Does Your NIW Proposed Endeavor Have to Match Your Current Job? What USCIS Actually Looks For

An NIW proposed endeavor that is different from one’s current job position is fine, and therefore, your endeavor does not necessarily have to relate to your current job, because, as you can see, USCIS considers your future activity and not your title right now. Remember Ted Lasso, an American college football coach, who is invited to be a coach of a soccer club in England. What was important is his ability to succeed in the new field rather than in the sport he coached before.

This is the point where many petitions are either successful or fail. Adjudicators of EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW) petitions use the three-prong test from Matter of Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. 884 (AAO 2016), and none of the three prongs asks whether your future activity is similar to your current title. What the test requires is whether you are in a position to implement the proposed plan.

NIW Proposed Endeavor vs Job: What’s the Difference?

In regard to Matter of Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. 884 (AAO 2016), the “first part is concerned with the particular endeavor the foreign national wishes to pursue” (at 889). The USCIS’s January 15, 2025 Policy Manual update takes into account both the occupation and endeavor you have planned, although the occupation counts only for EB-2.

Factor	Current Job	NIW Proposed Endeavor
Defined by	Employer, title, duties	Your planned work and its impact
Role under Dhanasar	Evidence only	Evaluated under all three prongs
Requires an employer?	Yes	No (self-petition permitted)
Specificity	Occupation-level	More specific than an occupation
Can it change freely?	Yes	Material changes after filing create risk

The term “software engineer” describes an occupation rather than an activity. An appropriate structure is action + area of work + problem + desired effect. A description that applies to many individuals is too general, while an assignment for one firm is too specific.

Read More: How to Write a Powerful EB2-NIW Proposed Endeavor Statement (With Real Examples for Tech Professionals)?

Impact Must Reach Beyond Your Employer

The Policy Manual inquires whether the endeavor would be pursued by performing responsibilities for a specific employer or some other means (6 USCIS-PM F.5(D)(1)), while advantages derived from one employer only, no matter what size that employer is on the national scene, would not necessarily make the endeavor of national significance.

RFEs issued recently inquire how the pursuit of the endeavor goes beyond the confines of the employing company into the field or industry or into the larger public arena. Shortage in your field nationally is not sufficient in itself.

NIW Career Change: Must the Endeavor Match Your Role?

Answer: No. Dhanasar and the Policy Manual do not require you to have matching experience with your present job title.

Pivots could range from an adjacent pivot (moving from being a data scientist in the retail sector to building AI in hospital supply chain) to applying pivot (commercializing one’s research) to broader pivot (finance to climate technologies).

The Threshold Question: Your EB-2 Qualifying Basis

The EB-2 criteria come first, and there it becomes a question of eligibility rather than of presentation:

• Profession: for the advanced-degree criteria, the intended profession should require at least a bachelor’s degree from the U.S. or its foreign equivalent.
• Bachelor’s degree and five years: the USCIS will check whether the experience is in the specialty, and the recent RFEs will want it to be related to both the degree and the endeavor.
• Ability: the ability should be related to the endeavor.

An unrelated current job will matter the most if it provides the experience that qualifies you.

NIW New Field: How to Show You’re Well Positioned

Dhanasar outlines the factors: “‘education, skills, knowledge and history of success in related or similar ventures,’ an intent to pursue future activities, progress toward undertaking the endeavor, and interest from the relevant public or class of people” (at 890). “‘Related or similar’ does not mean ‘identical,'” nor do you have to demonstrate that the endeavor is likely to succeed. You simply have to be able to make positioning by clear and convincing evidence.

Your Situation	What the Record Should Establish
Same job, same work	The endeavor’s impact and your ability to advance it
New employer, same endeavor	How the new role lets you continue the work
Employee to founder	Credible plan, resources, early progress, impact
Industry to research	Concrete research plan, expertise, feasible arrangements
Work beyond current employer	Adoption, users, collaborators, or funders

Evidence of strong pivot is a record of earlier successes based on similar skill set; publications, patents or projects in the new field; a plan with milestones and finances; pilot projects or prototypes; letters of intent from U.S. employers, collaborators or financial supporters; and supporting letters and business plans documented independently, according to 2025 Guidance. A job search in the U.S. disguised as a plan is an aspiration rather than an undertaking.

NIW Startup Proposed Endeavor: Can It Be a Company?

True, however, the business entity cannot be viewed as an isolated enterprise. The 2025 edition clarifies that all entrepreneurs are not eligible and sweeping generalizations regarding economic advantages or generation of jobs cannot do the trick all alone. Future jobs are sure to get evaluated in relation to the economic scale of the region. Importance at the national level hinges upon the prospective impact rather than geographical spread, e.g., development of a particular technology, meeting a national challenge, or creating economic consequences in a poor economic region. Evidence from founders will include a business proposal and customer letters.

Can You Change Proposed Endeavor After Filing?

Generally speaking, not materially. According to 8 C.F.R. § 103.2(b)(1), eligibility needs to be present at the time of filing, while Matter of Katigbak, 14 I&N Dec. 45 (Reg’l Comm’r 1971), and Matter of Izummi, 22 I&N Dec. 169 (Assoc. Comm’r 1998), prohibit making such a material alteration of the petition that would make it approvable.

The response to an RFE can explain or modify the endeavor that was filed but cannot substitute it. Moreover, a new endeavor may affect the nature of the occupation and thereby restore EB-2 eligibility; thus, a substantial modification would require a new I-140.

What If Your Job Changes While the NIW Is Pending?

Petitioners of NIW are not attached to any employer; therefore, changing jobs will not affect your case if you continue with your pursuit of the filed endeavor. You may be asked during the I-140 stage or adjustment stage whether you will continue pursuing your endeavor. Self-petitioners who have been approved for I-140 may change employers within the field of endeavor.

Scenario	Risk	Key Consideration
New employer or promotion, same endeavor	Lower	Document how the role advances the endeavor
Founding a company in the same endeavor	Moderate	Show the company is the vehicle
New job in an unrelated field	Higher	May undercut intent
I-485 pending 180+ days	Varies	INA § 204(j) portability and Supplement J may apply

INA § 204(j) Portability requires a same or similar occupational classification. Whether the NIW Self-Petitioner needs to file I-485 Supplement J Form depends on the facts of the situation. In USCIS Policy Memorandum PM-602-0199 issued on May 21, 2026, it has been stressed that the adjustment of status is discretionary even in respect to the pending application.

How Do You Frame a Career Pivot as a Strength?

Effective Narrative Development is one that effectively describes the endeavor, demonstrates transferrable knowledge and skills, makes progress visible, makes clear the national significance, and remains consistent.

An Effective Evidence Strategy also avoids these common pitfalls: sector-level description, dependence upon an important employer, shortage-based rationale, irrelevant experience, unverified letters, and an endeavor that only exists within the current job.

Considering a pivot? Map out your endeavor prior to filing.

Talk to the EB1A Experts team on how to define a proposed endeavor that will fit into your record.

FAQs

Conclusion

An NIW proposed endeavor does not need to mirror your current job, and USCIS does not evaluate petitions by job title. What it evaluates is a specific endeavor, its national importance, and whether your record shows you can carry it out. Career pivots, startups, and new fields all fit within that framework when the evidence connects past results to future work.

The real danger is timing. Eligibility is typically determined as of the time of filing and any material changes are not permitted thereafter, which means that the endeavor must be properly defined before filing. If you are considering a career transition, book a consultation and define the endeavor before you file.

Disclaimer: This article offers only general information, not legal advice. The USCIS Policy Manual guidance cited herein is current as of October 2026 for the guidance that was effective January 15, 2025.