Dear all,
Thank you everybody for all your contributions, they helped us immensely in our application. I am not a frequent poster on these boards due to time constraints and lack of knowledge. But I want to make up for this by posting a detailed message about our RFE and how we tackled it.
Background: This is about a I-140 petition for a EB1-OR category for my husband. He is a research assistant professor in Physics (non tenure-track) at a US University. Ph.D in Europe, postdoctoral associate for 5 years and research assistant professor for the last 2 years. He has reviewed 3 articles in 2 international journals. Initial evidence included 8 letters of recommendation from 5 countries (US, UK, France, Germany, and Japan), 1 patent, and 22 journal publications and 32 professional papers at conferences (including information about journal ranking, selection, and significance). Note that he was the first author only in about half of them (I don't know the exact numbers). The journals have an average impact factor and most of them have international circulation (so he didn't publish in Nature or Physical Review Letters).
The original application was prepared by our international advisor, and the cover letter had about 2 pages which could be called memorandum in support of the petition. His initial application only claimed 3 criteria (D, E, and F see below)
The RFE he received is outlined bellow. Note the additional specific details asked by the adjudicator. See also this thread, where I received some very useful suggestions:
http://immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?t=232886
____________________________
1. Submit evidence that the alien has at least three years of experience in teaching and/or research in the academic field. Experience in teaching or research while working on an advanced degree will only be acceptable if the alien has acquired the degree, and if the teaching duties were such that he or she had full responsibility for the class taught or if the research conducted toward the degree has been recognized within the academic field as outstanding. Evidence must be in the form of letter(s) from current or former employer(s) and must include the name, address, and title of the writer, and a specific description of the duties performed by the alien.
2. Please submit a copy of the offer by the university to the beneficiary of a permanent research position. 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(i)(3). The document now requested is the actual offer of a permanent research position issued by the university to the alien that will bring the beneficiary to the university, or change the alien’s existing employment status from that of temporary to permanent employment.
If the offer is not from the university’s Administration, Human Resources Office, Office of the Provost or comparable authority, please submit additional evidence that the employee issuing the offer is authorized by the university to commit it to a permanent employment relationship. Specifically, please submit a letter from the university’s Administration or Human Resources Office confirming that 1) the employee making the offer has authority to offer permanent employment on the university’s behalf, and 2) the university is aware of and supports the hiring of the beneficiary.
3. The evidence you have submitted does not establish eligibility for this classification. You must submit additional evidence which demonstrates that the alien is recognized internationally as outstanding in the specific academic area. To establish that the alien is an outstanding professor or researcher you must submit evidence that he/she is recognized internationally as outstanding in the specific academic area. Such evidence must consist of at least two of the following:
A) Documentation of the alien's receipt of major prizes or awards for outstanding achievement in the academic field. If the evidence includes awards or prizes, explain the reputation of the organization granting the award, the significance of the award, and the criteria used to select the recipient.
B) Documentation of the alien's membership in associations in the academic field, which require outstanding achievements of their members. If the evidence includes membership in associations in the field, submit evidence of the requirements which must be met for membership.
C) Published material in professional publications written by others about the alien's work in the academic field. (Mere reference to the alien’s work or inclusion of the alien’s work in bibliographies or footnotes is insufficient.) Such material shall include the title, date, and author of the material, and any necessary translation. If the evidence includes published material about the alien’s work, it must clearly indicate that the work is significant. An unevaluated listing in a subject matter index or footnote, or a reference to the work without evaluation is insufficient.
D) Evidence of the alien's participation on a panel, or individually, as the judge of the work of others in the same, or an allied, academic field. If the evidence includes participation as a judge of the work of others in the field, explain the criteria for selection as a panelist, reviewer, etc.
You provided evidence that the beneficiary has reviewed three journal submissions for Journal 1 and Journal 2. Provide additional evidence that the beneficiary meets this criterion such as evidence of the beneficiary’s selection to a review or editorial board, chair of a scientific conference, grant reviewer, or that the beneficiary has a larger number of article review requests by a number of journals.
