I’m looking at the statistics — so many denials after RFEs, it feels like the decision is already 99% made and officers won’t deviate from it. I want to understand how to properly respond to an RFE from USCIS step by step so there’s at least some chance. Has anyone actually received approval after an RFE in the past couple of months? I’d appreciate it if you shared your experience.
After the RFE on my EB-1, the approval finally came — the officer requested evidence specifically for the awards criterion.
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Lina, could you tell me exactly what you attached for the awards — individual letters from the organizers, or just a list with descriptions? I have questions about this criterion in an RFE and want to understand what level of evidence the officer considers sufficient.
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I also had an RFE for EB-1A — I spent three months responding, and it went through fine. For awards, the officer wants not just the facts but proof that they require outstanding achievements in the field — an official letter from the organizers with the number of participants and the selection percentage covers that. It’s not the end of the world, hang in there.
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I also thought the wins would speak for themselves — there are documents, a winner, it’s much clearer. But the officer wrote in the rejection that there was no evidence the competition itself requires outstanding achievements in the field. So it’s not enough to show you won — you have to prove that winning there is actually difficult; those are different things. My lawyer and I then reworked it along those lines, and it went through.
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There’s a nuance that many overlook — the letter from the organizers must contain specifics: how many nominees were considered, what percentage were winners, and by what criteria the jury selected. According to AILA discussions, numbers are what decide — “5% of 300 nominees” satisfies the criterion much more reliably than any descriptive letter without figures. For my academic nomination, the organizing committee provided a two-page document with the jury composition and statistics — the officer accepted it without questions.
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Numbers matter — without the selection rate and the jury’s composition, the letter will prove nothing.
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In an RFE response, a cover letter can be just as effective as the documents themselves — in practice, cases with a poor briefing fail even with decent exhibits; the officer won’t connect the documents to the criterion for you.
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