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 sought to continue work as a maritime transport and port operations specialist, providing consultation and training to U.S. businesses on maritime trade, and assisting American companies in building business strategies in areas such as maritime law, commercial law, international law, economy, and accounting.
Field: maritime transportation and port operations · Read the decision (uscis.gov)
EB-2 threshold — addressed
Director found Petitioner qualified as an advanced degree professional; not disputed on appeal.
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Notable
This is a procedural remand due to inadequate agency explanation, not a substantive prong failure. The Director had found no national interest waiver merited but failed to analyze prong 1 at all and failed to discuss evidence supporting the prong 3 conclusion. AAO withdrew the denial and remanded for a fuller decision addressing all three Dhanasar prongs; no prong is marked as failed or dispositive because the AAO did not itself adjudicate the merits.
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. 103.3
- Poursina v. USCIS
What this case teaches
Analyst reading of the decision text.
The Director's decision failed to analyze prong 1 (substantial merit/national importance) and failed to discuss evidence for prong 3, precluding meaningful appellate review; remanded for proper analysis.
Ensure adjudicators (and petitioners) explicitly address and document national importance and balancing-factor reasoning, not just recite the legal standard, to avoid remand for inadequate explanation.
vague
economic_job_creation · field_advancement · geographic_or_shortage_area
person_focused
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