Details are:
RD 08/02/99, ND 08/05/99, RFE 06/15/00, RFE replied 09/07/00, message updated 09/18/00, AD 10/12/00, notice received by mail 10/24/00, voice message is not updated.
Background:
- Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Russia (1996)
- 2 years of postdoc in the US at the time of petition
- 8 publications
- 4 conferences
- just 4 citations
- member of Org. Committee of one small international conference
- 4 awards (1 old department-level student award, 2 grants where I was NOT a PI, only was listed as one of the key investigators, and 1 international scholarship, which is solely mine)
- 8 recommendation letters (2 from foreign professors, 4 from US professors, 1 from US university lab manager, 1 from Senior Scientist from industry, US)
- 2 "no-big-deal" memberships - I doubt they count anyhow
Additionally submitted with the RFE:
- 1 more publication
- 1 more citation
- 1 page from a textbook dedicated to my research, which however cites only my advisers\' publications, not mine. I cited words from their letters to prove my input in that research.
- 2 more letters from professors (1 from top pharmaceutical company, 1 from UK assistant professor). One states I am in the top 5%, the other - that my my skills are not found in an average PhD.
- 1 invitation for membership from AAAS (it is also just a paid subscription membership, but they sent a nice invitation certificate... I did not even accept the membership but thought it might be good enough for the INS) - not sure if that count though
- extensive information mostly from the web on those awards and grants: pool of candidates, percentage of awards, and selection criteria (RFE requested this).
Most of my "achievements" were from abroad, including publications.
I ended up filing everything without a lawyer, but it is a separate story (see another posting). I would STRONGLY advise to use one, but: only a GOOD and reliable one.
My approval is mostly a pure luck. Well... I am also a little proud of my work on making the case out of my background.
Some more words of advise. According to some good lawyers, if you don\'t have documents that directly confirm in writing that you are really, really outstanding, then you MUST get expert letters from people who does not know you well personally. And those letters should state clearly that you are "one of the small percentage at the very top in your field", or "significanly above average", or similar. Of course, there is no such requirement anywhere in the regulations, but this is what the INS wants to see in NIW, OR, or EA petitions.
Good luck to everybody!
ooa
RD 08/02/99, ND 08/05/99, RFE 06/15/00, RFE replied 09/07/00, message updated 09/18/00, AD 10/12/00, notice received by mail 10/24/00, voice message is not updated.
Background:
- Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Russia (1996)
- 2 years of postdoc in the US at the time of petition
- 8 publications
- 4 conferences
- just 4 citations
- member of Org. Committee of one small international conference
- 4 awards (1 old department-level student award, 2 grants where I was NOT a PI, only was listed as one of the key investigators, and 1 international scholarship, which is solely mine)
- 8 recommendation letters (2 from foreign professors, 4 from US professors, 1 from US university lab manager, 1 from Senior Scientist from industry, US)
- 2 "no-big-deal" memberships - I doubt they count anyhow
Additionally submitted with the RFE:
- 1 more publication
- 1 more citation
- 1 page from a textbook dedicated to my research, which however cites only my advisers\' publications, not mine. I cited words from their letters to prove my input in that research.
- 2 more letters from professors (1 from top pharmaceutical company, 1 from UK assistant professor). One states I am in the top 5%, the other - that my my skills are not found in an average PhD.
- 1 invitation for membership from AAAS (it is also just a paid subscription membership, but they sent a nice invitation certificate... I did not even accept the membership but thought it might be good enough for the INS) - not sure if that count though
- extensive information mostly from the web on those awards and grants: pool of candidates, percentage of awards, and selection criteria (RFE requested this).
Most of my "achievements" were from abroad, including publications.
I ended up filing everything without a lawyer, but it is a separate story (see another posting). I would STRONGLY advise to use one, but: only a GOOD and reliable one.
My approval is mostly a pure luck. Well... I am also a little proud of my work on making the case out of my background.
Some more words of advise. According to some good lawyers, if you don\'t have documents that directly confirm in writing that you are really, really outstanding, then you MUST get expert letters from people who does not know you well personally. And those letters should state clearly that you are "one of the small percentage at the very top in your field", or "significanly above average", or similar. Of course, there is no such requirement anywhere in the regulations, but this is what the INS wants to see in NIW, OR, or EA petitions.
Good luck to everybody!
ooa
