EB-1 denial after responding to a Request for Evidence (RFE) — appeal or file a new petition?

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1

I received the electronic version of an EB-1 denial and I’m honestly shocked.

In response to the Request for Evidence (RFE) I attached all the bylaws, membership requirements and proof that I met USCIS’s associations criterion — all were simply ignored. The officer decided that the council members were not sufficiently authoritative, even though I was accepted precisely for “outstanding achievements” — that is, the criterion’s requirements were in fact met. And it’s the same for every criterion — it feels like the officer did not conduct a proper analysis. Has anyone filed an appeal after this — is it worth it, or is it simpler to file a new petition?

Detailed analysis: EB-1A: 10 types of evidence — which 3 do you need

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I received an EB-1 denial after an RFE in a similar situation — the officer flat-out ignored all the evidence submitted and denied on 0 out of 8 criteria. Literally nothing was counted. I had a call with the lawyer; he preliminarily wants to file a lawsuit, says it’s a brazen procedural violation. And this bit about the members of the board being “not authoritative” — I totally recognize that logic: you attach a document, the officer sees it, confirms they saw it, and still denies as if the document doesn’t exist. Before that I dug deeply into appellate case law — there are rulings in favor of applicants precisely when the officer clearly ignored the submitted evidence, so going to court isn’t that hopeless.

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