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dismissed EB-2 (NIW) RFE Issued

Chaplain

U.S. Armed Forces · 2024-12-19

Decision Date
2024-12-19
Location
United States
This case is from a USCIS Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) appeal decision. Appeal cases represent a subset of petitions and may not reflect typical outcomes.

Proposed Endeavor

The Petitioner's proposed endeavor is to serve as a military chaplain in the U.S. Armed Forces, providing religious services, advising commanders on religious terrain for military operations, and acting as a liaison between local religious communities and U.S. military forces. She aims to care for the spiritual well-being of soldiers and help them meet challenges.

Framework Evaluation

0 of 3 criteria met
1 Proposed endeavor has both substantial merit and national importance Not Met

The proposed endeavor to serve as a military chaplain has substantial merit, but the Petitioner failed to demonstrate its national importance. The importance of the field or a shortage of workers is not sufficient to establish national importance for the specific endeavor, nor was it shown to impact the field or military broadly.

Why This Petition Was Denied

The appeal was dismissed because the Petitioner failed to establish that her proposed endeavor had national importance under the first prong of the Dhanasar framework. While the endeavor had substantial merit, the importance of the military chaplain field itself and the alleged shortage of chaplains were deemed insufficient to demonstrate national importance for her specific proposed work. USCIS did not address the remaining Dhanasar prongs. The AAO did, however, withdraw the Director's initial finding that the Petitioner was not an advanced degree professional, confirming her eligibility for the underlying EB-2 classification.

Request for Evidence (RFE)

Unsuccessfully Addressed

The RFE requested more specificity regarding the proposed endeavor to assess its substantial merit. The petitioner responded by detailing her role as a military chaplain and listing job duties, but this did not sufficiently establish national importance.

RFE Targets
Proposed endeavor has both substantial merit and national importance

Evidence

Evidence Types
Reference Letters Independent

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Frequently Asked Questions

A dismissed EB-2 NIW petition means USCIS found the evidence insufficient to meet the eligibility criteria. Common reasons include weak documentation, failure to meet the required number of criteria, or insufficient evidence of the claimed qualifications. Petitioners can refile with stronger evidence or explore alternative visa categories.

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Case data sourced from publicly available petition decisions and case studies. Decision date: 2024-12-19.

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At a Glance

Outcome dismissed
RFE Issued
Criteria Met 0 / 3
Evidence Types 1

EB-2 (NIW) Case Data

Scraped Case Data

Total Cases 3,813
Success Rate 53.7%
Sustained 2,046
Dismissed 1,671

Related Pages

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