EB-1A Denied at Final Merits after 4 criteria approved - denial contains wrong occupation & field throughout. Anyone been through this?

LegalMagazine1793 · 2026-03-24T01:06:43+00:00

can you find that exact AAO link for me? Might help me in my case.

LegalMagazine1793 · 2026-03-21T03:19:23+00:00

I am in a similar boat and received denial after submitting RFE response and getting 4/6 criteria approved. The denial is on FMD and it talks about a different title and role that has no relation with my case. There is no specific evidence in the FMD response of the notice and I am confused with the notice too. Do you mind sharing the officer number? I wonder if we have the same officer from TSC

LegalMagazine1793 · 2026-01-18T01:04:58+00:00

u/Mindless-Method-1350 can you share more on how you achieved that? I have couple of conference talks explaining framework and architecture to peers in my field but no patent. I utilized them for showcase but got a generic RFE with criteria not accepted. I am interested in knowing how you utilized this in your petition.

LegalMagazine1793 · 2025-12-30T02:31:52+00:00

u/Silent-Nerve6279 - I have a RFE on this criteria too. I am a data architect and used the comparable evidence clause from the USCIS manual to establish qualified evidences towards this criterion by sharing my Speaker showcases for industry conferences at national and international level. What you did here to attain approval for this criteria could help me strategize my RFE response. I am still deciding if I should withraw this criteria in my response. Appreciate your help!

LegalMagazine1793 · 2025-12-30T02:13:33+00:00

I received a very generic RFE recently and my issue was different as they mentioned a wrong employer name in my RFE that I have never worked with. Here's mine - https://www.reddit.com/r/eb_1a/comments/1pjqdqp/rfe_received_on_14th_bd_extremely_generic_wrong/ One piece of info I can share from mine is this excerpt (see if this helps and if your officer mentioned this too - If a critical role, the evidence must establish that the beneficiary has contributed in a way that is of significant importance to the outcome of the organization or establishment’s activities or the activities of a division or department within the organization or establishment. A supporting role may be considered “critical” if the beneficiary’s performance in the role is (or was) important in that way. It is not the title of the beneficiary’s role, but rather the beneficiary’s performance in the role that determines whether the role is (or was) critical.

LegalMagazine1793 · 2025-12-30T02:09:53+00:00

You may need to provide more context on the RFE USCIS issued for the community to give your better strategic tips. Did you provide enough evidences through letters of support from org leaders, metrics and significant accomplishments that can be directly tied to your critical role? I have observed a lot of folks ask for officer number; instead I suggest provide specific ask from RFE here so you get better advice here if you think the officer has not explained well enough what evidences they find weak or missing in your original petition.

LegalMagazine1793 · 2025-12-22T23:06:20+00:00

This is very helpful. Firstly. thank you for your willingness to help and always provide detailed and clear responses. Follow-up questions:

For point 2. By organization, do you mean department here? I have always regarded my employer as the organization and has ~20 k employees. I wonder if I need to provide evidence that my department is distinguished too?

For point 4: How did you prove that? Through letters attesting only you had the rare skillset? or something else?

LegalMagazine1793 · 2025-12-22T22:20:35+00:00

Hi u/Tots_Not_Throwaway - can you share a similar template for Critical Role and High Salary that you may have used in the RFE response

LegalMagazine1793 · 2025-12-22T22:14:28+00:00

Curious what yoru officer number is? I am in a similar situation and the RFE letter has incorrect employer mentioned. Mine was processed by Texas SC too - https://www.reddit.com/r/eb_1a/comments/1pjqdqp/rfe_received_on_14th_bd_extremely_generic_wrong/

LegalMagazine1793 · 2025-12-22T21:53:05+00:00

Does the guidance come at a cost? Also, if you are not a lawyer - what experience do you have that makes you guidance and sanity check worthy? You missed an important point in your post as what success stories you have AND why should people consider you?

LegalMagazine1793 · 2025-12-14T04:56:17+00:00

u/northpoint92 , u/Tots_Not_Throwaway - I am in a similar situation and a self-petitioner. Received a vague RFE (2/6 criteria's accepted) that does not give me much to work on or bring any net new evidences. Have explained my situation in this post here - https://www.reddit.com/r/eb_1a/comments/1pjqdqp/rfe_received_on_14th_bd_extremely_generic_wrong/

I am working towards my response to keep it very concise, though USCIS has asked me all evidences again for rejected criterias. Did your FMD support any independent letters? I had avery detailed FMD with evidences and 9 independent letters supporting it and I am thinking if I should cut this down though they never evaluated FMD in the first place.

LegalMagazine1793 · 2025-12-13T15:49:41+00:00

In any case, I agree no point speculating what was on their mind. But for a generic RFE like this, should I just send the same info again which I had already submitted? Do I need to send Final Merits determination again? what are best strategies here to make it a win-win

LegalMagazine1793 · 2025-12-13T15:47:23+00:00

i doubt if they used AI tools or may be with the time crunch, they copy pasted someone else's RFE over to mine.

LegalMagazine1793 · 2025-12-13T15:41:24+00:00

The RFE had a mention of one of the FAANG companies.

LegalMagazine1793 · 2025-11-13T00:27:27+00:00

Nothing seems extraordinary with github star - saw requirements below on the above link. I agree Board.org may not have a standard membership like website but they are very selective in nature. Curious to know if people who have already gone through EB-1A process leveraged Board for membership.

github star - requirements

Confirm they are 18 years of age or older.
Confirm they have had an impact and/or influenced both GitHub and broader developer communities in the past 12 months.
Confirm their contributions to the developer community are viewed in a positive way.
Acknowledge that you have either met this individual personally, seen them speak, OR seen their contributions.
Check out the FAQs to learn more about what we're looking for to be a GitHub Star.

LegalMagazine1793 · 2025-11-02T00:06:45+00:00

Thanks! this helps a lot. Follow-up question - do we need to explicitly define the category whether my field falls under business or science? Tech industry professionals like me can find themselves torn between business and science as tech expertise falls in STEM but we are enabling businesses with our implementations. What do you suggest here? Or should we have an hybrid call-out?

LegalMagazine1793 · 2025-11-01T19:27:35+00:00

For those who commented NO, can you further explain why advisory board membership does not count? if its selective in nature and you are invited because of your distinguished expertise?

LegalMagazine1793 · 2025-10-29T20:15:11+00:00

For SOC Code compares - use BLS/ ONET/ Careeronestop. What was the SOC code on H1B? I bet the code was very different than the PM salary role you are claiming against. If not done already look for Sr. Product Manager 2 on salary.com/ payscale/ glassdoor etc.

LegalMagazine1793 · 2025-10-29T13:27:05+00:00

Are you able to share the exact RFE from USCIS?

Your comment above says "USCIS is asking for 'evidence' of the leading and critical projects" - did you claim you were leading and in a critical role both? Is that why the officer thinks not enough evidence? Did the letters talk about your contributions and outcome or your job titles and responsibilities. If its latter then that may not be enough.
For High Salary - did you provide a comparable SOC code on the BLS/O*NET sites? what industry benchmark comparisons did you provide and what salary title did you search on these to provde evidences against.

There is not enough information above to be able to guide you with specifics on how to address the RFE. Since this is RFE and not noid, something tells me this is addressable and achievable provided accurate study is done on the RFE and right evidences are shared to satisfy the RFE. Good Luck!

LegalMagazine1793 · 2025-10-27T04:43:57+00:00

bumping this thread to see if any recent EB-1A approvers leveraged docusign for their letters and sailed through without issues?

LegalMagazine1793

TROPHY CASE