sustained EB-2 NIW Case: Psychiatric Research

U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
Services 
Non-Precedent Decision of the
Administrative Appeals Office 
Date: NOV. 16, 2023 In Re: 28408113 
Appeal of Nebraska Service Center Decision 
Form 1-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers (National Interest Waiver) 
The Petitioner, a research foundation, seeks second preference (EB-2) immigrant classification for the 
Beneficiary as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree. See Immigration and 
Nationality Act (the Act) section 203(b )(2), 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b )(2). The Petitioner also seeks a 
national interest waiver of the job offer requirement that is attached to this EB-2 immigrant 
classification. See section 203(b)(2)(B)(i) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(2)(B)(i). U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration Services (USCIS) may grant this discretionary waiver of the required job offer, and 
thus of a labor certification, when it is in the national interest to do so. 
The Director of the Nebraska Service Center denied the petition, concluding that the Petitioner did not 
establish that the Beneficiary is well positioned to advance his proposed endeavor or that, on balance, 
it would be beneficial to the United States to waive the requirements of a job off and, thus, of a labor 
certification. The matter is now before us on appeal. 8 C.F.R. § 103.3. 
The Petitioner bears the burden of proof to demonstrate eligibility by a preponderance of the evidence. 
Matter ofChawathe, 25 I&N Dec. 369, 375-76 (AAO 2010). We review the questions in this matter 
de novo. Matter of Christo 's, Inc., 26 l&N Dec. 537, 537 n.2 (AAO 2015). 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 
of the beneficiary 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. Section 
203(b )(2)(B)(i) of the Act. 
If a petitioner demonstrates the beneficiary's eligibility for the underlying EB-2 classification, they 
must then establish that they merit a discretionary waiver of the job offer requirement "in the national 
interest." Id. While neither the statute nor the pertinent regulations define the term "national interest," 
Matter of Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. 884, 889 (AAO 2016), provides the framework for adjudicating 
national interest waiver petitions. Dhanasar states that USCIS may, as matter of discretion, 1 grant a 
national interest waiver if the petitioner demonstrates that: 
• The proposed endeavor has both substantial merit and national importance; 
• The individual is well-positioned to advance their proposed endeavor; and 
• On balance, waiving the job offer requirement would benefit the United States. 2 
II. ANALYSIS 
The Director concluded that the Petitioner has established that the Beneficiary qualifies as a member 
of the professions holding an advanced degree. The record supports that conclusion. The remaining 
issue to be determined on appeal is whether the Petitioner has established that a waiver of the 
requirement of a job offer for the Beneficiary, and thus a labor certification, would be in the national 
interest. 
The Beneficiary is currently employed in H-1 B status as an assistant research scientist as part of a 
decades-long epidemiological study being conducted by the Child Psychiatric Department at
I !University. The Beneficiary intends to continue his work on this study and to continue his 
employment with the Petitioner's foundation to advance research endeavors in the field oflongitudinal 
studies and the application of data from those studies. 
For the reasons discussed below, we conclude the Petitioner has established eligibility for a national 
interest waiver under the analytical framework set forth in Dhanasar. 
A. Substantial Merit and National Importance 
The first prong, substantial merit and national importance, focuses on the specific endeavor that the 
individual 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. 
Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. at 889. An endeavor may have national importance because it has national 
or even global implications within a particular field, such as improved medical advances. Id. 
"Endeavors related to research, pure science, and the furtherance of human knowledge may qualify, 
whether or not the potential accomplishments in those fields are likely to translate into economic 
benefits for the United States." Id. 
The Director's decision initially states that the proposed endeavor has substantial merit and national 
importance. However, in evaluating the third prong of the Dhanasar framework, the decision later 
states that the Petitioner has not established that that the proposed endeavor is of substantial merit or 
national importance. The record includes the following description from the Petitioner of the research 
that the Beneficiary intends to continue in the United States: 
1 See also Poursina v. USC1S, 936 F.3d 868 (9th Cir. 2019) (finding USCIS' decision to grant or deny a national interest 
waiver to be discretionary in nature). 
2 See Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. at 888-91, for elaboration on these three prongs. 
2 
The.___________ ..... is an epidemiological research study assessing mental 
health in a community sample of Puerto Rican youth which seeks to understand the 
lived experiences of Puerto Ricans in the US and Puerto Rico .... [It is included] in the 
Environmental Influence on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program of the National 
Institutes of Health. 
