I am happy to share the news that I received the decision letter from AAO that they approved my NIW appeal. I was very worried since I noticed LUDs on both I-140 and I-290B last Friday and this Monday but no approval email as normally expected according to my lawyer. I guess they just forgot to update the computer file properly. The following is my story:
I have a Ph.D. in Nuclear and Particle Physics from MIT. I applied for NIW in April, 2003 then I-485's in March 2004. In initial application, I did not know anything about this business, followed the instructions of the lawyer and assumed everything should be fine. I collected 8 letters from my advisors, collaborators, National Lab staffs, etc. all have some connection with my project. The lawyer did not ask for citation history, which became the primary ground for denial. I received the denial letters for all cases together in January 2005 without RFE. I was so frustrated and started to read things on internet and began to understand the rules of this game. On appeal, I sent two independent letters stating that they implemented my research results in their own research. Also two letters from the collaboration leaders stating my contribution to the project were significant. Due to nature of these large scale accelerator physics experiments, our papers all have a whole page of author names, which was the secondary reason for denial. CIS like papers with just 3-5 authors, but it is impossible in my field. I also send a letter from the President of my current company stating my accomplishments since I joined the firm. More importantly, I submitted the citation index showing about 400 citations, which is pretty common for articles published on Physical Review Letters, the highest journal in physics which CIS apparently does not know. They only know Nature, Science, which mostly report the popular or hot topics such as biotech, nano-tech. Anyway, in the decision letter, they still dislike the numerous authors, but the letters cleared their mind that it is necessary and I contribute significant as an individual. It's been a long wait in frustration, 31 months, compared to recent 31 hours approvals. Now I am waiting for the official approval notice from VSC and plan to ask them to re-open I-485's. Although the visa number is not available now, since it was VSC who mistakenly denied them, it is reasonable to ask for re-opening them, am I correct? Please share your opinion. I can really use some AP and EAD for my wife now
Comrades, please do not lose hope. As long as you play the game according to their rules, everything will turn out to be fine.
I have a Ph.D. in Nuclear and Particle Physics from MIT. I applied for NIW in April, 2003 then I-485's in March 2004. In initial application, I did not know anything about this business, followed the instructions of the lawyer and assumed everything should be fine. I collected 8 letters from my advisors, collaborators, National Lab staffs, etc. all have some connection with my project. The lawyer did not ask for citation history, which became the primary ground for denial. I received the denial letters for all cases together in January 2005 without RFE. I was so frustrated and started to read things on internet and began to understand the rules of this game. On appeal, I sent two independent letters stating that they implemented my research results in their own research. Also two letters from the collaboration leaders stating my contribution to the project were significant. Due to nature of these large scale accelerator physics experiments, our papers all have a whole page of author names, which was the secondary reason for denial. CIS like papers with just 3-5 authors, but it is impossible in my field. I also send a letter from the President of my current company stating my accomplishments since I joined the firm. More importantly, I submitted the citation index showing about 400 citations, which is pretty common for articles published on Physical Review Letters, the highest journal in physics which CIS apparently does not know. They only know Nature, Science, which mostly report the popular or hot topics such as biotech, nano-tech. Anyway, in the decision letter, they still dislike the numerous authors, but the letters cleared their mind that it is necessary and I contribute significant as an individual. It's been a long wait in frustration, 31 months, compared to recent 31 hours approvals. Now I am waiting for the official approval notice from VSC and plan to ask them to re-open I-485's. Although the visa number is not available now, since it was VSC who mistakenly denied them, it is reasonable to ask for re-opening them, am I correct? Please share your opinion. I can really use some AP and EAD for my wife now
Comrades, please do not lose hope. As long as you play the game according to their rules, everything will turn out to be fine.