Last week, our team was analyzing recent cases where we turned an RFE (Request for Additional Evidence*) into an approval, both from cases that we originally prepared and cases from people who came to us with an RFE after preparing the petition by themselves (or using another firm). Because the EB-2 NIW visa has become more and more about nuance and perception, we compared these cases with others that did not end up being successful, even when the petition, the supporting documentation, and the person’s background would, at first, suggest otherwise. This is a very important exercise we do to almost daily to enhance our understanding of what officers are focusing on right now, how immigration trends are shifiting, and ultimately, maintain approvals at a high rate. What we noticed is that the perception of a clear endeavor implementation path versus a robust, but theoretical plan was the key difference between cases that got approved and cases that didn’t. Cases that, in theory, had lower chances of approval surpassed strong cases with conciseness, a clear implementation plan, and real interest from U.S. parties in adopting the proposed endeavor. One could argument that Matter of Dhanasar is all about “prospective potential” impact, and I agree. But the art of the game is playing by the officer’s rules and anticipating their attempt to shift the goalpost (which happens A LOT). The art of the game is also knowing which parts of Dhanasar officers have completely abandoned and how far in the RFE response they will actually read (and accept). Many people try (sometimes with a lot of reason) to fight officers in their RFE response. But between being right and getting an approval, the latter is cheaper, better, faster, and easier. ----------------------------- * Request for Additional Evidence, or "RFE", is when the immigration asks for additional information or documentation after you submitted your petition. These can be just administrative and smaller requests to dozens of pages of additional documentation. RFEs usually come with a 3-month deadline to respond, which can cause a lot of anxiety for people who are not familiar with this process.