NIW Bearings
dismissedJAN052026_03B52032026-01-05 · appeal · SCOPS Service Center

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, a transportation engineer, proposes to develop advanced crash prediction models, analyze crash risk factors, identify high-risk areas, and define effective countermeasures to reduce traffic crashes and improve road safety in the United States.

Field: transportation engineering / traffic safety · Read the decision (uscis.gov)

EB-2 threshold — addressed

SCOPS and AAO both agreed the Petitioner qualifies as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree (PhD in civil engineering).

Prong 1 — national importancenot established · dispositive

“the evidence in the record does not support a determination of national or global implications within the transportation engineering field.”
“the Petitioner improperly relies upon the importance of the industry as sufficient to establish the national importance of his proposed endeavor.”
“evidence of the cost of traffic crashes is not probative evidence that the Petitioner's proposed endeavor will have a substantial economic impact or substantially alleviate these costs.”
“the Petitioner's activities as a 'Traffic Engineer' for his employer do not establish a broader impact on the field.”
“it is unclear whether a broader impact would be attributable to him or his employer.”

AAO decision text

How the evidence was treated

  • other · discounted
    “evidence of the cost of traffic crashes is not probative evidence that the Petitioner's proposed endeavor will have a substantial economic impact”
    AAO decision text
  • recommendation letter · discounted
    “the author's focus is on the impact of the Petitioner's prior work; not the prospective impact of his proposed endeavor.”
    AAO decision text
  • funding · discounted
    “the record does not establish this funding is for his proposed endeavor, this evidence does not relate to the national importance of his proposed endeavor but relates to his prior experience.”
    AAO decision text
  • resume experience · discounted
    “evidence of the Petitioner's past experience, even if successful, does not sufficiently establish the national importance of the proposed endeavor.”
    AAO decision text
  • other · discounted
    “the record does not demonstrate how the Petitioner's proposed endeavor will advance these CETs to result in national or global implications within a particular field.”
    AAO decision text

Where this case turned

  • 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
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Notable

The AAO acknowledged that SCOPS' national importance analysis was 'limited' but still agreed with the denial. The AAO found substantial merit under prong 1 but failed the petitioner solely on national importance, explicitly reserving prongs 2 and 3. The decision draws a notable analogy to the teaching activities in Dhanasar itself to illustrate why employer-based work does not establish broader field impact. The petitioner's CET/AI argument was addressed but rejected because the record did not show the endeavor would advance those technologies, only use them.

What this case teaches

Analyst reading of the decision text.

Decisive factor

He leaned on the industry's importance rather than his specific endeavor; funding and citations were past-work prong-two evidence; and broader impact was attributable to his employer, not him.

Transferable lesson

Citing a problem's size shows the problem matters, not that your endeavor moves it; past funding and citations are prong-two evidence.

Endeavor framing

moderate

National-importance theory

critical_emerging_tech · public_health · economic_growth_generic

Evidence targeting

person_focused

Cases in adjacent profiles

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