By Attorney Hong-min Jun

Analysis of NIW denial for CPA with 20+ years experience — and what evidence was missing.

Case Overview

The petitioner was a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with over 20 years of experience in tax planning and corporate financial consulting. Despite impressive professional credentials and extensive experience, the AAO ultimately denied the NIW petition.

Core Reasons for Denial

“While the petitioner’s work is professional and valuable, its impact is primarily limited to directly served clients and does not demonstrate broader impact on U.S. national interests.”

The AAO determined that the petitioner's work constituted routine professional services, lacking the broad influence needed to establish national importance.

Key Lessons

For accounting and other professional service practitioners, the key to NIW success lies in: demonstrating work that goes beyond individual client service, showing systematic impact on industry policy or practice, and providing concrete evidence of national-level influence.