sustained EB-2 NIW Case: Geosteering

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
In Re: 6206115 
Appeal of Texas Service Center Decision 
Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
Date: DEC. 3, 2019 
Form 1-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker (Advanced Degree, Exceptional Ability , National 
Interest Waiver) 
The Petitioner , a geosteering researcher and developer , 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 the Petitioner qualified 
for classification as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree, but that he 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 and contends that he is eligible for a national interest waiver 
under the Dhanasar framework. 
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 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 ofjob 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 (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 offer and thus of a labor certification. 
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. 
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 
1 In announcing this new rramework. we vacated our prior precedent decision, Matter of New York State Department of 
Transportation. 22 l&N Dec. 215 (Act. Assoc. Comm'r 1998) (NYSDOT). 
2 See also Poursina v. USC1S. No. 17-16579, 2019 WL 4051593 (Aug. 28, 2019) (finding USCIS' decision to grant or 
deny a national interest waiver to be discretionary in nature). 
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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 Director found that the Petitoner qualifies as a member of the professions holding an advanced 
degree. 4 The sole issue to be determined is whether the Petitioner has established that a waiver of the 
requirement of a job offer, and thus a labor certification, would be in the national interest. 
At the time of filing, the Petitioner was a geosteering solutions products manager forl I I ~ a subsidiary ofl 15 For the reasons discussed below, 
we find the Petitioner has established eligibility for a national interest waiver under the analytical 
framework set forth in Dhanasar. 
A. Substantial Merit and National Importance of the Proposed Endeavor 
The Petitioner indicated that he intends to continue his research and development work aimed at 
improving well-placement and formation-evaluation technologies in the oil and gas industry. He 
asserted that his proposed endeavor involves inventing new workflows and products for the 
geosteering process. 6 The Petitioner further stated that this work is focused on making geosteering 
activity fully automatic with real-time responsiveness and minimal or no human intervention. He also 
noted that he plans to undertake a project to improve integration processes between operations 
geologists and drilling engineers. 
The record contains letters of support from the Petitioner's colleagues describing the benefits 
associated with improvements in well-placement and formation-evaluation technologies. For 
example, his references indicate that these advancements help companies in the oil and gas industry 
gain access to bypassed reserves that initially were not seen as practical natural resource targets. In 
addition, the references assert that maximizing borehole contact in the productive zone of a reservoir 
results in increased oil or gas production. Accordingly, the record shows that Petitioner's proposed 
research and development work has substantial merit. 
To satisfy the national importance requirement, the Petitioner must demonstrate the "potential 
prospective impact" of his work. The aforementioned letters of support also discuss how the 
Petitioner's proposed work stands to advance the U.S. petroleum rdustrl through development of 
improved methods for accessing oil and gas resources. For instance, senior geological advisor 
3 See Dhanasar, 26 T&N Dec. at 888-91, for elaboration on these three prongs. 
4 The Petitioner received a Master of Science degree in geology from University otl lin 2013. 
5 As the Petitioner is applying for a waiver of the job offer requirement, it is not necessary for him to have a job offer from 
a specific employer. However, we consider information about his position withc=]to illustrate the capacity in which he 
intends to work in order to determine whether his proposed endeavor meets the requirements of the Dhanasar framework. 
6 He explained that "geosteering" refers to the use of real-time geological and directional data to help guide or place a 
wellbore for optimal natural resources drilling operations. 
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for~------------~ stated that the Petitioner's undertaking "will significantly 
improve exploration and production efficiency, ease the drilling challenge, and enhance hydrocarbon 
production." Similarly,! I professor of subsea engineering at the University ofl I 
asserted that the Petitioner's research and development work "will improve drilling activities in 
unconventional fields, solve the real-time drilling response efficiency challenge, and improve 
unconventional oil and gas production volume in our country." Furthermore, the Petitioner has 
submitted documentation indicating that the benefit of his proposed work has broader implications for 
the field, as the results are disseminated to others in the field through petroleum geology conferences. 
