Skip to content
WE LIVE IN USA
RaccoMy list
All guides ＋
My products
WEWELIVEINUSAVisa
Menu
中文

Explore visasEB-2 NIWCommon RFE topics

Eligibility criteria

Well positioned to advance the endeavor

Whether you are well positioned to advance your endeavor (Dhanasar prong two).

What USCIS is questioning

  • Whether your education, skills, record of success, plans, progress, and outside interest show that you are well positioned to advance the proposed endeavor.[1,2]

The legal standard

  • Matter of Dhanasar lists factors including education, skills, knowledge, a record of success in related efforts, a model or plan, progress toward the endeavor, and interest from potential customers, users, investors, or others. Petitioners need not show the endeavor is more likely than not to succeed.[1]
  • The Policy Manual adds that an advanced STEM degree, especially a Ph.D., that is tied to the endeavor and related to work furthering a critical and emerging technology or another STEM area important to U.S. competitiveness or national security is an especially positive factor, weighed along with other evidence, but a degree alone is not enough; letters and business plans should be supported by independent evidence; and the more integral you are to the endeavor, the stronger the case.[2]

How the request usually reads

  • Interpretation An RFE on this issue typically says the record does not connect your past achievements to the proposed endeavor, or lacks evidence of a plan, progress, or outside interest.[2,3]

Evidence petitioners often provide

  • Interpretation Degrees and licenses; patents or other intellectual property; citation history or published discussion of your work; a plan for continuing the work in the United States; correspondence from potential customers, users, or investors; investment or grants; and contracts or licenses showing use of your work.[2]

Where responses go wrong

  • General work experience in a field may not show you are positioned to start a business in it; the Policy Manual's example is a bank teller proposing a national bank consulting firm.[2]
  • Projections without corroborating evidence do not meet the burden of proof.[2]

AAO decisions on this issue

This information is for general informational purposes and is not legal advice. It does not create an attorney-client relationship and does not predict the outcome of any individual case.

Sources

  1. 1.Matter of Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. 884 (AAO 2016)USCIS Administrative Appeals Office (published in DOJ EOIR Virtual Law Library) · AAO decision · Published Dec 27, 2016 · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  2. 2.USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 6, Part F, Chapter 5 — Advanced Degree or Exceptional AbilityUSCIS · USCIS Policy Manual · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  3. 3.USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 1, Part E, Chapter 6 - EvidenceUSCIS · USCIS Policy Manual · Checked Sep 27, 2026