E) Evidence of the alien's original scientific or scholarly research contributions to the academic field. If the evidence includes original scientific, scholarly, artistic, or business-related contributions, submit evidence of the importance of such contributions to the field. Evidence that those outside the alien’s circle of colleagues and acquaintances consider the work important is especially valuable.
You submitted evidence that the beneficiary has received a patent for his work with []. You also provided letters of recommendation from the beneficiary’s peers. Provide additional evidence from third-parties for whom the beneficiary has not had a working relationship with. Evidence could include a letter from such an individual that has used the beneficiary’s research to further their own work. Evidence could also be from companies or other organizations that have used the beneficiary’s work to produce a new product or improve a process they use.
F) Evidence of the alien's authorship of scholarly books or articles (in scholarly journals with international circulation) in the academic field. If the evidence includes authorship of scholarly articles, explain the significance of the publications in which they appeared.
The evidence suggests that the beneficiary has published 22 articles and presented at 32 conferences. Provide evidence that the beneficiary has written a large amount of articles in comparison with his peers, or that he has been asked to present his work more than others at scientific conferences. Such evidence of the significance of the authorship of the beneficiary may include evidence that the beneficiary has been keynote speaker at conferences. ______________________________________________________
We prepared the answer ourselves this time:
1. Rewrote the cover letter, which had about 14 pages when it was sent
2. Sent letter from the human resources attesting his work experience with the university (more than 3 years)
3. Sent letter from the Dean of College attesting that he has a permanent position and that he is the hiring authority (in the initial evidence the letter was written by the Chair of the Department)
4. For C) he found some citations about his work in a review article and in a review conference presentation, and used them to argue that he qualifies for this criterion (he didn't submit anything to sustain this point with the initial evidence). One of the citations was also mentioned in a letter of reference.
5. For D) got a letters from the journals he reviewed (we used only one that mentioned that they select scientists with outstanding qualifications for their review activities, the other one did not say anything about the qualifications of their reviewers)
6. For E) gathered additional strong 5 reference letters (US, Japan, France)
7. For F) added an invitation to be a keynote speaker to an international conference, (he didn't attend because he didn't have a visa stamp, and could not return; he mentioned this in his answer)
8. For F) used two publications (below) to compare the number of articles he wrote with the national average, proving he has a large number of publications, plus a reference letter from his postdoctoral adviser attesting the same.
Cataldi, E.F., Bradburn, E.M., and Fahimi, M. (2005) 2004 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF:04): Background Characteristics, Work Activities, and Compensation of Instructional Faculty and Staff: Fall 2003 (NCES 2006-176). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch.
Goldberger, M.L., Maher, B.A. and Ebert Flattau, P., Editors; Committee for the Study of Research-Doctorate Programs in the United States, National Research Council (1995) “Research-Doctorate Programs in the United States: Continuity and Change”, National Academy Press, Washington D.C. The data reported can be found at http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/researchdoc/. Details on the study and the next release (2007) are at http://www7.nationalacademies.org/resdoc/.
He also described his field of work (actually 4 areas of research) in his cover letter, to make it easier for the adjudicator to understand the reference letters (not sure if that worked). The letter was filled with quotes from his reference letter, whenever they could sustain his arguments.
I hope this helps; it wasn't easy to write the whole thing. The main conclusion is that one has to think like a lawyer. Reading the Administrative Appeals Office Decisions was extremely helpful, considering how strict the Nebraska Service Center is. You can find them at this link:
http://www.uscis.gov/uscis-ext-templating/uscis/jspoverride/errFrameset.jsp
There are so many people here with outstanding credentials who get unfairly rejected... Don't lose hope! Hire a lawyer or prepare a better cover letter yourself. And if you can e-file to TSC the better!
Good luck everybody, you'll all get approvals soon!
