What is the memorandum in a petition for a U.S. work visa — is it the petition itself?

It’s not the first time I’ve come across the word „memorandum“ in the context of a US work visa and I can’t figure it out — what is it? Is it the petition itself or a separate document? And do the supporting documents go in an appendix then?

A memorandum is an internal clarification of USCIS policy for officers; it is neither a petition nor evidence.

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Roughly speaking, it’s a guide for officers — how to interpret certain situations. The petition itself and the evidence are filed separately in the exhibits; the memorandum doesn’t replace them. When I was putting together my NIW, I dealt with this — all these memoranda are used by officers at their discretion. You can cite them, but there are no guarantees.

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