This is an AAO appeal decision — a case denied once and appealed. It shows how the framework is applied; it is not the filing population.
The Petitioner proposed to serve as CEO of an advanced engineering consulting company in the United States providing professional, scientific, and technical services specializing in sustainability, nuclear material handling, structural engineering, risk assessment, and civil engineering consulting, including a professional training program targeting small and medium enterprises and governmental entities.
Field: civil engineering and nuclear facility infrastructure consulting · Read the decision (uscis.gov)
EB-2 threshold — not met
Petitioner holds only a Brazilian bachelor's degree in civil engineering (equivalent to a U.S. baccalaureate). Employment letters submitted to demonstrate five years of progressive post-baccalaureate experience lacked specific descriptions of duties performed as required by 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(g)(1), preventing evaluation of whether experience was progressively responsible. No exceptional ability track claimed or evidenced. AAO withdrew SCOPS' finding of categorical EB-2 eligibility.
Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive
“it is not adequately patent either from opinion and or any applicable relevant evidence in the record how 'strengthening the safety, resilience, and sustainability of infrastructure' whilst undertaking the Petitioner's proposed endeavor would implicate broader matters in a manner rising to a level of national importance”
“simply proposing an endeavor adjacent to an area of substantial merit or special concern to the United States does not such an endeavor nationally important as a default.”
“the RIMS-II based economic impact analysis utilizes inputs relevant to the State of Florida as a whole and not a specific area where the anticipated employment would be generated.”
“the tax and employment goals, whether realized or not, would not extend beyond the endeavor itself to have an impact on a level of national importance.”
“The record does not contain evidence which would sufficiently support extrapolating the Petitioner's consulting and civil engineering or nuclear facility construction project development activities”
AAO decision text
How the evidence was treated
- recommendation letter · discounted
“the letters focused on the Petitioner's past work”
AAO decision text - other · discounted
“opinion statement does not illustrate how the Petitioner's proposed endeavor rises to a level impacting national importance”
AAO decision text - business plan · discounted
“the Petitioner's business plan contains financial data projections related to employment, such as tax figures and salary expenditures without explanation”
AAO decision text - other · discounted
“the 'RIMS-II based economic impact analysis' appears to utilize inputs for the State of Florida as a whole and not any one specific area”
AAO decision text - resume experience · discounted
“the letters did not contain a specific description of the duties performed as required by the regulation”
AAO decision text
All 7 evidence items
- degree · credited
- certification membership · discounted
“documentation from Brazil documenting his job licensure”
AAO decision text
Where this case turned
- Business plan speculative · p1 — projections without a documented basis or steps
- Economic claims unsupported · p1 — job/revenue projections with no corroborating basis
- Employer-specific benefit · p1 — "work furthers my company's product" — value accrues to one firm
- Field importance conflated with endeavor · p1 — argues the field matters, not the specific endeavor
- Local, not national scope · p1 — impact confined to clients / a region
Notable
Unusually, the AAO sua sponte withdrew SCOPS' favorable threshold EB-2 eligibility determination on de novo review, finding the employment letters lacked duty descriptions required by 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(g)(1), even though this issue was not dispositive given the P1 failure. The AAO explicitly declined to issue an RFE on the threshold issue, citing Bagamasbad. The decision also contains a likely OCR/typographical error: 'dated Mary 30, 2025' (should be 'May 30, 2025'). The petitioner is a Brazilian national whose proposed endeavor is based in Florida.
What this case teaches
Analyst reading of the decision text.
Impact reached only SME and government clientele; the RIMS-II analysis used statewide inputs with no specific location; and an endeavor adjacent to nuclear priorities is not nationally important by default.
Adjacency to a priority area does not make an endeavor nationally important, and economic-impact models need location-specific inputs, not statewide ones.
moderate
economic_job_creation · critical_emerging_tech · us_competitiveness
mixed
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