sustained EB-2 NIW Case: Environmental Engineering

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
In Re: 14278244 
Appeal of Texas Service Center Decision 
Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
Date: JUL. 08, 2021 
Form 1-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker (Advanced Degree, Exceptional Ability, National 
Interest Waiver) 
The Petitioner, an environmental engineer, seeks second preference immigrant classification as a 
member of the professions holding an advanced degree, 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 while the Petitioner had 
established her eligibility as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree , she did not 
show that a waiver of the required job offer , and thus of a labor certification, would be in the national 
interest. On appeal, the Petitioner submits a brief asserting that she is eligible for, and otherwise 
merits, a national interest waiver. 
In these proceedings, it is the Petitioner's burden to establish eligibility for the requested benefit. 
Section 291 of the Act, 8 U.S .C. § 1361. Upon de nova review , we will sustain 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 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. 
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. 1 Dhanasar states that after EB-2 eligibility has been established, USCIS 
may, as a 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. 2 
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. In 
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 efforts; 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 o( 
Transportation, 22 I&N Dec. 215 (Act. Assoc. Comm'r 1998) (NYSDOT). 
2 To establish that it would be in the national interest to waive the job offer requirement, a petitioner must go beyond 
showing their expertise in a particular field. The regulation at 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(k)(2) defines ·'exceptional ability" as "a 
degree of expeitise significantly above that ordinarily encountered" in a given area of endeavor. By statute. individuals of 
exceptional ability are generally subject to the job offer/labor ceitification requirement; they are not exempt by virtue of 
their exceptional ability. Therefore, whether a given petitioner seeks classification as an individual of exceptional ability, 
or as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree, they must go beyond demonstrating a degree of expe11ise 
significantly above that ordinarily encountered in their field of expertise to establish eligibility for a national interest 
waiver. See Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. at 886 n.3. 
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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. In performing 
this analysis, USCIS 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. 3 
II. ANALYSIS 
The Petitioner submitted evidence that she earned a Ph.D. in civil engineering (with a concentration 
in environmental engineering) from the University ofl ] in 201 7. In his decision, the 
Director found that the Petitioner qualifies for the underlying EB-2 classification, and we agree. 
Therefore, the sole issue for consideration is whether she qualifies for a national interest waiver under 
the Dhanasar framework and otherwise merits a favorable exercise of discretion. 
A. Substantial Merit and National Importance of the Proposed Endeavor 4 
At the time of filing her petition, the Petitioner was employed as an Environm~onsultant with 
th~---~-----------------· 
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A letter from thd____J describes this 
work as involving the review and statistical analyses of nutrients in surface water, as well as 
identifying the source o~ I She stated that her proposed endeavor was to continue her 
work in environmental science by "establish[ing] frameworks through incorporating novel 
experimental techniques, statistical models and life cycle assessment analysis for solid waste and 
wastewater treatment in the future." She then identified three goals of her research, which included 
the "development of models to deslrihe products obtained from solid waste I I treatment" and 
"modification and optimization of_ I membrane for wastewater treatment." Her third 
research goal was stated as the "determination of specific pollutant limit concentration in surface water 
and reduction of specific pollutant concentration using membrane technology." 
In responding to the Director's request for evidence (RFE), the Petitioner altered her description of 
her proposed endeavor by adding that she "plan[ s] to develop methods to better evaluate water quality 
and forecast algae blooms." She also repeated the first two of her three research goals, but changed 
the third goal to the "evaluation of water quality and forecasting of algae blooms inl I surface 
water using trend analysis." To demonstrate the substantial merit of her third research goal, she 
3 See Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. at 888-91, for elaboration on these three prongs. 
4 We note that the Director did not include an analysis of the first prong factors in his decision, or provide a conclusion as 
to the proposed endeavor's substantial merit and national importance. He also did not seek further evidence in support of 
the first prong, and did not challenge the Petitioner's assumption that she met the first prong in her response to the RFE. 
5 As the Petitioner is applying for a waiver of the job offer requirement, it is not necessary for her to have a job offer from 
a specific employer. However, we consider information about her employment to illustrate the capacity in which she 
intends to pursue her endeavor. 
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submitted information from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about algal blooms and the toxins that they may produce which 
can sicken people and animals and harm the environment. In support of the substantial merit of her 
other research goals, she submitted information about the environmental impact of food waste 
disposal. In addition, a letter fro~ I ofl I University in China notes that the 
Petitioner's proposed research in the thermal treatment of solid waste "brings us closer to harnessing 
this resource (food waste) for multiple purposes," such as fertilizers, while also reducing landfill 
methane emissions. This evidence establishes the substantial merit of her proposed endeavor, as it 
proposes to advance scientific knowledge and improve methods to control the environmental impact 
of food waste and the pollution of bodies of water. 
