Date of Decision: March 29, 2024
Service Center: Texas Service Center
Form Type: Form I-140
Case Type: EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW)
Field of Expertise: Industrial Engineering
Petitioner Information
Profession: Industrial Engineer
Field: Construction, Finance, and Business Development
Nationality: Not Specified
Summary of Decision
Initial Decision: Denied
Appeal Outcome: Denied
Evidentiary Criteria Analysis
Criteria Met:
Proposed Endeavor with Substantial Merit:
The petitioner’s proposed endeavor involves creating a multidisciplinary engineering company to facilitate real estate and construction engineering projects, aiming to increase the U.S. housing supply.
Business Plan Analysis:
The petitioner provided a detailed business plan, corrected in the RFE response, including job creation estimates and demand analysis.
Criteria Not Met:
National Importance:
The endeavor’s alignment with the construction industry and recent legislation was insufficient to demonstrate national importance. The petitioner failed to show substantial positive economic effects or significant potential to employ U.S. workers.
Material Changes in Business Plan:
The petitioner made material changes to the business plan between the initial filing and the RFE response, introducing inconsistencies that adversely impacted eligibility.
Key Points from the Decision
Proposed Endeavor:
The petitioner’s endeavor is to utilize experience in industrial engineering, construction, finance, and business development to create a multidisciplinary engineering company aimed at increasing the U.S. housing supply by holistically assessing projects.
Substantial Merit and National Importance:
The petitioner did not sufficiently demonstrate the national importance of the proposed endeavor. The focus on the construction industry’s broad impact was misplaced and did not adequately tie to the petitioner’s specific contributions.
Supporting Evidence:
The petitioner submitted a business plan, government reports, and articles related to the construction industry. However, the evidence did not adequately support the national importance of the specific endeavor proposed by the petitioner.
Inconsistencies in Proposed Endeavor:
The business plan provided initially was in a foreign language and contained missing data in the corrected version. These material changes negatively affected the petitioner’s claims of substantial merit and national importance.
Supporting Documentation
Letters of Intent:
None specified in the decision.
Business Plan:
The petitioner’s business plan was revised in response to an RFE, correcting language issues but introducing inconsistencies.
Advisory Letter:
None specified in the decision.
Other Supporting Documentation:
Government reports and industry articles were provided but did not focus on the petitioner’s specific proposed endeavor.
Conclusion
The appeal was dismissed. The petitioner did not sufficiently demonstrate that the proposed endeavor had substantial merit and national importance or that it met the evidentiary criteria required for the National Interest Waiver.
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