Published AAO appeal decisions

A digital product technical consultant with an advanced degree proposed developing an interoperable health data platform for chronic disease management. The AAO dismissed the appeal, finding her endeavor has substantial merit but lacks national importance; recommendation letters and projections lack sufficient documentary evidence of broader impact beyond her employer and clients.

An optical imaging engineer self-petitioned for EB-2 NIW. The AAO affirmed that while the endeavor had substantial merit and national importance, the petitioner failed to establish he was well-positioned to advance it due to insufficient evidence of future plans, funding, or investor interest.

An employer petitioned for an EB-2 national interest waiver for a machine learning engineer developing deep learning and NLP models. The AAO dismissed the appeal, finding the petitioner established substantial merit but failed to demonstrate that the specific proposed endeavor had national importance despite evidence of AI field importance.

Information security specialist with master's degree sought NIW for cybersecurity consulting startup. Appeal dismissed because petitioner failed to establish national importance of proposed endeavor beyond personal employment and failed to demonstrate being well positioned to advance it.

A business executive in educational technology sought NIW classification. The AAO dismissed, finding the proposed endeavor lacks national importance under Dhanasar despite substantial merit. The unreliable business plan failed to demonstrate broader implications, significant employment potential, or positive economic effects required.

A senior SoC researcher sought EB-2 NIW under Dhanasar. The AAO found substantial merit and national importance of his hardware security research but held he failed to show he is well-positioned to advance it, lacking contemporaneous evidence of impact or specific advancement plan.

Computer scientist with advanced degree proposed developing computer vision and large language models for drug discovery. AAO found SCOPS failed to adequately analyze whether endeavor has substantial merit and national importance, contained contradictory statements on second prong, and insufficiently analyzed third prong. Decision withdrawn and remanded.

An entrepreneur in STEM education proposed to establish a coding academy for underrepresented groups. The AAO found the endeavor has substantial merit but lacks national importance as a specific undertaking, and dismissed the appeal without addressing remaining Dhanasar prongs.

Senior machine learning engineer proposes research on foundational model disentanglement and interpretability. AAO found the endeavor has substantial merit and national importance but rejected the petition because the petitioner failed to demonstrate she is well-positioned to advance it through sufficient record of success or influence in the field.

Senior software engineer with PhD in computer science proposes distributed query optimization research. AAO found the research endeavor meritorious but distinguished between proposed independent research and employer-specific benefits, finding the latter lacks national importance. Petition dismissed because petitioner failed second prong.

Digital marketing and computer vision entrepreneur self-petitioned for EB-1A extraordinary ability. Claimed five evidentiary criteria but met only one regarding published articles. AAO withdrew SCOPS salary finding and affirmed that petitioner failed three-criterion threshold for immigrant visa eligibility.

A senior research scientist with a PhD sought national interest waiver for EB-2 classification in artificial intelligence and privacy technology. The AAO dismissed the appeal, finding the proposed research lacked demonstrated national importance under Dhanasar's first prong despite the field's merit and importance.

A software engineer sought NIW for cloud computing work. AAO agreed that although the field has substantial merit, the petitioner's specific proposed endeavor lacks national importance. Petitioner failed to demonstrate broader implications beyond his company or how his work would impact the industry or region more broadly.

Petitioner is an applied scientist with a master's degree in computer science proposing AI research. The AAO dismissed the appeal because the petitioner failed to establish that his specific proposed endeavor has national importance; generalized claims about AI advancement without detailed prospective work plans are insufficient.

AI manufacturer petitioned for beneficiary's EB-2 national interest waiver. Beneficiary qualified for underlying EB-2 but failed NIW Dhanasar first prong; proposed work lacked demonstrated national importance and broader implications beyond company and clients.

A cybersecurity expert claimed six EB-1A criteria. SCOPS found two met; AAO confirmed two and identified a third criterion met, satisfying initial evidence requirements. The AAO remanded for final merits analysis of whether the petitioner demonstrates sustained national or international acclaim.

Software development manager sought EB-2 with NIW. Service center denied for failure to establish advanced degree eligibility, precluding NIW analysis. AAO found service center decision inadequately reasoned; remanded for full review of threshold EB-2 qualification and subsequent NIW determination.

Employer-sponsored semiconductor engineer with master's degree seeks EB-2 national interest waiver for system-level test development work. Claimed endeavor has national importance due to semiconductor industry value and testing standard implications. AAO found importance of field insufficient; specific proposed endeavor lacks demonstrated broader prospective impact.

Software developer seeks NIW for EB-2 to develop universal AI architecture addressing bias in algorithms. AAO dismissed appeal, holding the specific proposed endeavor lacks national importance despite alignment with important AI field; merely working in an important industry insufficient.

Machine learning engineer sought EB-2 with NIW for AI-driven smart vehicle manufacturing research. AAO dismissed because petitioner failed to demonstrate national importance of the specific proposed endeavor, conflating field importance with endeavor-specific impact under Dhanasar's first prong.

Computer science researcher with master's degree in statistics seeks EB-2 national interest waiver for AI-driven medical imaging and prediction models development. SCOPS improperly evaluated first prong by conflating proposed endeavor with petitioner's employment history and applying second-prong factors. AAO remanded for reconsideration of whether specific endeavor has prospective national importance.

Computer scientist with master's degree in engineering proposed advancing AI research in deep learning for data analysis and virtual assistants. AAO found endeavor has substantial merit and national importance but petitioner is not well positioned to advance it due to insufficient record of success and impact. Appeal dismissed on second prong failure.

An artificial intelligence researcher sought EB-2 with national interest waiver without labor certification. The AAO affirmed the service center's finding that the proposed research endeavor lacked the substantial merit and national importance required under Dhanasar's first prong, dismissing the appeal.

Computer scientist employed as engineering associate proposed developing proprietary software for AI safety and trust. AAO affirmed denial because proposed work lacked national importance, benefiting only the specific employer despite national footprint, even though petitioner was well positioned.