ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS OFFICE (AAO)

The new policy memorandum (PM) designates the attached decision of the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) in Matter of G- Inc. as an Adopted Decision. Accordingly, this adopted decision establishes policy guidance that applies to and binds all U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) employees. USCIS personnel are directed to follow the reasoning in this decision in similar cases.
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The USCIS gave talented immigrants, including those with OPT, STEM OPT, H-1B and O-1 status, a wonderful gift at the end of 2016.

The Administration Appeals Office (AAO) of the USCIS made it far easier for exceptional and highly-educated immigrants to qualify for green cards by self-petitioning for National Interest Waivers (NIWs) by focusing on the value that is brought to the U.S. economy by entrepreneurs and those involved in the science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics (“STEM”) areans.
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When a USCIS Service Center denies an employment-based visa petition, is it prudent to recommend to a petitioning employer to appeal to the AAO? Not if you have the option of filing a new petition. But there are many situations where refiling may not be an option. For example, where an immigrant visa petition must be approved to preserve a Beneficiary’s priority date or where a nonimmigrant visa petition must be approved in order for the Beneficiary to be counted against the H-1B cap. In these cases, a refiling may not achieve a client’s goals.
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