As the Petitioner has documented both the substantial merit and national importance of his proposed 
endeavor, we conclude that he meets 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. The record includes 
his curriculum vitae, academic records, professional memberships, published patent applications 7, 
presented work, and documentation showing implementation of his technological innovations in the 
oil and gas industry. In addition, the Petitioner offered letters from a various industry experts 
describing his expertise in performing geosteering research and development work and his past record of 
success in that field. 
We find that the Petitioner's past experience renders him well positioned to advance his proposed 
endeavor. His references identify specific examples of how the Petitioner's work has ijpacteld his field 
and the petroleum industry. For example, I I head of digital transformation for indicated 
that the Petitioner's research and development work "is dedicated to inventin various new work flows 
a
d ts fr the grsteering process. Two examples are the and 
" stated that the Petitioner "was the originator" of.__ _______ __, ____ ____, 
which is available through the company's website and Apple Store. ~-~ asserted that 
this product "is the best geosteering tool on the market today" and that operation geologists throughout 
the field "are using it while they are geosteering their wells." For instance,! J noted that the 
Petitioner's integrated geoscience and drilling software has been adopted by "operator companies such 
asl I I IJ land I land used for their 
oil and gas exploration and production activities. 
17 senior technical manager withl I asserted that the Petitioner's .__ ______ _. 
'C]"Ts very useful and significant for real-time drilling business" and that his work "has made a 
substantial impact on oil and gas industry." I I explained that the benefits of this innovation include 
monetary savings, increased hydrocarbon productivity, reduced data loading time, and an optimized 
human interpretation process. He also indicated that the Petitioner's app drastically decreases the 
"communication process between different teams" and enhances "team collaboration during 
geosteering." 
LikewiseJ I principal product specialist wit~ I indicated that the 
Petitioner "has helpld geoyeerers improve their working condition[s] ... by design,....1_·n_._g.,__a.._l ___ ---1 
I I" also noted that the Petitioner "filed two patents regarding!,__ _____ _. 
7 This intellectual property documentation identifies the Petitioner as an inventor. 
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I I and that these innovations have been critical for advancing real time geosteering activities. 
Furthermore! btated that the Petitioner's work is widely recognized "as indicated by a large number 
of software users (more than 1,500) of his product" in the geosteering field. As corroborating evidence, 
the Petitioner offered a printout listing numerous companies (such a~ I andl I 
LJ that are utilizing his work. 
In addition,! I stated that the Petitioner developed "the idea of l J based on machine 
learning technique and big data pattern recognition" and patented that work. I I further asserted that 
the Petitioner's.___~----~"technique is useful and can save a tremendous amount of time for 
geologists when they are working on.__ ___________________ ____," 
The significance of the Petitioner's work is further corroborated byl Is commitment to funding 
his research and development work. For instanceJ lstated: "We generate approximately $180 
million revenues per year. We allocate $20 million in revenue to [the Petitioner's] projects .... The 
funding set aside for his future projects with our company is targeted at $50 million." The record also 
includes company documents relating to funding for the Petitioner's product development work. 
The Petitioner's experience and expertise in his field, presented work, level of research funding, record 
of success in product development, innovations utilized in the oil and gas industry, and progress in 
advancing geosteering research position him well to advance his proposed endeavor. Accordingly, we 
find that he 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. As a researcher, developer and product manager, the Petitioner possesses considerable 
experience and expertise in geosteering technology. The record also demonstrates the widespread 
benefits associated with research progress towards improving oil and gas drilling operations. In addition, 
the Petitioner has documented his past successes in advancing geosteering research and developing 
effective new products and work flows. Based on the Petitioner's track record of successful research and 
development work and the significance of that work to advance U.S. oil and gas industry interests, we 
find that he offers contributions of such value that, on balance, they would benefit the United States even 
assuming that other qualified U.S. workers are available. 
III. CONCLUSION 
The Petitioner has met the requisite three prongs set forth in the Dhanasar analytical framework. We 
find that he has established he is eligible for and otherwise merits a national interest waiver as a matter 
of discretion. 
ORDER: The appeal is sustained. 
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