Thank you everybody for all your contributions, they helped us immensely in our application. I am not a frequent poster on these boards due to time constraints and lack of knowledge. But I want to make up for this by posting a detailed message about our RFE and how we tackled it.
Background: This is about a I-140 petition for a EB1-OR category for my husband. He is a research assistant professor in Physics (non tenure-track) at a US University. Ph.D in Europe, postdoctoral associate for 5 years and research assistant professor for the last 2 years. He has reviewed 3 articles in 2 international journals. Initial evidence included 8 letters of recommendation from 5 countries (US, UK, France, Germany, and Japan), 1 patent, and 22 journal publications and 32 professional papers at conferences (including information about journal ranking, selection, and significance). Note that he was the first author only in about half of them (I don't know the exact numbers). The journals have an average impact factor and most of them have international circulation (so he didn't publish in Nature or Physical Review Letters).
The original application was prepared by our international advisor, and the cover letter had about 2 pages which could be called memorandum in support of the petition. His initial application only claimed 3 criteria (D, E, and F see below)
The RFE he received is outlined bellow. Note the additional specific details asked by the adjudicator. See also this thread, where I received some very useful suggestions:
http://immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?t=232886
____________________________
1. Submit evidence that the alien has at least three years of experience in teaching and/or research in the academic field. Experience in teaching or research while working on an advanced degree will only be acceptable if the alien has acquired the degree, and if the teaching duties were such that he or she had full responsibility for the class taught or if the research conducted toward the degree has been recognized within the academic field as outstanding. Evidence must be in the form of letter(s) from current or former employer(s) and must include the name, address, and title of the writer, and a specific description of the duties performed by the alien.
2. Please submit a copy of the offer by the university to the beneficiary of a permanent research position. 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(i)(3). The document now requested is the actual offer of a permanent research position issued by the university to the alien that will bring the beneficiary to the university, or change the alien’s existing employment status from that of temporary to permanent employment.
If the offer is not from the university’s Administration, Human Resources Office, Office of the Provost or comparable authority, please submit additional evidence that the employee issuing the offer is authorized by the university to commit it to a permanent employment relationship. Specifically, please submit a letter from the university’s Administration or Human Resources Office confirming that 1) the employee making the offer has authority to offer permanent employment on the university’s behalf, and 2) the university is aware of and supports the hiring of the beneficiary.
3. The evidence you have submitted does not establish eligibility for this classification. You must submit additional evidence which demonstrates that the alien is recognized internationally as outstanding in the specific academic area. To establish that the alien is an outstanding professor or researcher you must submit evidence that he/she is recognized internationally as outstanding in the specific academic area. Such evidence must consist of at least two of the following:
A) Documentation of the alien's receipt of major prizes or awards for outstanding achievement in the academic field. If the evidence includes awards or prizes, explain the reputation of the organization granting the award, the significance of the award, and the criteria used to select the recipient.
B) Documentation of the alien's membership in associations in the academic field, which require outstanding achievements of their members. If the evidence includes membership in associations in the field, submit evidence of the requirements which must be met for membership.
C) Published material in professional publications written by others about the alien's work in the academic field. (Mere reference to the alien’s work or inclusion of the alien’s work in bibliographies or footnotes is insufficient.) Such material shall include the title, date, and author of the material, and any necessary translation. If the evidence includes published material about the alien’s work, it must clearly indicate that the work is significant. An unevaluated listing in a subject matter index or footnote, or a reference to the work without evaluation is insufficient.
D) Evidence of the alien's participation on a panel, or individually, as the judge of the work of others in the same, or an allied, academic field. If the evidence includes participation as a judge of the work of others in the field, explain the criteria for selection as a panelist, reviewer, etc.
You provided evidence that the beneficiary has reviewed three journal submissions for Journal 1 and Journal 2. Provide additional evidence that the beneficiary meets this criterion such as evidence of the beneficiary’s selection to a review or editorial board, chair of a scientific conference, grant reviewer, or that the beneficiary has a larger number of article review requests by a number of journals.
