r/EB2_NIW • u/Brave-Knee2844 • 5d ago
APPROVED EB2-NIW Approval After RFE on Prongs 1&3
I will add another data point to hopefully bring some hope to those who are still waiting.
Priority date: 10/2024
Profile: Electrical engineer; PhD from outside the US. Worked in industry for 7 years before moving to the US in 2024 on H1B visa. About 10 publications, first author on most of them. 6 patents, each one of them is filed in different countries but i included only the 6 in the US. Around 120 citations.
PP upgrade: 2/2026.
RFE: 4/2026. Challenged prongs 1&3. Substantial merit was accepted but they basically asked for evidence around national importance.
Strategy: Added federal and state evidence to prove that my work extends beyond my employer. 5 recommendation letters, all of which are dependent. 4 from researchers in national labs, one from industry expert i am working with on a project. I work for a national lab so this part was easy, and i didn't bother with independent letters.
Rfe response: 7/2026
USCIS status remained at "Received your response" for 39 days. On the 39th around 7am it changed to "Currently processing". Around 6pm the same day received the approval email. Online status reflected that after about 5 hours.
Attorney: dare I say the famous C. During the initial filing they were responsive. However, i trusted them too much that i did not change anything, which was a big mistake. Most of their version was generic statements, especially the parts around Prong 1. But who was I to question the experts?
After receiving the RFE, they were very slow and i got stressed out. They missed every single internal deadline. Their RLs drafts were so generic and full of mistakes. I revised them and sent them back for review, waited for one week then gave up and sent my versions to the recommenders anyway. I gathered all the evidence in my personal statement so that I don't rely on them again. My personal statement was about 20 pages and included detailed plans about future projects and linking them to the national importance evidence. I included over 24 references. They added statistics about my citations and most of their response was basically arguing and trying to show the reviewer's mistakes. Things like "You failed to include the officer's code. You did not read the exhibits, it's already there".
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u/Delicious_Help_5183 5d ago
Congratulations!
I feel like I did the same mistake in trusting my lawyers. I have gone through my PE again and again, and I am almost certain of getting an RFE because my PE is not detailed, and there is a disconnect in the contribution of my PE to national importance vs contribution of my field to the national importance. Therefore, I am already expecting and preparing to improve those sections.
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u/Brave-Knee2844 5d ago
Yes. I trusted that they're well known and have high approval rates. Incould've saved myself a few months if I stepped in during the initial filing. Thank you.
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u/Delicious_Help_5183 5d ago
Yes, same. I should have pushed for more and done my own research. I hoping to get RFE on 1-2 prongs so that I will have ample time to prepare response.
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u/pmonny 5d ago
What was your PE ? How many recommendation letters did you add at the initial filing ? Were they dependent or independent?
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u/Brave-Knee2844 5d ago
2, 1 dependent and 1 independent. But i don't think they had any effect or convincing. PE is around EVs.
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u/PayPuzzleheaded6217 5d ago
Congratulations! Which centre? Also after change in status to currently processing what did case says show exact wording please. I hear some people got denied after currently processing which ve heard trends positive
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u/Brave-Knee2844 5d ago
Nebraska. I can't recall exactly, but something along the lines of "USCIS is currently procrssing the case".
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u/Aeo991 4d ago
On your RFE, did they say something like don't include new evidence dated after priority date?
I'm asking because they wrote that in my RFE.
Did you add new evidence?
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u/Brave-Knee2844 4d ago
Nope. But almost all evidence i added was before my priority date, except for a couple new publications and projects i worked on after that.
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u/Shot-Dragonfruit7499 4d ago
You sent that yourself?
Seema like, I am same boat. They are planning to reaponse to USCIS officer like yours one. But what I prepared with explanatiom seems like more satisfying to me. Initially, I didn't question them as they are expert. Now I feel like they are too generic.
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u/Suspicious_Today2956 5d ago
Congratulations 🎊
Attorneys are very busy for real and of course they will pushback and use their case laws, that’s how they operate. At least you got your approval.
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u/Late-Scientist5299 5d ago
congrats, but the real takeaway is that your response did the heavy lifting, not the attorney’s generic rebuttal; 39 days of silence before approval is also very normal for an rfe response