The lead investigator of the study under whom the Beneficiary works directly provided the following: 
[The Beneficiary], who holds a Master of Science degree in psychiatry and medical 
psychology, has been a member of my research team since October 2016 rursuTt to 
an approved H-lB visa petition.... He manages the database of the .. an 
important epidemiological study involving two sites.... The Dis a longitudinal 
scientific project initiated in the 2000s which has been collecting data from Puerto 
Rican families from thel Iarea inl land other cities from the United 
States and Puerto Rico. . . . The overall ijportanc of the D to scientific research 
includes understanding and improving the 1community's mental health in the 
United States and Puerto Rico. Some of the aims are related to substance abuse, 
depression, anxiety, impulsive behaviors, and intergenerational transmission. 
Upon review of the record, we conclude that the proposed endeavor has substantial merit and national 
importance. The Petitioner has established eligibility under 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 individual. To determine whether 
they are well positioned to advance the proposed endeavor, we consider factors including, but not 
limited to: their 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. Id. at 890. 
The Director determined that the evidence "does not support the statements that the beneficiary will 
be able to make a significant contribution as of the time of filing this petition or that the beneficiary 
will now be able to make a significant contribution in the U.S." The Director determined that "none 
of the submitted evidence shows that the beneficiary has [made] any contribution to the proposed 
endeavor other than managing the databases related to the studies of [the lead investigator]." On 
appeal, the Petitioner submits a brief asserting the following: 
It appears that the Director gained the misimpression that the beneficiary is a computer 
data analyst, which is not the case at all, he is a medical psychology researcher working 
with the accumulated data of thee=] study who holds an unmatched familiarity with 
its various components and is uniquely well positioned to be responsive to the needs of 
[ the lead investigator] and her team, of which he is an integral part, to access the data 
they need in order to answer the questions it was hoped that the c=J studies would 
produce. 
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The Petitioner provides the following with regard to the Beneficiary's work and experience: 
[The Beneficia~sponsible for the design and maintenance of electronic research 
systems for [the[___J the only multi-national source of information about how mental 
disorders develop from childhood to young adulthood in a Latino subgroup (Puerto 
Ricans) involving two research sites, including the tracking of participants, data 
collection, extraction and merging, computerization and maintenance of study 
interviews, recruitment and interview schedules, and monitoring the safety of 
information transfer across study sites and investigators. [The Beneficiary] also 
generates standardized study reports to monitor field activities, Institutional Review 
Board and other reporting needs, and the coordination, with data management and 
quality control teams, of the creation of programs for systematic data screening and 
cleaning. These responsibilities require demonstrated ability to effectively design and 
maintain electronic research systems with experience and training in children's mental 
health assessment and data manipulation. [The Beneficiary] has been performing these 
duties since October 16, 2016, through the present date. 
The lead investigator of the D further provides extensive detail of the knowledge required to 
perform the Beneficiary's role, stating, 'This longitudinal study re uired a specific understanding of 
a complex structure of all data collected since the beginning of the . . . The understanding and 
knowledge of as much detail as possible of all the first generation of the project was crucial to 
[the Beneficiary's] work on developing the second generation of the ECHO study." Her letter of 
support cites specific systems, statistical tools, and various data extraction techniques, stating, 
In all of this [ the Beneficiary] is uniquely expert. His skill set, and its criticality to the 
management of the D database, cannot be overstated.... He also provides data 
access to the analyst team ... [ and] to the researchers, including the postdoctoral team 
which uses the data to generate scientific results in the development of publications in 
important Journals. [The Beneficiary] has been responsible for the organization and 
logging of all data shared since 201 7. 
The Petitioner emphasizes the following: 
These responsibilities require demonstrated ability to effectively design and maintain 
electronic research systems with experience and training in children's mental health 
assessment and data manipulation. 
[The Beneficiary] has an intimate and global familiarity with the data accumulated over 
a period of more than twenty years in theO study, which positions him to assist our 
researchers needing access to theOdata in a meaningful format. There is literally 
no other data researcher with the credentials he holds regarding thec=]data systems 
and materials. 