E) Evidence of the alien's original scientific or scholarly research contributions to the academic field. If the evidence includes original scientific, scholarly, artistic, or business-related contributions, submit evidence of the importance of such contributions to the field. Evidence that those outside the alien’s circle of colleagues and acquaintances consider the work important is especially valuable.
You submitted evidence that the beneficiary has received a patent for his work with []. You also provided letters of recommendation from the beneficiary’s peers. Provide additional evidence from third-parties for whom the beneficiary has not had a working relationship with. Evidence could include a letter from such an individual that has used the beneficiary’s research to further their own work. Evidence could also be from companies or other organizations that have used the beneficiary’s work to produce a new product or improve a process they use.
F) Evidence of the alien's authorship of scholarly books or articles (in scholarly journals with international circulation) in the academic field. If the evidence includes authorship of scholarly articles, explain the significance of the publications in which they appeared.
The evidence suggests that the beneficiary has published 22 articles and presented at 32 conferences. Provide evidence that the beneficiary has written a large amount of articles in comparison with his peers, or that he has been asked to present his work more than others at scientific conferences. Such evidence of the significance of the authorship of the beneficiary may include evidence that the beneficiary has been keynote speaker at conferences. ______________________________________________________
We prepared the answer ourselves this time:
1. Rewrote the cover letter, which had about 14 pages when it was sent
2. Sent letter from the human resources attesting his work experience with the university (more than 3 years)
3. Sent letter from the Dean of College attesting that he has a permanent position and that he is the hiring authority (in the initial evidence the letter was written by the Chair of the Department)
4. For C) he found some citations about his work in a review article and in a review conference presentation, and used them to argue that he qualifies for this criterion (he didn't submit anything to sustain this point with the initial evidence). One of the citations was also mentioned in a letter of reference.
5. For D) got a letters from the journals he reviewed (we used only one that mentioned that they select scientists with outstanding qualifications for their review activities, the other one did not say anything about the qualifications of their reviewers)
6. For E) gathered additional strong 5 reference letters (US, Japan, France)
7. For F) added an invitation to be a keynote speaker to an international conference, (he didn't attend because he didn't have a visa stamp, and could not return; he mentioned this in his answer)
8. For F) used two publications (below) to compare the number of articles he wrote with the national average, proving he has a large number of publications, plus a reference letter from his postdoctoral adviser attesting the same.
Cataldi, E.F., Bradburn, E.M., and Fahimi, M. (2005) 2004 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF:04): Background Characteristics, Work Activities, and Compensation of Instructional Faculty and Staff: Fall 2003 (NCES 2006-176). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch.
Goldberger, M.L., Maher, B.A. and Ebert Flattau, P., Editors; Committee for the Study of Research-Doctorate Programs in the United States, National Research Council (1995) “Research-Doctorate Programs in the United States: Continuity and Change”, National Academy Press, Washington D.C. The data reported can be found at http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/researchdoc/. Details on the study and the next release (2007) are at http://www7.nationalacademies.org/resdoc/.
He also described his field of work (actually 4 areas of research) in his cover letter, to make it easier for the adjudicator to understand the reference letters (not sure if that worked). The letter was filled with quotes from his reference letter, whenever they could sustain his arguments.
I hope this helps; it wasn't easy to write the whole thing. The main conclusion is that one has to think like a lawyer. Reading the Administrative Appeals Office Decisions was extremely helpful, considering how strict the Nebraska Service Center is. You can find them at this link:
http://www.uscis.gov/uscis-ext-templating/uscis/jspoverride/errFrameset.jsp
There are so many people here with outstanding credentials who get unfairly rejected... Don't lose hope! Hire a lawyer or prepare a better cover letter yourself. And if you can e-file to TSC the better!
Good luck everybody, you'll all get approvals soon!
