sustained EB-2 NIW Case: Mathematics

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
MATTER OF L-X-
Non-Precedent Decision of the 
Administrative Appeals Office 
DATE: MAR. 16, 2018 
APPEAL OF NEBRASKA SERVICE CENTER DECISION 
PETITION: FORM 1-140, IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR ALIEN WORKER 
The Petitioner, a professor of mathematics, 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). After the petitioner has established eligibility for 
EB-2 classification, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) may, as matter of 
discretion, grant a national interest waiver if the petitioner demonstrates: (I) 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. MallerofDhanasar, 26l&N Dec. 884 (AAO 2016). 
The Director of the Nebraska Service Center denied the Form 1-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien 
Worker, finding that the Petitioner qualified for classification as a member of the professions 
holding an advanced degree, but that she 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 additional evidence and contends that she is eligible for a national 
interest waiver under the Dhanasar framework. 
Upon de novo review. we will sustain the appeaL 
L 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: 
Matter of L-X-
(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 otTer-
(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 recently 
set forth a new framework tor adjudicating national interest waiver petitions. See Dhanasar, 26 l&N 
Dec. 884. 1 Dhanasar states that after EB-2 eligibility has been established, USClS may, as a matter 
of discretion, grant a national interest waiver when the below prongs are met. 
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 trom 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 tor 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 otTer and thus of a labor certification. ln 
performing this analysis; US CIS 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 tor the 
1 
In announcing this new framework, we vacated our prior precedent decision, Matter of New York State Department of 
Transporlalion, 22 I&N Dec. 215 (Act. Assoc. Comm'r 1998) (NYSD07). 
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Mauer of L-X-
foreign national t o secure a job otTer or for the petitioner to obtain a labor certific ation; whether , 
even assuming that other qua lilied U.S. worker s are avail able, the United States wo uld still benefit 
from the foreig n national' s contribu tions; and whether the nat ional interest in the foreign national' s 
contributi ons is s uffici ently urgent to warrant forgoi ng the labor certificati on proce ss. In each case, 
the facto r(s) considered must , taken t ogether, indicate that on balance, it would be beneficial to the 
United State s to waive the requir ements of a job offer and thus of a labor certit1cation.2 
II. · ANALYSIS 
The Director lDund that the Petitoner qualifies as a member of the professions holding a n advan ced 
degree.3 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. 
The regulatioi1 at 8 C.F. R. § 204 .5(k)(4)(ii) states, in pert inent part, "[t]o apply for the [national 
interest] exemption the petiti oner must submit Form ETA-7508 , Statement o.f Qua lifications of 
Alien, in duplicate. " The deni al decision stated that "since the petitioner did not submit t his required 
evi dence, USCIS must deny the Form 1-140." At the time of tilin g and ·again with the appeal, the 
Petitioner offered two properly signed and fuJiy executed ET A-750B t{)rms. Accordingly, the 
Director ' s finding on this issue is w ithdrawn. Furthermore, for the reaso ns discuss ed below, we find 
the Petitio ner has established eligibil ity for a national interest waiver under the analytical framework 
set fort h in Dhcmasar. 
A. Sub stantial Merit and Nation al Importance of the Proposed Endeavor 
The Petitioner is currentl y workin g as an ass istant professor in the Department of-Mathematics at the 
Her curr ent r esea rch i s a imed at d eveloping "an efficient 
- o ne of the most com mo n forms of fluid motions 
in natiue." She states that she intends to "contin ue her cutting edge-resea rch in comput ational tluid 
dynamics and to develop a multidi sc iplinary platform that combin es the power of m athematics and 
compu tatio nal modelin g to solve challenging scientific and engineering problems." The record 
includes letters of support indi cating thal the Petitioner' s work contribu tes to the development and 
application or advanced math ematical mo dels. For example , a professor of 
mathematics at the explains that the ·Petitioner "designs numerical 
algorithm s and applie s them to simulate co mplex physical system s on high per forma nce computers." 
Accordingly, we find that the Petitioner's proposed work to advanc e research in computational fluid 
dynamics and develop advanced mathematical models has substantial merit. 
To s atisfy the nation al imporl ance requirement , the Petitioner must demonstrate the "potential 
prospective impact" of her work. She asse rts that her research provides "powe rful mod eling tools for 
the. scientific studies of complex systems in the field of mechani cs and biom edical science." For 
2 See Dhanasar, 26 I&)J Dec. at 888-91, for elaboration on these three prongs. 
3 The record reflects that the Petitioner received a Ph.D. in mathematics (20 12) from the 
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Mc111er of L-X-
instance, professor and chair of the Department of Mathematics at the 
states that the Petitioner's work "on the past a 
solid body" has widespread applications such as understanding "the air motion around the wings or 
an airplane or flying bird, and the \Vater motion around a submarine or swimming fish." 
