NIW RFE - please share your suggestions

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CD4help

Registered Users (C)
Dear all,

I did concurrent filing of I-140 and I-485 (to NSC) back in May, 2006. Several days ago, I got my RFE on I-485 (yes, not I-140) but actually asked specific questions on my NIW. Some of them are easy to answer (e.g. my W-2 form), but there is a tough one:

"You were the first author of two articles submitted for publication in
2003 and 2004, and those two articles have been frequently cited by others.
However, your evidence indicates that you submitted no articles for
publication in 2005, or early 2006. Please explain."

As I remeber, most people who received RFE were asked about the citations rather than the number of publications. My situation is a little bit different: I have few publications (only 4 papers (all American journals; two first authors), plus several conference papers), but those two papers were published in a very good journal and were frequently cited (35 and 41, respectively), as the adjudicator mentioned. The truth is my PI decided to combine what I did in 2005 and 2006 with the data from other members in the lab and wrote a big paper instead of submitting two smaller ones (though I would still be the first author), and then something unexpected happened - my PI was on medical leave and everything was put on hold. How should I answer this specific question :confused: ? I do not think telling the adjudicator the truth is a good approach :( . Since he/she asked this specific question, I guess more independent letters emphasizing the impact of my work (and thus justify the NIW) rather than address the question directly will not help too much here?

Thank you for your precious suggestions in advance!
 
Is there a way to say that you could not publish certain things as your work includes some proprietary information that you are holding on for possibly a patent application, or something like that. Does this situation close to yours?

Also, I find it strange that this RFE is related to I-485, and not I-140!
 
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Do not worry .. you will be fine .. I think you should answer directly any question asked in any RFE first before adding any further support evidence .. of course you should put more evidence but answer the question first ….. you can site several reasons but wise suggestion would be get a letter from your PI stating the truth and submit 1-2 drafted paper/patent on your ongoing research … I am sure she/he would not understand the research language but definitely will recognize the amount of work had been done in last 2 years on national interest … Just an opinion ...others might suggest you better … good luck

CD4help said:
Dear all,

I did concurrent filing of I-140 and I-485 (to NSC) back in May, 2006. Several days ago, I got my RFE on I-485 (yes, not I-140) but actually asked specific questions on my NIW. Some of them are easy to answer (e.g. my W-2 form), but there is a tough one:

"You were the first author of two articles submitted for publication in
2003 and 2004, and those two articles have been frequently cited by others.
However, your evidence indicates that you submitted no articles for
publication in 2005, or early 2006. Please explain."

As I remeber, most people who received RFE were asked about the citations rather than the number of publications. My situation is a little bit different: I have few publications (only 4 papers (all American journals; two first authors), plus several conference papers), but those two papers were published in a very good journal and were frequently cited (35 and 41, respectively), as the adjudicator mentioned. The truth is my PI decided to combine what I did in 2005 and 2006 with the data from other members in the lab and wrote a big paper instead of submitting two smaller ones (though I would still be the first author), and then something unexpected happened - my PI was on medical leave and everything was put on hold. How should I answer this specific question :confused: ? I do not think telling the adjudicator the truth is a good approach :( . Since he/she asked this specific question, I guess more independent letters emphasizing the impact of my work (and thus justify the NIW) rather than address the question directly will not help too much here?

Thank you for your precious suggestions in advance!
Click to expand...
 
JerIst said:
Is there a way to say that you could not publish certain things as your work includes some proprietary information that you are holding on for possibly a patent application, or something like that. Does this situation close to yours?

Also, I find it strange that this RFE is related to I-485, and not I-140!
Click to expand...

Well, that is an interesting idea, but unfortunately it is not my case. I am also puzzled by the fact that the RFE is issued to I-485 rather than I-140. Some memebers on this forum mentioned that may suggest they are really working my I-140 and I-485 CONCURRENTLY - i.e. if I get through, then my I-140 and I-485 will be approved at the same time. Hopefully it is true. On the other hand, I have a feeling my case is in the hand of a novice adjudicator - he/she is not very familiar with such cases.
 
pana said:
Do not worry .. you will be fine .. I think you should answer directly any question asked in any RFE first before adding any further support evidence .. of course you should put more evidence but answer the question first ….. you can site several reasons but wise suggestion would be get a letter from your PI stating the truth and submit 1-2 drafted paper/patent on your ongoing research … I am sure she/he would not understand the research language but definitely will recognize the amount of work had been done in last 2 years on national interest … Just an opinion ...others might suggest you better … good luck
Click to expand...

Thank you very much for the suggestion! In fact, the adjudicator mentioned the third prong of NIW in a very generic tone first, and then asked 6 specific questions. In addition to the one I posted earlier, he/she also asked for copies of complete grant proposal/progress report/final report of the NIH grant awarded to my PI (since when the USCIS hired scientists to read grants??? :eek: ), plus my PI's resume (it was included in her letter already, though :confused: ), and how much time I devoted (percentage-wise) to the research project on this grant. It seems to me the adjudicator wants to be sure I played a key role in this project/grant (which was also mentioned in the letter from my PI already). Since the only publications supported by this grant are the two papers I first-authored, that could help me demonstrate my contribution to this project, I guess?

Any further suggestions will be greatly appreciated!
 
I submitted in my original petition a copy of our yearly grant renewal report where my name and my SSN was clearly written as a supporting PI. Get something like that and add every thing what they asked.. ok? good luck
 
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Me too, I have accopmained my application with copies of Annual reports regarding our active grants as well, as a copy of the final reports all mentioing my role in the research. I have also included two grant proposals where my name clearly appear in.

It is helpful CD4help to arrange for something like if possible in your case. It seems many people are doing it and this USCIS officer is noticing it.
 
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