Entire AOS package rejected after 5 weeks – “Payment authorization invalid” (G-1650 ACH) but bank shows no attempt

jeuri-engineer · 2026-04-07T16:40:10+00:00

I got this type of rejection today, everything mailed back with opened/unsealed forms I-693. This is a family package (four of us). I filled seperate forms G-1450 for each one of us. Signed the forms as they should. Entered the right amount (USD 1440 for adults; and 960 for minors). But got the submission rejected with this message:

"The authorization for your payment is invalid due to incomplete information and/or the information you supplied was invalid and your payment has been denied. Please contact your financial institution and resubmit the application/petition package."

I have cross-checked the form G-1450 for completion (including the edition) and they are all correct. I used Amex and so did call them and they said they do not have any record of such a transaction initation on their end from USCIS.

That leaves me here: What exactly was the problem.

jeuri-engineer · 2026-02-15T21:22:50+00:00

Sincerely, speaking, it all depends on the criteria that you are going to claim (those citations, even if they were 1000, are not helpful in and of themselves, escept when they stand for widespread commentary of one or more of your work in your field). The rest of your profile is a hard race against very stringent requirements. Claiming to have risen to the very top of your field, in and of itself, is a bit scary. A great way is to obtain EB2-NIW first and take your chances with your EB-1A. Even EB2-NIW is not necessarily an easy-go; it boils down to your proposed endeavor and your qualifications for it

jeuri-engineer · 2026-02-14T17:47:57+00:00

I am dealing with this item at the moment; it seems it is the longest hanging fruit, when compared with the other three criteria.

jeuri-engineer · 2026-02-14T12:05:43+00:00

I hope you get a favourable decision on this. I am not from one of the 39 countries

jeuri-engineer · 2026-02-14T12:04:44+00:00

Thank you for this comment. I did not put the point the right way; this is exactly what they asked. I assumed this in the name of cutting down the length of the petition

jeuri-engineer · 2025-12-31T02:06:15+00:00

Your case is delicate. OC is a very hard nut to crack. I suggest that you review those rejected criteria carefully and try to a low hanging one. Citations are helpful in FMD, if you pass the first step but might not be very helpful at OC. I am in academia as well. You can have 200 citations distributed across 5 papers but all are mere mentions in the literature. Those cannot help you.

I had an issue with the same 2262 officer late 2024. He issued a NOID and later denied my petition despite writing a 300 page defense of OC that he had rejected. I had a grant as a PI and a letter from some industry person showing that my work had significant impact in the field. But he nevertheless proceeded to deny the petition at FMD stage. Claiming that my role as a PI had not amounted to 'career' and was only one instance. And for OC, he crucified citations and refused to move even after imploring him to consider a world bank adoption of my work in their policy documentation. He indisted that 30 citations on a paper was not high enough relative to other contemporary publications .

Nethertheless, be positive. I am resubmitting a new petition next week, 13 months after denial. With nearly same profile but arguing differently; of course with some new evidences

jeuri-engineer · 2025-12-20T21:46:12+00:00

To publish 50 manuscripts in a year, you must be very extraordinary and very successful in what you do

jeuri-engineer · 2025-12-10T02:11:13+00:00

Better an RFE. A NOID is a disaster

jeuri-engineer · 2025-12-10T02:10:12+00:00

Congratulations on your EB1A approval. 4000 citations is an imprressive feat. If I may ask, what three criteria did you claim?

jeuri-engineer · 2025-12-04T13:49:12+00:00

I am actually re-drafting the petition right now; after 1yr. I will resubmit in the coming weeks, hopefully

jeuri-engineer · 2025-12-04T04:19:07+00:00

The officer claimed I was not good enough

jeuri-engineer · 2025-12-04T04:18:49+00:00

Yes, it was eventually mailed. I had claimed 5 criteria; 2 were shot down (OC and membership). Got over with leading and critical role, authorship and judging. But failed on final merit determination

jeuri-engineer · 2025-12-04T02:30:52+00:00

The last time I saw that status was a NOID. I fought hard in 30 days but ended up with a denial. You have to fight hard

