Denial-reason pattern
National Importance
USCIS raised national importance as a reason for denial in 1968 of 2369 EB-2 NIW decisions in this archive (83%).
How USCIS actually phrased it
The most common ways this shows up in decisions, grouped from the AAO’s own wording (real phrases, not paraphrased):
- “lack of national importance”1029×
- “proposed endeavor lacks national importance”246×
- “proposed endeavor not of national importance”203×
- “insufficient evidence of broader impact”137×
- “insufficient evidence of national importance”117×
- “failed to establish national importance”64×
- “insufficient evidence of broader implications”49×
- “national importance not established”40×
Recent decisions discussing this
- cybersecurity and application security →DISMISSED2026-04-28
- telecommunications and network engineering →DISMISSED2026-04-27
- civil engineering →DISMISSED2026-04-22
- alternative dispute resolution →DISMISSED2026-04-22
- civil engineering →DISMISSED2026-04-21
- biofuels engineering →DISMISSED2026-04-20
What this statistic doesn’t mean
This archive only contains petitions that were denied and then appealed to the AAO. This count describes that selection-biased set, not the odds that any individual petition — including yours — will be denied over this issue. It is not an eligibility assessment.
USCIS raised national importance in 83% of the decisions in this archive. Describe your own work and see which decisions discussed the same issue.
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