The proposed endeavor statement is the spine of an EB-2 NIW petition. It is the first thing an officer reads closely, and after the January 2025 USCIS guidance it is where most Prong 1 Requests for Evidence are now won or lost. This post walks through how to write one that establishes both substantial merit and national importance, the two halves of Dhanasar's first prong.
Key takeaways: Your proposed endeavor is the specific work you will continue in the US, not your field or job title. Under Dhanasar Prong 1 it must show substantial merit and national importance, each proved with independent evidence. Scope it as a concrete problem with national reach.
Educational information, not legal advice. NIWKit is written by a self-filer, not an attorney. Consult a licensed immigration lawyer for guidance on your case.
What is a proposed endeavor in an EB-2 NIW petition?
Your "proposed endeavor" is not your job title and not your entire field. It is the specific work you intend to continue in the United States, described concretely enough that an officer can evaluate its merit and importance. "Advancing machine learning" is a field. "Developing fraud-detection models that reduce losses for community banks" is an endeavor.
Getting this scope right is the single most important drafting decision you will make. Too broad, and USCIS says your claim of national importance is unsupported. Too narrow, and the impact looks local. The sweet spot is a concrete problem with national reach.
How do you separate substantial merit from national importance?
Officers evaluate two distinct things, and blurring them is a common mistake:
- Substantial merit is whether the endeavor is valuable in its field. This can be in business, science, technology, health, education, culture, or the arts. Merit is usually the easier half to establish.
- National importance is whether the implications extend beyond your employer, your clients, or your region. This is where the 2025 guidance raised the bar. Importance is about scope of impact, not the prestige of the field.
Write your statement so a reader can point to the sentence that proves each one.
How do you structure a proposed endeavor statement?
A reliable proposed endeavor statement moves through four moves:
- Name the endeavor in one or two precise sentences. State what you will do, for whom, and toward what outcome.
- Establish merit. Explain why this work matters in its field, with reference to the problem it solves.
- Establish national importance. Show the ripple effects (economic, health, security, or societal) that reach beyond any single beneficiary. Tie the claim to evidence: data on the problem's scale, government priorities, industry reports.
- Connect to you. Briefly bridge to Prong 2 by signalling why you, specifically, are positioned to advance it. (You will develop this fully in the "well positioned" section.)
How do you prove national importance without asserting it?
After January 2025, the fastest route to an RFE is claiming national importance and leaving it unsupported. Strong statements anchor the claim to independent evidence:
- The scale of the problem: how many people, dollars, or institutions it affects.
- Government or industry recognition that the problem is a priority, such as agency reports, national strategies, or published funding priorities.
- The mechanism of impact: a clear explanation of how your specific work moves the needle on that problem.
You are not required to prove your work will succeed nationally. You are required to show that if it succeeds, the impact is national in character.
What mistakes trigger Prong 1 RFEs?
- Describing the field, not the endeavor. "I work in cybersecurity" tells an officer nothing evaluable.
- Confusing employer benefit with national benefit. Helping one company is Prong 2 evidence of positioning, not Prong 1 importance.
- Importing job-duty language. A statement that reads like a job description reads like a case for labor certification, the very thing you are asking to waive.
- Overreaching. Claiming you will single-handedly transform an industry invites skepticism. Claim the impact of the endeavor, positioned realistically.
How do you tie each claim to evidence?
Before you finalize the statement, do one pass with a single question: for every factual claim, where is the proof? If a sentence asserts national importance, an exhibit should support it. This discipline is what turns a persuasive essay into a petition that survives scrutiny, and it makes any future RFE response a matter of pointing at evidence you already organized.
If you would rather start from a proven structure than a blank page, the EB-2 NIW Complete Self-Filer's Pack includes an editable proposed-endeavor statement template, two fully worked example petitions showing the four moves in action, and an evidence index that keeps each claim tied to its exhibit.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a field and a proposed endeavor?
A field is a broad area like machine learning or renewable energy. A proposed endeavor is the specific work you will do within it, described concretely enough for an officer to judge its merit and importance, for example developing fraud-detection models that reduce losses for community banks.
What are the two halves of Dhanasar Prong 1?
Prong 1 has two parts: substantial merit, meaning the endeavor is valuable in its field, and national importance, meaning its impact reaches beyond your employer, clients, or region. Officers evaluate them separately, so your statement should prove each one clearly.
How do you prove national importance without overreaching?
Anchor the claim to independent evidence: the scale of the problem, government or industry recognition that it is a priority, and the mechanism by which your work moves the needle. You show that if the endeavor succeeds, the impact is national in character, not that you will single-handedly transform an industry.
Can you write a proposed endeavor statement without a lawyer?
Yes. Many self-filers draft their own. The keys are scoping the endeavor narrowly enough to be evaluable but broad enough to be nationally important, separating merit from importance, and tying every claim to an exhibit.