Success Story: NAILG Overcame Officer 0850’s Denial and Secured the Client’s NIW I-140 Approval

At North America Immigration Law Group (NAILG), we know that an NIW denial is not always the end of the road, especially when the decision reflects a misreading of the record or a misapplication of Matter of Dhanasar. In this case, we guided the client through an RFE, an improper denial issued by Officer 0850, and a focused I-290B appeal that ultimately led to the client’s I-140 approval.

NIW Petition

NAILG filed the client’s EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW) I-140 petition on September 16, 2024. The client held an advanced degree in computer science and a strong record of peer-reviewed research in computer vision, deep learning, and multimodal AI systems.

From the start, we framed the petition around the three-prong Dhanasar framework and presented a clear proposed endeavor: advancing multimodal AI systems with applications in healthcare and assistive technologies, including solutions that can support individuals with visual impairment and improve the efficiency and reliability of AI-enabled healthcare tools.

Prong 1: Substantial Merit and National Importance
We demonstrated substantial merit by explaining how the client’s research advances high-value AI capabilities with real-world public benefit, including assistive and healthcare-related applications. We also connected the endeavor to national priorities for safe, reliable, and strategically important AI development, including federally recognized critical and emerging technology focus areas.

Prong 2: Well Positioned to Advance the Endeavor
We documented the client’s technical expertise and research influence through evidence of publications in leading venues, meaningful independent citation impact (including top-percentile citation performance), peer-review experience for a respected IEEE journal, and involvement in projects supported by U.S. government research funding and nationally significant initiatives.

Prong 3: On Balance, a Waiver Benefits the United States
We argued that requiring labor certification would unnecessarily delay work that is time-sensitive and strategically important to U.S. innovation, healthcare capacity, and national competitiveness in AI. In short, the United States benefits from the client’s continued contributions regardless of a particular job offer.

Request for Evidence (RFE) Issued by Officer 0850

On November 14, 2024, USCIS issued an RFE signed by Officer 0850. Notably, the officer acknowledged the substantial merit of the endeavor, but challenged:

Prong 1 (National Importance): requesting proof of “potential prospective impact” and asking for evidence of broad impact and substantial positive economic effects, while questioning whether the work would extend beyond a single employer or set of clients.
Prong 3 (Balance Test): suggesting that without stronger national importance evidence, a waiver could not be justified.

NAILG’s RFE Response

NAILG prepared a detailed RFE response designed to both answer the officer’s questions and correct the analytical direction of the request. Key elements included:

A strengthened personal statement describing concrete, tightly defined project pathways, including work on navigation assistance technologies for the visually impaired and explainable AI approaches relevant to healthcare use cases.
An expert testimonial confirming the client’s essential role in a nationally significant, grant-supported research effort related to visual analytics for individuals with visual impairment.
Government and industry evidence showed that the client’s work aligns with U.S. priorities and investment trends in healthcare AI, assistive technologies, and critical technology development.
A broader impact explanation emphasizing that the client’s ongoing publication plan and research dissemination support field-wide adoption and influence, directly addressing the officer’s concern about impact beyond any one organization.

Denial Issued by Officer 0850

Despite the extensive response, USCIS denied the petition on April 4, 2025, again signed by Officer 0850. The denial was grounded in reasoning that was inconsistent with the record, including:

Claimed failure to identify the proposed endeavor: stating the client’s goals were “wide-ranging and divergent” and that the endeavor was not clearly defined.
National importance was rejected based on the alleged lack of endeavor definition: asserting USCIS could not evaluate impact without a defined endeavor, and questioning whether the work would influence the United States broadly.
Prong 3 denied as a consequence: concluding the balance test could not be met because national importance was not established.

Appeal Strategy and Legal Correction Through Form I-290B

NAILG promptly prepared an I-290B appeal. The appeal brief was finalized and mailed on May 20, 2025. We argued that the decision reflected an abuse of discretion and contained both legal and factual errors, including:

The record did define the proposed endeavor, in both the original filing and the RFE response, and the denial ignored those clear descriptions.
The denial was internally inconsistent by treating the endeavor as “unidentified” while also acknowledging it had substantial merit.
The officer improperly emphasized the client’s general occupation rather than evaluating the proposed endeavor, contrary to Dhanasar’s required focus.
The denial included inaccurate statements about the evidence, including overlooking proof of U.S. strategic interest and government-supported research relevance.

We also challenged the unrealistic standard implied by the denial, which effectively demanded proof of broad downstream impact in advance, rather than evaluating whether the proposed endeavor is nationally important and whether the client is positioned to advance it under the preponderance standard.