The lead investigator also provides additional context for the Beneficiary's position within the 
Petitioner's foundation: 
4 
As an employee of Research Foundation for~-------~ the [Beneficiary] is 
extremely well-placed to farther the advance of research into gambling and impulsive 
behaviors, mental health and early cardiovascular risk. ECHO ... studies substance 
abuse, depression, anxiety, impulsive behaviors, and intergenerational transmission, all 
of which are crucially important to the national interest of the United States, and all of 
which are using the database of thee=] longitudinal study, which he manjges, to I 
advance. As an organization, the employees of Research Foundation for 
I I have been responsible for significant American scientific research 
advances, including: 
• Introduction of pharmacological treatment for depression and affective 
disorders; 
• Application of computers to psychiatry; 
• Development of the first mental health information systems; 
• Demonstration of the efficacy, dosage and safety of new psychotropic drugs 
and their generic bioequivalents; 
• Development of now widely used laboratory assay technology to measure 
therapeutic blood levels; 
• Development of statistical design techniques and data analysis 
methodologies for clinical trials; 
• Discovery of the optimal plasma level of haloperidol for treatment of 
schizophrenia. 
The record is also supported by references to material discussing the work of the foundation and a 
detailed history of the lead investigator's credentials. The record includes information concerning the 
Beneficiary's work on a number of research projects and studies related to mental health, several of 
which focused on children and families. The Beneficiary's education in psychiatry and medical 
psychology and his deep involvement in thec=]research demonstrate that he is well positioned to 
advance the endeavor of that research and future longitudinal research with the foundation. 3 
Accordingly, we withdraw the Director's decision and conclude that the Petitioner has demonstrated 
that the Beneficiary satisfies the second prong of the Dhanasar framework. 
C. Whether on Balance a Waiver is Beneficial 
The third prong requires a 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, we may evaluate factors such as: whether, in light of the nature of the individual's 
qualifications or the proposed endeavor, it would be impractical either for them to secure a job offer 
or to obtain a labor certification; whether, even assuming that other qualified U.S. workers are 
available, the United States would still benefit from their contributions; and whether the national 
interest in their contributions is sufficiently urgent to warrant forgoing the labor certification process. 
In each case, the factor(s) considered must, taken together, establish that on balance, it would be 
3 USCIS recognizes the importance of progress in STEM fields and the essential role of persons with advanced STEM 
degrees. See generally 6 USC1S Policy Manual F.5(D)(2), https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual. 
5 
beneficial to the United States to waive the requirements of a job offer and thus of a labor certification. 
Id. at 890-91. 
The Director determined that the Petitioner did not demonstrate that it would be impractical for an 
employer to secure a job offer or to obtain a labor certification, nor, he determined, did the evidence 
demonstrate an urgency in the Beneficiary's contributions sufficient to warrant forgoing the labor 
certification process. He also stated, "Vague and generalized descriptions provided are of limited 
evidentiary value. Merely repeating the language of the statute or regulation does not satisfy the 
petitioner's burden of proof." Contrarily, as presented above, the Petitioner and the lead investigator 
of the long-time research project on which the Beneficiary has worked for several years provided 
highly detailed descriptions of that work, the project, and its importance as part of the National Institute 
of Health's ECHO program. The record demonstrates that the Beneficiary's work and role are integral 
to the seamless continuance of the project and that, as the first of its kind, it has the potential to benefit 
the United States on a national scale. The Petitioner provides the following rationale for granting a 
waiver of the job offer requirement: 
Individual labor certifications are designed to elicit whether a minimally qualified U.S. 
worker can be located; they seek out the lowest common denominator. Here, through 
the National Interest Waiver, the petitioner is enabled to employ not the lowest 
common denominator researcher, but a highly and unusually qualified worker who is 
perfectly suited to carry on research in the field of longitudinal study data management 
through his experience with the D 
Based on the Beneficiary's research history and the significance of his work to advance U.S. scientific 
and public health interests, we conclude that he offers contributions of such value that, on balance, 
they would benefit the United States even assuming other qualified U.S. workers are available. 
Accordingly, we withdraw the Director's decision and find the Petitioner has demonstrated eligibility 
under the third prong of the Dhanasar framework. 
III. CONCLUSION 
The Petitioner has demonstrated the Beneficiary's eligibility for the underlying EB-2 classification 
and has met the requisite three prongs set forth in the Dhanasar analytical framework. We conclude 
that they merit a discretionary waiver of the job offer requirement in the national interest. 
ORDER: The appeal is sustained. 
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