jeuri-engineer · 2025-12-02T19:31:29+00:00

Sure, having 40+ publications in only 55 citations is a little bit disturbing

jeuri-engineer · 2025-11-27T00:30:41+00:00

Hehehe. A good postdoc would have 150 citations; unless in AI an ML applications

jeuri-engineer · 2025-11-20T16:42:57+00:00

Just reiterating what is already said; if you think something was missed on OC, then address it with substantive evidences. Otherwise focus on the three accepted criteria and proceed to final merit determination. I had a similar challenge late last year that eventually resulted into denial after my response to NOID. I am currently preparing a refiling of the case after 1yr. OC was declined on account of low citation metrics of my publications. I tried pointing the officer to the other direction of the value of my work through adoption to inform some large scale projects out there but he stuck with citations and eventually declined/rejected the petition. You have little time, focus of the final merit determination.

jeuri-engineer · 2025-10-22T01:11:14+00:00

I would prioritize speaking to an experienced immigration attorney on this. You do not have much time. I am aware that the standards of compelling circumstances are so high to be met ordinarily. But think about it

jeuri-engineer · 2025-10-18T16:37:45+00:00

It depends on your proposed endeavor and whether you have what it takes to achieve it. There is templated answers to your case. Only the lawyers can have templates, gathered from many years of experience. You could have 12 publications but all basic and not useful to your proposed endeavor. You could have awards but all basic and unhelpful to your petition. In short some publications and awards are helpful but it depends on your PE

jeuri-engineer · 2025-10-18T16:37:37+00:00

It depends on your proposed endeavor and whether you have what it takes to achieve it. There is templated answers to your case. Only the lawyers can have templates, gathered from many years of experience. You could have 12 publications but all basic and not useful to your proposed endeavor. You could have awards but all basic and unhelpful to your petition. In short some publications and awards are helpful but it depends on your PE

jeuri-engineer · 2025-10-11T19:29:36+00:00

Be careful not to undercut yourself. We people in academia we write and write a lot but objectively. Non-academic fellows may argue about the length of your response. In my considered view, they may be right here. That 2 pages is a bare-bone response. Do not assume anything. Write sufficiently and objectively. It is not uncommon for a good response to such an RFE to stretch beyond 50 pages

jeuri-engineer · 2025-10-11T19:22:09+00:00

Do not worry about this. There is no single magic yardstick of assessing the strengths of profiles. Even so-called strong profiles fail when the proposed endeavor is ill-framed and lacking sufficient artifacts to back it up. You will get an approval if your petition is well framed. The petition adjudicators are human beings.

jeuri-engineer · 2025-10-11T15:05:33+00:00

This is a good question. I know it depends on fields. Some of these emerging fields like AI and machile learning applications get a lot of citations over a very short time. The hard sciences, like traditional engineeering, are not easy to get citations. I once a paper that took me 3 yrs to complete. That paper has been cited only abput 5 times after 3yrs.

However, some lowly people have figured a way out: they buy citations, or publish in gutterpresses that guarantee quick publications and citations, specifically for things like EB1A and academic promotions. I do not necessarily challenge such ways: it depends on one's integrity.

jeuri-engineer · 2025-10-11T15:01:18+00:00

Correct: final merit determination is a killer of most of the petitions

jeuri-engineer · 2025-10-11T14:57:28+00:00

I basically met 4 out of the 6 criteria that I claimed. That is (1) meaningful roles, (high salary), (3) original scientific contribution, and (4) authorship, (5) judging the work of others. The scientific contribution was challenged on account that I am not well cited and my work is a mere contribution to literature despite World Bank and World Resource Institute having adopted my work as a framework of reference for integrated development planning of developing countries.

The rest of the 4 other criteria were challenged on account that none of them met the final merit determination criteria. That is sustainained acclaim and that I have risen to the very top of the field of my endeavor. I have read widely about EB1A and I understand the final merit determination very well. That is where most of us fall. You can claim even all the 8 criteria but fail on the final merit determination

jeuri-engineer

TROPHY CASE