To satisfy the national importance requirement, the Petitioner must demonstrate the "potential 
prospective impact" of her work. With regard to her research proposal relating to the testing and 
analysis of surface water, she referred to the Clean Water Act and its goal of "address[ing] water 
pollution and all surface water qualities ... " in her statement. She further explains that she plans to use 
statistical analysis to develop a method of predicting the trend of nutrients which lead to algae blooms 
and share this method across thel land the United States Environmental Protection Agency. 
Turning to the Petitioner's other research goals, she submitted several reference letters which show 
that her proposed research has and will continue to benefit the broader scientific community by adding 
to the knowledge of~-----------~ technology and the design and sJntheys of 
I I membranes. In addition, the evidence indicates that much of her research o was 
previously supported by, or done in collaboration with, the United States Department of Agriculture's 
Agricultural Research Service under programs which focused on waste treatment. As such, we 
conclude that she has established the national importance of her proposed endeavor, and meets the 
requirements of the first prong of the Dhanasar framework. 
B. Well Positioned to Advance the Proposed Endeavor 
The second prong shifts the focus from the proposed endeavor to the petitioner. Here we determine 
whether the petitioner has established that they are well positioned to advance the endeavor, in terms 
of a number of factors including, but not limited to, education, experience, record of success, plan for 
future activities, and the interest ofrelevant entities or individuals in the proposed endeavor. As stated 
above, the record shows that the Petitioner holds an advanced degree with a specialization in 
environmental engineering, which has provided her with the necessary education to advance her 
proposed endeavor. She also submitted copies of her peer-reviewed papers, evidence relating to other 
researchers' citations to these papers, and evidence of her service as a peer reviewer for scholarly 
publications in her field. In addition, the record includes several reference letters from other 
researchers who have not worked with the Petitioner but who have cited to her work. 
Most of this evidence concerns the Petitioner's research onc=]technology, including several letters 
focu~ing on I er work in applying this process to food waste. For example] l a researcher 
at th National Agency for New Technologies, describes this research and states that the models 
developed by the Petitioner have furthered understanding about thee=] process. He also indicates 
that in his own work, the Petitioner's models "provide necessary additional background to our 
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project," and notes that another group ofresearchers have used an equation in the Petitioner's work to 
support their own. 
Another reference letter from.__ _________ __. of thel I Research Institution, states 
that the Petitioner'Oesearch "promote[s] continued research onl !treatment to ensure 
that thec=]process is as environmentally friendly as possible." He also notes that he has built upon 
the Petitioner's research in his own work, the success of which "would not have been possible without 
the work first conducted by [the Petitioner]."'--------~ concludes that the Petitioner's work 
on ther::==]process "have been remarkable contributions in this area, helping to create clear guidelines 
of how best to optimize theOprocess ... " 
The record also includes evidence from Google Scholar showing the number of citations to the 
Petitioner's published work, consisting of more than 20 publications, as well as partial copies of some 
of the articles in which those citations appear. This evidence shows that her research has been 
frequently referenced by other researchers with whom she has not collaborated, and serves to support 
the statements from the above letters and others in the record regarding her record of success in 
advancing her endeavor. It thus helps to demonstrate that the Petitioner is well positioned to advance 
her proposed research in the United States. 
The Petitioner's experience and expertise in the field of environmental engineering, the record of her 
published work and its influence on the work of others in her field, and her progress in advancing □ 
technology position her well to advance her proposed endeavor. Accordingly, we disagree with the 
Director and find that she satisfies the second prong of the Dhansar framework. 
C. Balancing Factors to Determine the Benefit of a Waiver to the United States 
As explained above, the third prong of the Dhanasar framework requires the petitioner to demonstrate 
that, on balance, it would be beneficial to the United States to waive the EB-2 classification's 
requirement of a job offer, and thus of a labor certification. The evidence shows that the Petitioner's 
research on thel !treatment of solid waste and water quality has the potential to provide 
widespread benefits to the United States in terms of reduction of waste, development of reusable 
energy and the prediction of harmful algae blooms, and that her education, experience, and record of 
success in these endeavors position her well to advance them. We therefore find that she offers 
contributions of such value that, on balance, they would benefit the United States even assuming the 
availability of other qualified U.S. workers. 
III. CONCLUSION 
The Petitioner has established that she qualifies as a member of the professions holding an advanced 
degree, and that she meets the three prongs of the Dhanasar framework. We find that is eligible for, 
and otherwise merits, a national interest waiver as a matter of discretion. 
ORDER: The appeal is sustained. 
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