Skip to content

RFE objection "speaking engagements are not the same as judging": how it was answered

Key answer

The officer distinguishes speaking engagements at forums from participation as a judge of others' work. Replace or supplement such materials with evidence of actually evaluating applications, projects, or participants' work.

The objection belongs to the "Judging" criterion. Below is what the community did to close it: the order of steps, the documents that were attached and the wording that went into the answer.

Steps that closed it

  1. Show that the role involved evaluating submissions, selecting participants, or making decisions, not just speaking.
  2. Separate the two roles in the description: speaker separately, judge or expert separately.
  3. Specify the evaluation criteria, voting format, and number of applications or projects evaluated.
  4. Add confirmation from the organizer that directly states participation on the jury, expert council, or committee.
  5. If there was only a presentation without evaluating other participants, do not use it as evidence of judging.

What was attached

  • letter from the organizer indicating the role of expert or jury member
  • event program where the role is listed as judge, jury, expert reviewer, evaluator
  • score sheets, minutes, screenshots of the evaluation panel without personal data
  • competition rules describing the jury's authority
  • final report indicating participation in decision-making

How the answer was worded

The applicant was invited not only to give a public presentation, but also to provide expert evaluation of participants' projects under approved criteria, including reviewing applications, assigning scores, and participating in the final decision-making process.

A pattern, not a template to copy: the wording only works with your own facts behind it.

Where to check this

Other objections on this criterion

Reference information and community experience, not legal advice. The AAO figures are lessons from appeals, not approval odds; fees and timelines change - verify on uscis.gov.