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AILA – American Immigration Lawyers Association: RFEs and the Nobel Prize

This is a post from AILA on Facebook.  It made me laugh and feel sad at the same time.  When I advise people about EB1 (employment-based first preference), I always say “if you are not a nobel prize winner, we have an uphill struggle”.  This post highlights the difficulties of the current adjudication process by the USCIS.

You know that things are bad in the world of RFEs, when members no longer believe that the receipt of a Nobel Prize will guarantee an EB-1 approval. One of our frequent Infonetters wrote that 3/4 of the the recent “U.S.” Nobel Prize winners, were in fact immigrants. In response another Infonetter wrote this:

And each one will get an RFE saying: “you have failed to submit objective evidence that your Nobel Prize sets you apart from others in your field engaged in similar activities. Please provide documentation that your Nobel Prize is indicative of international renown, as compared to other Nobel Prize winners. Further, we note that a large number of articles were submitted. While they briefly mention the beneficiary, for example, in a list of other Nobel Prize winners, they are not primarily about the beneficiary or his/her work. Articles briefly citing the beneficiary as one of many Nobel Prize winners may be considered in the section “publications” below.”

I notice no one is laughing.