How to respond to an RFE that questions the originality of your academic and professional contributions?

When the USCIS issues an RFE (Request for Evidence) questioning the originality of your academic and professional contributions in an EB-2 NIW petition, the goal is to understand to what extent your work is genuinely your own and relevant to the field. The strongest response combines a clear explanation with well-organized documentation.

An effective approach typically involves:

• Reading the RFE carefully to identify exactly what is being questioned.
• Gathering evidence of the independent development of your ideas, such as publications, patents, presentations, and expert letters.
• Writing a personal statement that describes your creative process, what your work innovated, and which gaps it addressed.
• Organizing the documentation into thematic sections, linking each piece of evidence to the specific contribution it supports.

The easier it is for the adjudicator to connect each claim to its supporting evidence, the stronger your response will be. The goal is to demonstrate clearly that your contributions are genuinely yours and carry relevance in your field.

Since every RFE is specific, it is important to follow exactly what the document requests and, in complex cases, to have a specialist review your response before submitting it to USCIS.

About the author

Victoria Harper

Editor-in-Chief

Meet the author

As a journalist and lead editor at Visto n’ Visa, Victoria helps ensure that immigration topics are covered in a clear, trustworthy, and easy-to-understand way. Her focus is on delivering useful, human, and relevant content for people exploring new paths abroad.