Published AAO appeal decisions

A mathematician with a Ph.D. sought an EB-2 national interest waiver for mathematical research with government initiative alignment. The AAO agreed the proposed endeavor meets the first Dhanasar prong but found the petitioner is not well-positioned to advance it due to unclear employment status, unclear research duties, and insufficient evidence of available funding and institutional support.

Applied and computational mathematician self-petitioned for EB-2 NIW to research guaranteed algorithms for large-scale systems, claiming prospective applications in cancer research, energy, and artificial intelligence. The AAO dismissed the appeal, finding substantial merit but insufficient evidence of national importance because the connection between the proposed research and asserted national-level impacts was too attenuated.

A postdoctoral researcher in applied mathematics sought NIW for research on mathematical models for ecology and conservation. The AAO remanded because SCOPS failed to provide detailed analysis of national importance, the petitioner's qualifications, and the balance of waiver factors under Dhanasar.

A mathematics researcher with a Ph.D. in applied mathematics sought a national interest waiver to forgo job offer requirement. He proposed research into partial differential equations and heat transfer. The AAO sustained the appeal, finding all three Dhanasar prongs satisfied: the endeavor has substantial merit and national importance, he is well-positioned to advance it, and waiving the job offer benefits the U.S.

A mathematics lecturer proposed numerical methods research projects. The AAO dismissed the appeal because the petitioner failed to demonstrate national importance of his specific proposed research endeavors under Dhanasar's first prong, despite strong citation record.