further notes that "' is also at the heart of geophysical lluid flows 
including hurricanes and tornadoes" and that the Petitioner's research fundamentally advances 
applied mathematical research in the United States. Jn addition, the Petitioner has submitted 
documentation indicating that the benefit of her proposed computational fluid dynamics research has 
broader implications, as the results are disseminated to others in the field through scientific journals 
and conferences. As the Petitioner has documented both the substantial merit and national 
importance of her proposed research, \ve find that the record supports the Director's finding that she 
meets the first prong ofthe Dhcmasar framework/ 
B. Well Positioned to Advance the Proposed Endeavor 
The 
second prong shifts the focus from the proposed endeavor to the Petitioner's qualifications. The 
Petitioner submitLed her curriculum vitae, academic records, awards, 
membership, grants sponsored by the , and peer review activities. She 
also provided evidence of her published and presented work and documentation of articles that cited 
to her findings. In addition, the Petitioner offered reference letters describing her expertise in fluid 
dynamics, solid mechanics, and biological modeling, and her past record of success as a mathematics 
researcher. 
We find that the Petitioner's past experience renders her well positioned to advance her proposed 
endeavor aimed at understanding the fundamental behavior of fluid dynamics and development of 
computational models. For example, a senior lecturer at the 
discusses the Petitioner's fluid dynamics research "focused 
on the circulation shed from the 
surtace of a moving flat plate." He indicates that the Petitioner "made a detailed comparison betw·een 
viscous simulations and a and explains that her work otTers "the most complete and 
useful comparisons" in the literature to date. In addition, professor of mathematics at 
asserts that the Petitioner's "research on the in the human 
airway was significant and outstanding." He notes that the Petitioner developed a model that 
"successfully isolates the effects of major influencing parameters of the beating cilia and provides an 
insight into the basic biomechanical mechanisms of particle transport in mucous." Furthenriore, 
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With respect to the Peritioner's proposed teaching duties at the we lind that they have 
substantial merit. The record, however. does not establish that her course instruction would impact her endeavor more 
broadly, as opposed to being limited to the students at the institution where she teaches. Accordingly, without sufficient 
documentary evidence of their broader impact, the teaching activities do not meet the "national importance·' element of the 
first prong of the Dhanasar framework. Similarly. in Dhanasar, we detennined that the petitioner's teaching activities did 
not rise to the level of having national importance becaLJSc they would not impact his field more broadly. !d. at 893. 
5 For example. the record reflects the Petitioner was the principal investigator on a research start-up allocation grant from 
the a collection of advanced digital resources sponsored by 
the 
4 
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Malter of L-X-
a mathem atics professor at the states the Petitioner 
"successfully developed a numerical model that enables us to resolve the near sharp 
edges." adds that "[t]his new model is fundamental and robust, and it leads us to new and 
exci ting directi ons for understandin g the intrin sic behavior of the starting 
The record also includes citation evid ence showing that the Petitioner's published work has been cited 
by indep endent researchers, and that the rate at which her work has been cited is high relat ive to others 
in her field. Such evidenc e helps s how a past reco rd of achievement that demonstrates the Petitioner is 
well positio ned to advance matheml:ltics research. 
The Petitioner' s experience and expertise in her field, publi shed and presented wor k, record of success 
contributing to various research projects, and progress in the area of understan ding tluid dynamic s 
position her well to advanc e her proposed endeav or. Accordingly, the reco rd supports the Director's 
finding that she satisfies the second prong of the Dhanasar framew ork . 
C. Bala ncing Factors to Determine Waiver' s Benefit to the United State s 
The Director determined that the Petition er h ad met the first two pron gs of the Dhanasar 
framew ork, but found she had not submitted suffic ient eviden ce to mee t this prong. As exp lained 
above, the third prong requir es the petitioner to demonstrate that , o n balance, it would be beneficial 
to tlie United States to waiv e the requirements of a job offer and thus of a labor certificati on. 
As a mathematics researche r, the Petitioner possesses consid erable exper ience and expertise in 
computational f1uid dynamic s, solid mechanics , and biological mode ling. The record also demonstrates 
the widespread benefits assoc iated with research deve lopments in the field o f com putational t1uid 
dynamics and their broad application in energy, envi ronmental , engin eering, and health rel ated fields. 
The Petiti oner has docum ented her past successes in advancin g applied mathematical sciences and 
providing influential research findings. In addition, the repea ted funding that she has received from the 
further demon strate s that the greater scientific communi ty has found her 
fluid dynamics and biomechanic s research to be promi sing and useful. Base d on the Petitioner's track 
record of successf ul research and the significance of her ongoi ng fluid dynamics studies that advance 
U.S. scientific interests, we find that she offers contributions of such value that, on balance, they wou ld 
benefit the United States even ass uming that other qualified 
U.S . workers are available. 
III. CONCLUSION 
The Petitioner has met the requisite three prongs set forth in the Dhanasar analytica l framewo rk. We 
tind she has esta blished eligibilit y for and otherwi se merits a nation al inter est waiv er as a matte r of 
discretion . 
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Maller of L-X-
ORDER: The appeal is sustained. 
Cite as Matter of L-X-, ID# I 086596 (AAO Mar. 16, 20 18) 
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