The Petitioner, a civil engineer, seeks second preference immigrant classification as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree as well as a national interest waiver of the job offer requirement attached to this EB-2 classification. See Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act) section 203(b)(2), 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(2).
The Director of the Texas Service Center denied the petition, concluding that the Petitioner had not established that a waiver of the required job offer, and thus of the labor certification, would be in the national interest. On appeal, the Petitioner submits additional documentation and a briefasserting that he is eligible for a national interest waiver.
In these proceedings, it is the petitioner's burden to establish eligibility for the immigration benefit sought. Section 291 of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1361. Upon de nova review, we will sustain the appeal.
Law
To establish eligibility for a national interest waiver, a petitioner must first demonstrate qualification for the underlying EB-2 visa classification, as either an advanced degree professional or an individual of exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business. Because this classification requires that the individual's services be sought by a U.S. employer, a separate showing is required to establish that a waiver of the job offer requirement is in the national interest.
Section 203(b) of the Act sets out this sequential framework:
(2) Aliens who are members of the professions holding advanced degrees or aliens of exceptional ability. -(A) In general. - Visas shall be made available ... to qualified immigrants who are members of the professions holding advanced degrees or their equivalent or who because of their exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business, will substantially benefit prospectively the national economy, cultural or p. 2 educational interests, or welfare ofthe United States, and whose services in the sciences, arts, professions, or business are sought by an employer in the United States.
(B) Waiver ofjob offer-
(i) National interest waiver. ... [T]he Attorney General may, when the Attorney General deems it to be in the national interest, waive the requirements of subparagraph (A) that an alien's services in the sciences, arts, professions, or business be sought by an employer in the United States.
Furthermore, while neither the statute nor the pertinent regulations define the term "national interest," we set forth a framework for adjudicating national interest waiver petitions in the precedent decision Matter ofDhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. 884 (AAO 2016). established eligibility for EB-2 classification, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) may, as matter of discretion2, grant a national interest waiver if the petitioner demonstrates: (1) that the foreign national's proposed endeavor has both substantial merit and national importance; (2) that the foreign national is well positioned to advance the proposed endeavor; and (3) that, on balance, it would be beneficial to the United States to waive the requirements of a job offer and thus of a labor certification.
The first prong, substantial merit and national importance, focuses on the specific endeavor that the foreignnationalproposestoundertake. Theendeavor'smeritmaybedemonstratedinarangeofareas such as business, entrepreneurialism, science, technology, culture, health, or education. In determining whether the proposed endeavor has national importance, we consider its potential prospective impact.
The second prong shifts the focus from the proposed endeavor to the foreign national. To determine whether he or she is well positioned to advance the proposed endeavor, we consider factors including, but not limited to: the individual's education, skills, knowledge and record of success in related or similar efforts; a model or plan for future activities; any progress towards achieving the proposed endeavor; and the interest of potential customers, users, investors, or other relevant entities or individuals.
The third prong requires the petitioner to demonstrate that, on balance, it would be beneficial to the United States to waive the requirements of a job offer and thus of a labor certification. In performing this analysis, USCIS may evaluate factors such as: whether, in light of the nature of the foreign national's qualifications or the proposed endeavor, it would be impractical either for the foreign national to secure a job offer or for the petitioner to obtain a labor certification; whether, even assuming that other qualified U.S. workers are available, the United States would still benefit from the foreign national's contributions; and whether the national interest in the foreign national's contributions is sufficiently urgent to warrant forgoing the labor certification process. In each case, the factor(s) See also Poursina v. USC1S, No. 17-16579, 2019 WL 4051593 (Aug. 28, 2019) (finding USCIS' decision to grant or deny a national interest waiver to be discretionary in nature).
In announcing this new framework, we vacated our prior precedent decision, Matter ofNew York State Department of Transportation, 22 l&N Dec. 215 (Act. Assoc. Comm'r 1998) (NYSDOT).
Dhanasar states that after a petitioner has
See Dhanasar, 26 T&N Dec. at 888-91, for elaboration on these three prongs.
Ibe Petitioner s1jbmitted evidence that he holds a Master of Applied Science in Civil Engineering from the University of along with an academic evaluation equating his foreign degree to a U.S. master's degree.