AAO Sustains the Appeal, and NIW Approval Follows

The appeal was sustained on June 24, 2025, reversing the Service Center’s denial. The AAO rejected the finding that the endeavor was undefined and confirmed that the client sufficiently described the proposed U.S. endeavor. The AAO further concluded that national importance was established through evidence that the work involved critical and emerging technology (AI) and was supported by U.S. strategic interests, including grant-supported research efforts. Finally, the AAO found that, on balance, granting the waiver is beneficial due to the urgency of U.S. leadership in AI and the value of the client’s role in nationally important research directions.

Following the AAO’s sustained decision, USCIS ultimately approved the NIW I-140. The client received the I-797 approval notice dated January 14, 2026.

In the end, this case shows what effective post-denial advocacy looks like. Officer 0850’s denial hinged on conclusions that conflicted with the written record and the NIW legal framework, but NAILG’s appeal brought the case back to the correct Dhanasar analysis and forced a fair review of the evidence. We are proud to have helped the client turn a denial into an approval and remain committed to guiding NIW clients through setbacks with a disciplined strategy, strong legal reasoning, and persistence.

Our Firm’s Approach After a Denial:

With the USCIS NIW approval rate dropping to 62.78% in the first quarter of FY2025 (see here), denials are becoming more common—even for otherwise strong cases. That’s why it’s essential to understand how your attorney can support you strategically and proactively after a denial. At our firm, we don’t view a denial as the end of the case. We carefully analyze the officer’s reasoning and advise most clients to pursue both a refile and an appeal when appropriate.

Although appeal approvals are rare—of the nearly 1,400 AAO NIW appeals filed in FY2024, only 15 were sustained and 90 remanded (see here) —an appeal offers a key benefit: it preserves your original priority date. This can be critical if your appeal is sustained, as it may allow you to file your I-485 adjustment of status sooner, without waiting for a new priority date to become current.

Because we believe in the strength of our cases, for clients under our Approval or Refund® service, we pay the USCIS filing fee for either the appeal or the refile. We are committed to standing by your case and giving it every possible opportunity to succeed.

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North America Immigration Law Group (Chen Immigration Law Associates) is a U.S. immigration law firm dedicated to representing corporations, research institutions, and individuals from all 50 U.S. states regarding I-140 immigration petitions. We specialize in employment-based immigration petition and have a proven record of high success rate for the categories of: EB2-NIW (National Interest Waiver), EB1-A (Alien of Extraordinary Ability), EB1-B (Outstanding Researcher/Professor) and O-1 (Alien of Extraordinary Ability).

Our Ten Thousand I-140 Approvals Provide Unprecedented Insight into the USCIS Adjudication Trend

With nearly 64,000 EB-1A, EB-1B, EB-2 NIW and O-1 cases approved, we have first hand information on the manner in which the USCIS adjudicate I-140 cases. As the USCIS has constantly changed its adjudication standards for the EB-1A, EB-1B and EB-2 NIW categories, our firm's huge database of successful cases gives you unprecedented insight to USCIS adjudication trends. We carefully analyze the data for all of our cases and apply the results of our analyses toward giving our clients up-to-date advice and adapting our strategies such that we remain on par with the ever-shifting landscape of immigration law in the U.S. With us, you will always have access to important updates, strategies, and information so that you can make the most informed decisions about your case.

We Have Helped Tens of Thousands of Clients with Credentials and Backgrounds Similar to Yours

With our exceedingly large number of successful petitions, no matter what credentials you have, no matter your background and field of expertise, no matter your visa status or nationality, chances are we have helped hundreds or even thousands of clients just like you. Our clients are usually impressed with how well we understand their research and work. Our insight and understanding stems from the fact that we have handled many cases with elements similar to yours already, and this helps us devise the best strategies for each individual petition.

Vast Majority of Clients Came to Us Because of Referrals

For years, our firm has attracted new clients based solely on word of mouth, recommendations, and the positive collaboration experiences shared with them by their friends and family. We take pride in our reputation and work hard to ensure that we provide a green card application experience that our clients are happy to share with their friends and colleagues. That is how our cumulative total of approved cases grew from 600 in 2013 to nearly 64,000 in 2025.

Track Record of Success EB-1 and NIW Approvals

(2020.01 - 2024.12)

Category	Approval or Refund^®		Approval or Refiling^TM
Category	Approved Sum	Success Rate	Approved Sum	Success Rate
NIW	28,946	99.52%	3,030	98.31%
EB1A	4,322	91.76%	2,870	88.91%
EB1B	793	98.51%	236	90.77%
Total	34,061	98.44%	6,136	93.39%