In April 2010, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) launched its Request for Evidence (RFE) Project, an initiative to review and revise the agency’s Service Center RFE templates. Since then, USCIS has published and sought feedback on its RFE templates for several types of cases, including L-1A, extraordinary ability and other categories.
On January 8, 2015, USCIS posted a new RFE template for the Multinational Executive and Manager immigrant petition category (referred to as E13 or EB-1C). In order to be classified as a multinational executive or manager, an individual must have been employed abroad in that capacity for at least one year in the three years preceding his or her entry into the U.S. Additionally, the individual must be coming to the U.S. to continue to work for a qualifying, related entity of the foreign employer. There is no labor certification required for this category, but the employer must provide evidence that the individual will work as an executive or manager in a qualifying capacity.
At first glance, the requirements for EB-1C cases seem deceptively simple. The EB-1C RFE template demonstrates the high-level of scrutiny that EB-1C cases undergo and the need for very extensive documentation to prove each element of the case. Even though the template shows the type of documentation USCIS typically expects to see when adjudicating this type of cases, it does not provide an explanation for why certain types of documents, even if provided, would be deemed insufficient and result in the denial of the case. Further, every case is unique and the documentation listed in the template will not always apply. In such cases, it is imperative to come up with alternative evidence to support eligibility because of the cookie-cutter approach taken by USCIS.
It is important to work with experienced counsel in preparing the EB-1C petition. Experienced counsel can evaluate the documentation provided, request further clarifying documents and argue eligibility under the rigorous regulatory standard.