Visalytics
Visalytics
dismissed EB-1A RFE Issued

AI Researcher

Artificial Intelligence (Al) Researcher · 2024-12-23

Decision Date
2024-12-23
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

2 of 3 criteria met
Participation as a judge of the work of others (Met)

The Director found, and the AAO agreed, that the Petitioner met this criterion by participating as a judge of the work of others in his field.

Authorship of scholarly articles in the field, in professional or major trade publications or other major media (Met)

The Director found, and the AAO agreed, that the Petitioner met this criterion through his authorship of scholarly articles.

Membership in associations requiring outstanding achievement of their members (Not Met)

The Petitioner's memberships in AAAI, IAENG, IEEE Computer Society, and ISAC were not shown to require outstanding achievements of their members as judged by national or international experts. Bylaws did not specify such requirements, and some memberships were still processing or lacked supporting documentation.

Original scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic, or business-related contributions of major significance in the field (Not Met)

While support letters praised the Petitioner's skills and research, they lacked specific, detailed information explaining the unusual influence or major impact of his contributions on the overall field. Citation statistics were also deemed insufficient to demonstrate widespread influence or major significance.

Performance in a leading or critical role for organizations or establishments that have a distinguished reputation (Not Met)

The Petitioner's role as Director of ICT and AI researcher was not sufficiently demonstrated as leading or critical, lacking organizational charts or detailed evidence of significant importance to outcomes. Furthermore, the organizations' distinguished reputations were not established through sufficient evidence like media coverage or scale of customer base.

Why This Petition Was Denied

The appeal was dismissed because the Petitioner failed to meet at least three of the ten evidentiary criteria for extraordinary ability. Specifically, memberships in associations (AAAI, IAENG, IEEE Computer Society, ISAC) did not require outstanding achievements judged by experts, and some memberships were still processing or lacked supporting documentation. Original contributions lacked major significance, as support letters were conclusory and citation statistics did not demonstrate widespread influence or heavy reliance by other researchers. The Petitioner's leading/critical role as Director of ICT and AI researcher was not sufficiently proven with organizational charts or evidence of the organizations' distinguished reputations. Subsequent citations post-filing were not considered as eligibility must be met at the time of filing.

Request for Evidence (RFE)

Unsuccessfully Addressed

The RFE requested documentation to prove that the associations the Petitioner was a member of required outstanding achievements of their members, as judged by recognized national or international experts. The Petitioner responded with bylaws for some organizations, but these did not sufficiently address the RFE's concerns regarding the membership requirements.

RFE Targets
Membership in associations requiring outstanding achievement of their members

Evidence

Evidence Types
Judging Experience
Scholarly Articles
Professional Memberships
Reference Letters Dependent
Citations
Original Contributions
Leading Role
Media Coverage
Evidence Submitted
  • Participation as a judge of the work of others
  • Authorship of scholarly articles
  • Memberships in Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI)
  • Memberships in International Association of Engineers (IAENG)
  • Memberships in Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Computer Society
  • Memberships in International Society for Applied Computing (ISAC)
  • Seven support letters for original contributions
  • Published scholarly articles and citation statistics
  • Letter of appointment to Director of Information and Computer Technology (ICT)
  • Appropriation bill and letter of commendation for ICT role
  • Letter from senior AI researcher at current employer
  • Media coverage regarding current employer's government contracts

Similar Cases

Research Scientist

Artificial Intelligence · Iran

USCIS EB-1A rfe dismissed
2025-03-05
The appeal was dismissed because the Petitioner failed to meet at least three EB-1A criteria. Specifically, the 'original contributions' criterion was not met as citation data was considered average for the field and expert letters lacked corroboration of field-wide impact; the 'high salary' criterion was not met due to inadequate comparative data for his specific role and compensation structure.

Research Scientist

Research and Development · China

USCIS EB-1A rfe dismissed
2024-09-03
The appeal was dismissed because the Petitioner did not demonstrate a one-time achievement and failed to meet at least three of the ten evidentiary criteria. Specifically, the awards were not proven to be nationally or internationally recognized, membership in the Chinese Society of Particuology lacked proper translation and proof of outstanding achievement requirements, the patent's major significance was not documented, and the Petitioner's role at the organization was not shown to be leading or critical.

Researcher

Biotechnology

USCIS EB-1A rfe dismissed
2024-10-04
The appeal was dismissed because the Petitioner failed to demonstrate eligibility for at least three of the ten extraordinary ability criteria. For 'original contributions of major significance', USCIS found her work original but lacked evidence of major impact on the field, noting that citations alone (e.g., two papers with more than 28 citations out of nine published) did not inherently prove major significance, especially when expert letters failed to delineate field-wide impact. The AAO also noted that her research on auranofin, while original, was later found to lead to life-threatening conditions in subsequent studies, diminishing its positive contribution. For 'leading or critical role', the Petitioner failed to provide independent, objective evidence establishing the distinguished reputation of her employer as of the filing date, relying instead on self-promotional material and post-filing evidence. The AAO also rejected post-filing evidence for establishing initial eligibility.

Research Scientist

Materials Science

USCIS EB-1A rfe dismissed
2025-01-10
The appeal was dismissed because the Petitioner failed to demonstrate 'original scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic, or business-related contributions of major significance in the field.' The AAO found that citation records, even if placing the Petitioner in the top 10% or 1% by Clarivate Analytics, did not automatically establish major significance. Expert letters were deemed insufficient as they did not clearly explain how the Petitioner's work had a major impact on the field, with one paper having 7 citations, another 422 (but without detailing the impact of petitioner's work), and a third 9 citations. Peer review service was also not considered a major contribution, as it is primarily an evaluative process. The Petitioner only satisfied two of the ten criteria (judging and scholarly articles) and thus did not meet the minimum three required.

Frequently Asked Questions

A dismissed EB-1A petition means USCIS found the evidence insufficient to meet the eligibility criteria. Common reasons include weak documentation, failure to meet the required number of criteria, or insufficient evidence of the claimed qualifications. Petitioners can refile with stronger evidence or explore alternative visa categories.

Browse More Cases

More dismissed cases More Artificial Intelligence cases

Case data sourced from publicly available petition decisions and case studies. Decision date: 2024-12-23.

Browse all cases

At a Glance

Outcome dismissed
RFE Issued
Criteria Met 2 / 3
Evidence Types 8

EB-1A Case Data

Scraped Case Data

Total Cases 881
Success Rate 52.9%
Sustained 466
Dismissed 299

Related Pages

EB-1A Overview All EB-1A Cases EB-1A Dashboard

Get Case Insights

Compare your profile against thousands of real petition outcomes. Join the waitlist for personalized analysis.

Join Waitlist