Date of Decision: February 6, 2024
Service Center: Texas Service Center
Form Type: Form I-140
Case Type: EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW)
Field of Expertise: Information Technology
Petitioner Information
Profession: Entrepreneur
Field: Information Technology
Nationality: Brazilian
Summary of Decision
Initial Decision: Denied
Appeal Outcome: Denied
Evidentiary Criteria Analysis
Criteria Met:
- Official Academic Record: Acknowledged as meeting the criterion with a degree from Brazil, 2014.
- Commanded Salary Indicative of Exceptional Ability: Although not fully convincing to the authorities, financial documents showed earnings significantly above the average salary in Brazil.
Criteria Not Met:
- Full-Time Experience in Occupation: The petitioner failed to convincingly demonstrate full-time employment in software development due to insufficient detail about job duties.
- Membership in Professional Associations: The petitioner’s memberships were not considered professionally relevant as per the criterion requirements.
- Recognition for Achievements: The reference letters provided were not considered sufficient to demonstrate significant contributions to the field of information technology.
Key Points from the Decision
Proposed Endeavor:
The petitioner proposed to operate a web and mobile systems development and ideation service provider, focusing on application programming interfaces and business intelligence services.
Substantial Merit and National Importance:
The business was recognized for its merit related to information technology and entrepreneurship. However, it failed to demonstrate national importance, with no significant projected impact beyond immediate clients.
Supporting Evidence:
Included educational credentials, financial documents, and professional references. Notably, the provided reference letters highlighted the petitioner’s skills and past contributions but were deemed insufficient in demonstrating exceptional ability as per regulatory standards.
Inconsistencies in Proposed Endeavor:
The main inconsistency lies in the failure to establish the endeavor’s national importance and potential broader impact on the industry or economy.
Supporting Documentation
Letters of Intent: Not applicable as the provided evidence was focused more on verifying past employment and salary.
Business Plan: Highlighted the structure and goals of the proposed company but did not effectively tie these to national interests.
Advisory Letter: The letters provided were supportive but lacked the necessary details to fulfill the exceptional ability criterion.
Conclusion
Final Determination:
The appeal was dismissed due to the failure to meet necessary criteria for classification as an individual with exceptional ability and for a national interest waiver. The evidence did not convincingly show that the petitioner’s proposed business endeavors would have significant positive economic effects or meet the substantial merit and national importance required for the EB-2 NIW classification.
Reasoning:
The decision was primarily based on the lack of detailed evidence regarding the petitioner’s professional impact and the specific contributions to the information technology field that would justify a national interest waiver.
