EB1 OR NSC RFE - Please advise

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EB1OR@NSC

Registered Users (C)
I need some advice from you guys regarding my EB1-OR RFE from NSC. It says...

The documentation submitted indicates the beneficiary is an accomplished research engineer and the importance of the described research is not in question. However, it is not apparent that the beneficiary has a level of recognition required for this visa classification.

8 C.F.R. 204.5(i)(3) provides that ''[a] petition for an outstanding researcher or professor must be accompanied by.. [e]vidence that the professor or researcher is recognized internationally as outstanding in the academic field specified in the petition

Please submit any available additional documentary evidence of international recognition, in existence as of the petition priority date, to demonstrate that the beneficiary is recognized internationally as outstanding in the academic field. Such evidence shall consist of atleast two of the following:
Then the RFE lists the six OR criteria

To me this RFE seems like do it again. It seems to be very general. Is this impending denial? Any opinions on this?

One problem with my petition was that it was done in extreme haste (three days) in order to beat the EB1 retrogression which occured on October 1. Hence, the I140 petition letter wasn't written well. In hind sight that was a mistake as the EB1 priority dates have been moving forward very fast.

Following are my qualifications...

I have a PhD; 9 months postdoc; 2.5yrs in the current position

2 Journal papers; 12 Conference papers and presentations

About 7-10 citation of my journal papers; one new citation has about a paragraph on my paper,rest are simple one line citations

I sumitted 5 references (2 from company including VP, Phd advisor, Manager from another company, One from DOE manager)
For RFE I can get letters from (PostDoc Advisor, Manager from a national lab, Peer from a national lab)

I have also done one Journal review.

My work during graduate studies and now in the company are DOE and EPA related.

I am trying to contact some independent experts (I met during conferences) for some comments on my work. But I doubt anybody will reply.

I think my qualifications are very modest. Do you guys have any suggestions how to reply the RFE? How do I prove international recognition other than letters?

I can only think of a better presentation than what I did in my petition in three days. Hopefully, the company lawyers can also come up with some good arguments.

But I want to know if anybody here has any suggestions. I will really appreciate your advise. Thanks
 
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EB1OR@NSC said:
I need some advice from you guys regarding my EB1-OR RFE from NSC. It says...

The documentation submitted indicates the beneficiary is an accomplished research engineer and the importance of the described research is not in question. However, it is not apparent that the beneficiary has a level of recognition required for this visa classification.

8 C.F.R. 204.5(i)(3) provides that ''[a] petition for an outstanding researcher or professor must be accompanied by.. [e]vidence that the professor or researcher is recognized internationally as outstanding in the academic field specified in the petition

Please submit any available additional documentary evidence of international recognition, in existence as of the petition priority date, to demonstrate that the beneficiary is recognized internationally as outstanding in the academic field. Such evidence shall consist of atleast two of the following:
Then the RFE lists the six OR criteria

To me this RFE seems like do it again. It seems to be very general. Is this impending denial? Any opinions on this?

One problem with my petition was that it was done in extreme haste (three days) in order to beat the EB1 retrogression which occured on October 1. Hence, the I140 petition letter wasn't written well. In hind sight that was a mistake as the EB1 priority dates have been moving forward very fast.

Following are my qualifications...

I have a PhD; 9 months postdoc; 2.5yrs in the current position

2 Journal papers; 12 Conference papers and presentations

About 7-10 citation of my journal papers; one new citation has about a paragraph on my paper,rest are simple one line citations

I sumitted 5 references (2 from company including VP, Phd advisor, Manager from another company, One from DOE manager)
For RFE I can get letters from (PostDoc Advisor, Manager from a national lab, Peer from a national lab)

I have also done one Journal review.

My work during graduate studies and now in the company are DOE and EPA related.

I am trying to contact some independent experts (I met during conferences) for some comments on my work. But I doubt anybody will reply.

I think my qualifications are very modest. Do you guys have any suggestions how to reply the RFE? How do I prove international recognition other than letters?

I can only think of a better presentation than what I did in my petition in three days. Hopefully, the company lawyers can also come up with some good arguments.

But I want to know if anybody here has any suggestions. I will really appreciate your advise. Thanks
Click to expand...
Sorry about the rfe.
The wordings are standard.
Do you have an attorney?
I think you need to provide more letters. Especially from International experts in your field. Try to get a couple of letters from Europe or Canada. Also try if you can get a letter from the main author who cited your paper.
Did you include a letter from the journal editor regarding review? If not include it.
It all depends on how you initially presented your case.
One way to get letters is to go through your current or former boss.
Good luck,
 
sorry to hear about RFE!
It is quite general RFE and not at all conveying message of denial. understandbly they are recognizing that your are accomplished researcher/engineer. Its just they want more proof that you are outstanding in your area (may be 1-2%). Since they ask for data prior to filling dates then its best to get letters from independent acoomplished peopke about you being outstanding. that will help!! as you ur self agree petition was written in great hurry..i am sure you must have failed to project few issues which you can do now thru letters and powerful cover letter. Try getting letter from person who wrote this one paragraph while citing ur paper.accomplishments after PD have to carefully woven into the RFE letter...they can only be used to show continued impact and not projected as acoomplishements. Other than letters...do you think you missed something like awards/memeberships/reviwer etc in last filling!!! try covering that!!!
 
I greatly appreciate your helpful comments thanks. I will work on your suggestions.

I do have an award for my PhD Dissertation; but it was a departmental award at my university. So it is not at a national or international scale. Similarly, my professional memberships are not by invitation. I am thinking that I shouldn't mention these or any such small impact stuff as it may look like a frivolous claim. I should try to focus only on my strong points. Is that correct? My problem is that my strong points have small quantity. I will have to try my best to prove their quality.
 
hello eb1or@nsc,

The RFE simply requests you to provide additional evidence that you are outstanding and well-recognized in your field. Thus it can be addressed by providing additional evidences which you may have missed in your initial submission.
I suggest doing the following things in your response:
1. Get a few more "strong" letters from others in the field, especially from abroad (say 4-5 letters), indicating that your previous work were outstanding. It is important to get these letters from "independent" reserachers ("outer circle" or those who do not have close ties with you). Getting additional letters from the national lab, etc. but this should not be from your organization.
2. Get a letter from the editor of the journal stating that you are invited to review the paper since you are recognized as a leading authority in the field. Make sure the letter contains the paper title, journal title, etc. Paper reviews after the original submission date may not carry the same weight but you can show you sustained the recognition.
3. You can include the new citations of your paper in the RFE but do not overemphasize this. The RFE clearly stated that you need to show you have attained the recognition as oustanding at the time of submission.
4. Perhaps someone from DOE or EPA can attest that your dissertation work have found ways into current practices/implementation etc. Get letters from students who used your dissertation work as a basis for their work etc., especially abroad, can be helpful. Can someone comment on the impact of your conference presentations. Were you invited to give presentations anywhere? If yes, document this, and ask the person who invited you to say that you were invited due to your significant expertise in your particular field.
 
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