistic 
damage tolerance methodology for the FAA that combined the extreme value theory, 
the maximum likelihood approach, and the spectrum loading information to estimate 
the distribution of extreme load during a given number of flights. . . . This 
information is being incorporated by [the Petitioner] into a computer software 
program for use by the FAA in assessing the safety of the general aviation fleet. His 
research has contributed directly to the safety of the flying public. 
Aerospace Engineer, Continued Operational Safety Branch, 
explained that the computational methods developed by the Petitioner "allow risk 
evaluation of in-service fatigue crack findings in a timely manner" while maintaining aircraft safety. 
Furthermore, Senior Research Engineer, Vehicle Technology Directorate, 
stated that he served as "program manager 
of the structural integrity [research and development] for small airplanes at the 
indicated that the Petitioner "has made significant 
contributions to civil aviation which will help ensure reliability of the aging U.S. aviation fleet." 
Nondestructive Evaluation Division Manager at 
asserted: "[The Petitioner] has developed a program that enables entities dealing with 
commercial aircraft to determine how to maximize the life of the aircraft without jeopardizing 
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Matter of J-D-0-D-L-R-
passengers and crew. The 
using his work." 
and 
Leader of the Structural Integrity Group, Aerospace Portfolio, 
are already 
mentioned that the Petitioner "is the primary developer of a probabilistic 
linear damage code delivered to the [FAA] for structural integrity analysis of aircraft." In addition, 
asserted that the Petitioner's innovative research findings concerning crack growth and 
damage tolerance are "of great interest" to the 
. Fatigue and Damage Tolerance Lead Engineer, , stated that 
the Petitioner "has pioneered research in the probabilistic field" and that he "has been developing 
and expanding fatigue and damage tolerance tools for to utilize during production of its 
. Owner of Kansas, served as the Continued Operational 
Safety Program Manager, _ from 2001 - 2011. asserted: 
"The probabilistic tools [the Petitioner] has developed and continues to refine have significant 
applicability for the safety of American aircraft and the economic development of the aircraft 
industry (in terms of future aircraft designs)." In addition, mentioned that the Petitioner's 
"research work is being sought after and used by a diverse range of government agencies and private 
industry concerned with aircraft continued operational safety." For example, the Petitioner provided 
letters from the and the 
Service discussing the importance of the Petitioner's work and their interest in his probabilistic 
methods for structural risk analysis. Furthermore, the Petitioner submits letters on appeal from 
and the 
expressing support for the Petitioner's structural reliability assessment code and mentioning 
their interest in applying his "innovative" software to their aircraft systems. 
The aforementioned letters of support, the Petitioner's journal publications and conference 
presentations, and the implementation and funding of his work by the FAA establish that the 
Petitioner's past record of achievement justifies projection that he will serve the national interest to a 
significantly greater degree than would an available U.S. worker having the same minimum 
qualifications. In addition, the letters provided by the Petitioner give context to his work and explain 
its importance in ways that the additional evidence in the record otherwise corroborates. The 
submitted documentation establishes the significance of this petitioner's research, as opposed to the 
general area of research, and identifies specific benefits attributable to his work that have influenced the 
field. 
IV. CONCLUSION 
As discussed above, the evidence in the record demonstrates that the benefit of retaining this petitioner's 
services outweighs the national interest that is inherent in the labor certification process. Therefore, on 
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Matter of J-D-0-D-L-R-
the basis of the evidence submitted, the Petitioner has established that a waiver of the requirement of a 
job offer, and thus of a labor certification, will be in the national interest of the United States. 
In visa petition proceedings, it is the petitioner's burden to establish eligibility for the immigration 
benefit sought. Section 291 ofthe Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1361; Matter ofOtiende, 26 I&N Dec. 127, 128 
(BIA 2013). Here, that burden has been met. 
ORDER: The appeal is sustained. 
Cite as Matter of J-D-0-D-L-R-, ID# 14275 (AAO Nov. 19, 2015) 
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