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dismissed EB-1A RFE Issued

Civil Engineer

Civil Engineer · 2024-11-12

Decision Date
2024-11-12
Location
Texas
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

1 of 3 criteria met
Judging (Met)

The Director determined the Petitioner met the judging criterion, and this finding was not explicitly overturned by the AAO, implying it was met.

Awards (Not Met)

The Petitioner did not contest the Director's finding that he did not meet the awards criterion, thus abandoning the claim.

Memberships (Not Met)

Membership in the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) at the 'Member' grade did not demonstrate 'outstanding achievements' or that admission was judged by recognized national or international experts.

Published Material (Not Met)

Published articles lacked required details (date, author) and evidence that the publications (The Globee, NewsBreak.com) qualify as professional, major trade, or major media. The NewsBreak.com article was also considered marketing material and its readership data was insufficient for comparison.

Original Contributions of Major Significance (Not Met)

Recommendation letters discussed transportation engineering projects and innovations but did not sufficiently demonstrate the originality or major significance of the Petitioner's contributions to the field beyond his employers or clients, lacking widespread influence.

Leading or Critical Role (Not Met)

The Petitioner did not contest the Director's finding that he did not meet the leading or critical role criterion, thus abandoning the claim.

High Salary or Remuneration (Not Met)

The Petitioner's salary of $97,500-$105,000 was not shown to be 'significantly high' in relation to others in the field, as it fell below the 75th percentile for Civil Engineers according to BLS data, and comparisons to 'average' wages were deemed insufficient.

Why This Petition Was Denied

The appeal was dismissed because the Petitioner failed to establish eligibility for extraordinary ability classification. The AAO found that the Petitioner only met one of the ten criteria (judging), falling short of the required three. Specifically, the Petitioner's membership in ASCE did not demonstrate 'outstanding achievements', published material lacked required details and major media status, original contributions were not shown to be of 'major significance' beyond his employers, and his salary was not 'significantly high' compared to others in the field.

Request for Evidence (RFE)

Unsuccessfully Addressed

The RFE requested updated readership data for NewsBreak.com to establish it as major media for the 'published material' criterion. For the 'high salary' criterion, the RFE requested the Petitioner's 2022 and 2023 Form W-2s to verify compensation.

RFE Targets
Published MaterialHigh Salary or Remuneration

Evidence

Evidence Types
Professional Memberships
Media Coverage
Reference Letters Dependent
Original Contributions
High Salary
Judging Experience
Evidence Submitted
  • certificate of membership in the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
  • ASCE bylaws
  • article in The Globee about the Petitioner
  • article on NewsBreak.com about the Petitioner
  • Similarweb.com data for NewsBreak.com total visits (initial and updated June 2024)
  • Similarweb.com data for TexasTribune.org, DallasNews.com, TexasMontly.com total visits
  • recommendation letters discussing transportation engineering projects
  • compensation table from employer listing base salary, supplemental pay, annual performance bonus, phone allowance, 401k matching funds
  • September 2023 - December 2023 payroll statements
  • 2023 Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement
  • April 2022 offer letter for Project Engineer position
  • May 2022 - July 2022 pay statements
  • 2022 Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement
  • May 2022 national wage estimates from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for Civil Engineers
  • BLS regional data for Civil Engineers in Texas
  • Average Transportation Engineer Salary information from Payscale.com
  • average Project Engineer - Transportation salary data from Salary.com
  • average Transportation Project Engineer salary information from Comparably.com
  • Texas Department of Transportation 'Notice of Public Meeting'

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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.

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Case data sourced from publicly available petition decisions and case studies. Decision date: 2024-11-12.

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At a Glance

Outcome dismissed
RFE Issued
Criteria Met 1 / 3
Evidence Types 6

EB-1A Case Data

Scraped Case Data

Total Cases 919
Success Rate 53.0%
Sustained 487
Dismissed 315

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