NIW Bearings
dismissedMAR302026_03B52032026-03-30 · appeal

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 decision does not reach the proposed endeavor; the Petitioner sought an EB-2 national interest waiver but the record does not describe the specific endeavor since the case was resolved on threshold degree-equivalency grounds.

Field: business administration · Read the decision (uscis.gov)

EB-2 threshold — not met

The Petitioner's foreign bachelor's degree (titulo de bacharel em administracao) was found not to be the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor's degree due to a transcript showing less than four years of study, an untranslated transcript, and conflicting credit totals between two academic evaluations, contradicting the evaluators' conclusions.

How the evidence was treated

  • degree · discounted
    the record does not establish the Petitioner has the foreign equivalent of a U.S. bachelor's degree
    AAO decision text

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Notable

AAO reversed SCOPS's favorable finding on the underlying advanced-degree classification (SCOPS had found the Petitioner qualified), concluding sua sponte on de novo review that the degree equivalency was not established due to transcript/credit-count inconsistencies between two competing evaluations, and declined to reach any Dhanasar prong as a result.

Authorities this decision leans on

From the doctrinal survivor set — 187 authority tests across 47 distinct authorities cleared the differential-lift gates. Only those appear here.

  • 8 C.F.R. 103.2(b)(1)
  • 8 C.F.R. 103.2(b)(3)
  • 8 C.F.R. 103.3
  • 8 C.F.R. 204.5(k)(2)
  • Flores v. Garland
  • Matter of Ho

What this case teaches

Analyst reading of the decision text.

Decisive factor

Petitioner failed to establish underlying EB-2 eligibility: conflicting academic evaluations and an untranslated transcript showing less than four years of study meant his foreign degree did not equate to a U.S. bachelor's degree, making him ineligible before any Dhanasar/NIW analysis.

Transferable lesson

Resolve credential-equivalency discrepancies (transcript vs. evaluations, translations, credit counts) before filing; NIW merits are irrelevant if underlying EB-2 classification threshold is not met.

Endeavor framing

vague

Evidence targeting

person_focused

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