On a recent EB-2 NIW denial

Here’s a post by immigration lawyer Amber Davis on a recent EB-2 NIW denial:

We received a three page EB-2 NIW denial recently.

The first two pages were just templatized language that is typically used in denial notices so it was really a one page denial notice.

The denial notice said very little about why the case was denied. The officer cited two random paragraphs from our RFE response, but did not at all talk about the evidence we presented for the case (it was as if they did not even review our petition and the evidence we submitted).

It’s the most insufficient denial decision that I have ever seen.

For cases like these, while appealing the decision is possible (the AAO would certainly agree with us that the decision was insufficient), if time is an issue, we tend to recommend that you refile your case to try to get a different officer. This is because appealing a denial decision like this can be a lengthy process and take up to two years. One contributing reason for this is that the AAO is likely to send it back to the original adjudicating officer to provide a proper analysis rather than approve the case outright.

Sometimes, you just get an officer who has unreasonable standards (or a lack of knowledge - I tend to think in this case it’s just pure laziness in knowledge and effort) when it comes to EB-2 NIW or simply denies your case without reviewing it. It’s simply how USCIS adjudications work - sometimes, you get a reasonable officer and other times, you don’t and have to end up refiling your case.

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Interested in EB-1A, EB-2 NIW or O-1? Feel free to reach out to Amber at amber.davis@waypointimmigration.org or via LinkedIn messages.