The Petitioner, a financial applications consultant, 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 ofthe Texas Service Center denied the petition, concluding that the Petitioner qualified for classification as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree, but that she 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 a brief asserting that she 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 dismiss 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 p. 2 who because of their exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business, will substantially benefit prospectively the national economy, cultural or 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.
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 of Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. 884 (AAO 2016). eligibility for EB-2 classification, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) may, as matter of discretion , 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 In announcing this new framework, we vacated our prior precedent decision, Matter ofNew York State Department of Transportation, 22 T&N Dec. 215 (Act. Assoc. Comm'r 1998) (NYSD01).
See also Poursina v. USCIS, No. 17-16579, 2019 WL 4051593 (Aug. 28, 2019) (finding USCTS' decision to grant or deny a national interest waiver to be discretionary in nature).
Dhanasar states that after a petitioner has established p. 3 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) considered must, taken together, indicate that on balance, it would be beneficial to the United States The Director found that the Petitioner qualifies as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree. The remaining issue to be determined is whether the Petitioner has established that a waiver of the requirement of a job offer, and thus a labor certification, would be in the national interest.
Regarding the Petitioner's claim of eligibility under Dhanasar's first ~ s h e indicated that her proposed "endeavor in the U.S. is to use her expert level knowledge inL__JFinancial to serve the federal government, public sector, and large U.S. companies. [The Petitioner] is one o f the top I I 4 to waive the requirements of a job offer and thus of a labor certification.
Analysis
experts specialized inl lfinarial aprlication for large organizations." designs, validates, and presents software solutions to public sectors and federal agencies. Specifically, [the Petitioner] builds solutions so that federal agencies and state governments can comply with business requirements." She further stated:
~etitioner] leads a team ofl !specialists which advises customers on the use of l__Jproducts to help the government organize and operate efficiently and effectively. She reviews and evaluates business requirements and proposes solutions to reduce cost andincreasegovernmentsavings. [ThePetitioner]providescustomerswithherexpertise and presents solutions in the form ofLJsoftware. In turn, the customer purchases the product and implements the solutions.
For the reasons discussed below, we agree with the Director that the Petitioner has not sufficiently demonstrated the national importance of her proposed endeavor under the first prong of the Dhanasar analytical framework.
In determining national importance, the relevant question is not the importance of the industry or profession in which the individual will work; instead we focus on the "the specific endeavor that the foreign national proposes to undertake." See Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. at 889. In Dhanasar, we further noted that "we look for broader implications" of the proposed endeavor and that "[a]n undertaking may have national importance for example, because it has national or even global implications within In response to the Director's request for evidence, the Petitioner provided a September 2018 employment verification document from~identifying herjob title as "Senior Sales Consultant" and listing her date ofhire as ·'April 18, 1995."Proposed endeavor too vague With respect to her ''Employment Status," this document lists the Petitioner as ·'Inactive - Inactive Date: 08/12/2016." In addition, the Petitioner submitted a September 2018 letter from I stating: ·'[The Petitioner] is a Business Analystie=]Solutions Analyst at~ c u s e d on supporting Finance.... [The Petitioner] is the Ikey ITI rinformation Technology] resource implementing the Cash Management, Tax, and Fixed Assets modules within Cloud ERP" (Enterprise Resource Planning). As the Petitioner is applying for a waiver of the job offer requirement, it i~ not necessa[ for er to have a job offer from a specific employer. However, we will consider information about her positions at 1and ~ to illustrate the capacity in which she intends to work in order to determine whether her proposed endeavor meets the requirements of the Dhanasar analytical framework.
See Dhanasar, 26 T&N Dec. at 888-91, for elaboration on these three prongs. ci
She explained that "[S]he a data center solutions company, p. 4 a particular field." Id. We also stated that"[a]n endeavor that has significant potential to employ U.S. workers or has other substantial positive economic effects, particularly in an economically depressed area, for instance, may well be understood to have national importance." Id. at 890.
On appeal, the Petitioner argues that her proposed endeavor stands to save "billions of dollars" for the U.S. Federal Government and that she offered "a long list of federal government agencies that she had provided consulting services." The record, however, does not include supporting information or evidence from any of these agencies to corroborate her claim regarding the "billions of dollars" in In addition, the Petitioner points to her education, IT skills, =ro~ect management abilities, knowledge ~ i e d economics, 20 years ofexperience working forI blients, and contribution to "multiple To evaluate whether the Petitioner's proposed endeavor satisfies the national importance requirement we look to evidence documenting the "potential prospective impact" of her work. Although the Petitioner's statements reflect her intention to provide valuable consulting services for her employer and its clients, she has not offered sufficient information and evidence to demonstrate that the prospective impact of her proposed endeavor rises to the level of national importance. In Dhanasar we determined that the petitioner's teaching activities did not rise to the level of having national importance because they would not impact his field more broadly. Id. at 893. Here, we find the record does not show that the Petitioner's proposed endeavor stands to sufficiently extend beyond her employer and clientele to impact her field or the nation's fiscal condition more broadly at a level commensurate with national importance.No broader implications shown
Furthermore, the Petitioner has not demonstrated that the specific endeavor she proposes to undertake has significant potential to employ U.S. workers or otherwise offers substantial positive economic effectsforournation.Job creation or economic claims unsupported WithoutsufficientinformationorevidenceregardinganyprojectedU.S.economic impact or job creation attributable to her future work, the record does not show that benefits to the U.S. regional or national economy resulting from the Petitioner's projects would reach the level o f "substantial positive economic effects" contemplated by Dhanasar. Id. at 890. Accordingly, the Petitioner's proposed work does not meet the first prong of the Dhanasar framework.
Because the documentation in the record does not establish the national importance of her proposed endeavor as required by the first prong of the Dhanasar precedent decision, the Petitioner has not demonstratedeligibilityforanationalinterestwaiver. Furtheranalysisofhereligibilityunderthesecond and third prongs outlined in Dhanasar, therefore, would serve no meaningful purpose.
In Dhanasar, we held that a petitioner must identify "the specific endeavor that the foreign national proposes to undertake." Id. at 889. The record, however, does not include evidence of the Petitioner's upcoming projects for U.S. federal government agencies, or other information about the specific~financial consulting work the Petitioner plans to undertake in this country.
While the record indicates that the Petitioner was listed as one ofmany contributors to severail7product user guides from the mid- l 990s until 2003, the evidence does not show that this work has been utilized b e ~ a n d its clients. savings attributable to her undertaking.
L _ _ J Financial and Accounting Guides releases." consulting experience, however, are considerations under Dhanasar's second prong, which "shifts the focus from the proposed endeavor to the foreign national." Id. at 890. The issue here under the first prong is whether the Petitioner has demonstrated the national importance o f her proposed work.
The Petitioner's knowledge, skills, and
Conclusion
As the Petitioner has not met the requisite first prong ofthe Dhanasar analytical framework, we find that she has not established she is eligible for or otherwise merits a national interest waiver as a matter of discretion. The appeal will be dismissed for the above stated reasons, with each considered as an independent and alternate basis for the decision.
ORDER: The appeal is dismissed.