remanded EB-1A RFE Issued

Biologist

Biology · 2022-11-22

Decision Date
2022-11-22
This case is from a USCIS Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) appeal decision. Appeal cases represent a subset of petitions and may not reflect typical outcomes.

Framework Evaluation

3 of 3 criteria met
Judging the work of others (Met)

The Petitioner participated as a judge of the work of others in the same or an allied field through peer review for scientific journals.

Authorship of scholarly articles (Met)

The Petitioner authored scholarly articles in the field in major trade publications or other major media.

Original contributions of major significance (Met)

The Petitioner's work on aphid gene clusters is widely cited (hundreds of times) and supported by expert letters confirming its impact on the field.

Why This Petition Was Remanded

The Petitioner satisfied the 'original contributions' criterion by providing evidence of hundreds of citations (including one article with 119 citations) and expert letters from professors detailing how his research on gene clusters in aphids guided their work. The AAO withdrew the denial because the Director ignored the probative value of these citation metrics and expert testimonials. However, a remand was necessary for a final merits determination to evaluate sustained national or international acclaim.

Request for Evidence (RFE)

Successfully Addressed

The RFE challenged whether the Petitioner's original contributions were of major significance; the Petitioner responded with citation data and expert letters.

RFE Targets
Original contributions of major significance

Evidence

Evidence Types
Peer Reviewed Publications
Citations
Reference Letters Independent
Judging Experience
Evidence Submitted
  • Hundreds of citations to published original scholarly articles (Google Scholar)
  • One specific article on aphids cited 119 times
  • Authorship of scholarly articles in major media
  • Participation as a judge of the work of others (peer review for scientific journals)
  • Reference letters from professors in the field

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Frequently Asked Questions

A remanded EB-1A petition means the case was sent back to the field office for further review. This happens when procedural errors are found or additional evidence should be considered. It is neither an approval nor a denial.

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Case data sourced from publicly available petition decisions and case studies. Decision date: 2022-11-22.

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At a Glance

Outcome remanded
RFE Issued
Criteria Met 3 / 3
Evidence Types 4

EB-1A Case Data

Scraped Case Data

Total Cases 919
Success Rate 53.0%
Sustained 487
Dismissed 315

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