We note that while the Director concluded that "the petitioner submitted sufficient evidence that his endeavor has considered must, taken together, indicate that on balance, it would be beneficial to the United States The Director concluded that the Petitioner qualifies as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree, and we agree with that determination. whether he qualifies for a national interest waiver under the Dhanasar framework and otherwise merits a favorable exercise of discretion. to waive the requirements of a job offer and thus of a labor certification.
Analysis
A. Substantial Merit and National Importance of the Proposed Endeavor
At the time of filing, the Petitioner was pursuing his Ph.D. in civil en ineerin engineering at the University ofl IA letter fro a n d l ~ - - - - - ~ Research Assistant
Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering and Center for Management at the University ofi ,Iindicates his interest in'--h-ir_i_n_g_t_h_e_P_e_t-it_i_o_n-er_a_s__,a postdoctoral research associate on prediction ofl = Iextremes upon completion of his doctoral studies, noting that the Petitioner will assist him with predictive modeling forl 7systems on twq Imanagement projects based in the I Iregion 6 and inl [Florida.
The Petitioner stated that his proposed endeavor was to continue his research onl I I ement noting that "[u]nderstanding the behavior of underlying phenomena .___~_. and incorporating them itj Imodels substantially improves our predictions o_...___ _ _ _ ___, as well asl Iextremes in the form o±i I" He then identified the following three primary goals of his research:
1.
2.
3.
I
Developing al Imodel that accounts for._l_ _ _ __.l and other factors underlying I Idynamics in order to accurately represent and predict Igeneration;
Expanding his previous research;........::o.::n~l===~Ipatterns to~I- - - - - - - ~ stations data from all twenty-one! Iregions in the United States in order to more comprehensively predic~ _and other.___ _ _ _ _ _ ____. extremes; and Optimizing and generalizing his originally developed risk-informed decision-making framework for broader applications in~I- - - ~ I generation. substantial merit and national importance," he did not include an analysis of the first prong factors in his decision. As the Petitioner is applying for a waiver of the job offer requirement, it is not necessary for him to have a job offer from a specific employer. However, we consider information about his employment to illustrate the capacity in which he intends to pursue his endeavor.
The remaining issue for consideration is
The Petitioner claims that his proposed research is of great importance, notin that the models he intends to develop "provide vital insights into the availabilit of over time." Specifically, he states that "[s]uch information enables lanners to allocate the finite Iefficiently, including in the event of.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___.' To demonstrate the substantial merit of his research, he submitted information from the World Bank about how predictive models are a key strategy for mitigating globa" Iand reducing the socioeconomic toll of I I He also submitted a report from the U.S. De artment of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy discussin the benefits o as a sustainable and reliable fuel source and its benefits in relation to I will continue
Ia n d ~ - - - - ~ planning and management. As such, we conclude that he has established the national importance ofhis proposed endeavor, and meets the requirements ofthe first prong ofthe Dhanasar framework. In addition, a letter froml IAssistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University o~ research addresses an ongoing concern within thel for accurate characterization of climate and landscape have increasingly altere the complexity ofl Imodeling." Another letter, from Professor o Engineering in the Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department a t ~ - - - ~ University, comments on the need for accurate mathematical models, noting that such models are necessary in order to b u i l d l 7 I Iand other large-scalel !projects. This evidence e s t a ~ the substantial merit of the Petitioner's proposed endeavor, as it proposes to provide vital insights on management of tge-scalld Iprojeels and estab1is]j Imodels to minimize the negative impacts ofl l and other related phenomena.
I
To satisfy the national importance requirement, the Petitioner must demonstrate the "potential prospective impact" of his work. With regard to his research proposals, he referred to a 2018 United States Geological Survey report which identified "data uncertainty as a foremost challenge affecting Imodeling efforts," and stated that "appropriate assessment, monitoring, and modeling ~to_o_l_s_a-re-in-d~ispensable for maintaining ~ Ito American consumers and to predict and mitigate extreme weather events caused by global climate change, including! an~ Irise." Based on this, the Petitioner noted that that his "development of increasingl I comprehensive predictive I Imodels is clearly relevant to improving~l_ _ _ _ _ ~J planning and management initiatives through the United States" He also referred to a 2014 National Weather Service report, noting that "55 deaths and $2.86 billion in property losses as a result ofl Iin the United States" were reported that year. The Petitioner maintains that by developing I I models that accurately predict I J and other bxtremes, he can help reduce the socioeconomic burden associated withl I I •
The Petitionerralso submitted several reference letters which show that his proposed research has and Istates that the Petitioner's proposed Iengineering field, namely the need He notes that "recent human modifications of the around the world, inc;easing benefit the Jroader scientific community by adding to the knowledge of predictive p. 5 B. Well Positioned to Advance the Proposed Endeavor
The second prong shifts the focus from the proposed endeavor to the petitioner. Here we determine whether the petitioner has established that they are well positioned to advance the endeavor, in terms of a number of factors including, but not limited to, education, experience, record of success, plan for future activities, and the interest ofrelevant entities or individuals in the proposed endeavor.Past record does not show influence or success As stated above, the record shows that the Petitioner holds an advanced degree with a specialization in civil engineering, which has provided him with the necessary education to advance his proposed endeavor. He also submitted copies of his peer-reviewed papers, numerous cited articles published in top scientific journals, many of which list him as first-author, evidence relating to other researchers' citations to these papers and articles, and evidence of his service as a peer reviewer for scholarly publicationsinhisfield. Inaddition,thePetitioneroffereddocumentationofafundinggrantreceived and numerous reference letters from engineerin~ professionals and researchers that explain how the Petitioner has advanced the field's knowledge in I Multiple expert references identify examples ofhow the Beneficiary's work has been utilized in the field ofl Ior has otherwise affected thd I_..,......._____~management field. For exampleJ ~ Senior Water Resources Engineer for describes the Petitioner's work on a Risk-Informed Decision Making (RIDM) framework fo noti~J thatl the framework serves "as a resource for operational planners to use in respondin to an ,______,Ievents. ~--------~SeniorGeospatialDataScientistfo~----~ also describes the Petitioner's research on the development of a new "fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making framework," which assists decision-makers in making determinations regardingI I projects. He notes that other researchers applied the Petitioner's work on parametric forms of fuzzy numbers research citin to a 2012 example of the use of his framework in emergency management of ._ _ ---,---------,--------- quoted above re arding the need for accurate characterization of,___ _ _ _ _ ~ notes that a team from L _ _ _ _,----r~iversity of Life Sciences relied on the Petitioner's methodology in this area in concluding tha have a significant impact onl I I
In addition, the record includes evidence from Google Scholar showing the number of citations to the Petitioner's published work, consisting of at least 13 publications, as well as partial copies of some of the articles in which those citations appear. This evidence shows that his research has been frequently referenced by other researchers with whom he has not collaborated, and serves to support the statements from the above letters and others in the record regarding his record of success in advancing his endeavor. It thus helps to demonstrate that the Petitioner is well positioned to advance his proposed research in the United States.
The record also includes additional detailed expert letters describing U.S. Government interest and investment in the Beneficiary's research, and documentation showing that he played a significant role in a project funded by a grant from thd Ia division ofthe Environmental Protection Agency. Specifically, the record demonstrates that th~ Petitioner deyeloped a novel computational approach to modeling and prediction of wind-generated!_~ _ _ _ _ ___,_Fritical to D prediction and ,____~Irestoration projects.
The Petitioner's experience and expertise in the field of civil engineering, the record of his published work and its influence on the work ofothers in his field, his progress in advancing! I modeling as well as government interest and funding of his research position him well to advance his proposed endeavor. Accordingly, we disagree with the Director and find that he satisfies the second prong o f the Dhanasar framework.
C. BalancingFactorstoDeterminetheBenefitofaWaivertotheUnitedStates
As explained above, the third prong of the Dhanasar framework requires the petitioner to demonstrate that, on balance, it would be beneficial to the United States to waive the EB-2 classification's requirement of a job offer, and thus of a labor certification. The evidence shows that the Petitioner's research inl Ian~ Imanagement has the potential to provide widespread benefits to the United States in terms of generatinfl lmitigating! Iand reducing the socioeconomic toll ofI in these endeavors position him well to advance them. In addition, the Petitioner has his past successes inadvancingresearchrelatingtol Iand Imanagement. Basedonhistrackrecord o f successful research and the significance o f his proposed work to advance U.S.I Iinterests, we therefore find that he offers contributions of such value that, on balance, they would benefit the United States even assuming the availability of other qualified U.S. workers.
Conclusion
The Petitioner has established that he qualifies as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree,andthathemeetsthethreeprongsoftheDhanasarframework. Wefindthatheiseligiblefor, and otherwise merits, a national interest waiver as a matter of discretion.
ORDER: The appeal is sustained.
O and that his education, experience, and record of success