Kazarian: what this citation means in your RFE
Updated: Author: Alina Kanametova
Kazarian v. USCIS, 596 F.3d 1115 (9th Cir. 2010)
The two-step analysis: count the criteria first, then judge the record as a whole.
Mentioned in 64 of 183 whole notices (55 distinct cases). Inside individual criterion analyses - 17 of 150 parsed notices, across 13 different desks.
What the decision holds
The Ninth Circuit's 2010 decision split the assessment into two stages. At the first the officer checks formally whether the filed documents match the criterion's description. The quality of the work is not discussed at that stage - the court said expressly that it must not be mixed in.
At the second - the final merits determination - the record is weighed as a whole: whether it shows sustained acclaim and a place among the small percentage at the top of the field.
That is where the outcome that looks contradictory comes from: the officer agrees three criteria are met and refuses anyway. Formally it is not a contradiction, it is the second stage.
USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 6, Part F, Chapter 2Where it sits in the notice
Usually in the opening section of the notice, before the criteria are taken apart - it frames everything that follows.
Which criteria it appears beside
What to do about it in a response
- 1Check which stage the objection belongs to. If the officer argues about the quality of the work inside the criterion analysis, that is exactly the mixing Kazarian forbids.
- 2The second stage is not answered by adding one more criterion but by a coherent account of recognition: who cites, who invites, who adopts, and how that changed over time.
- 3Draw the conclusion from the scattered evidence yourself. If you do not, the officer will.
Desks where it appeared
The sample is notices on petitions that already drew an RFE, NOID or denial: 183 full-text files for the "whole notice" count and 150 parsed notices for the "inside a criterion" count. A count shows how often a decision is cited when a petition is challenged, and says nothing about approvals. This is not legal advice; verify the text of the decision against the official source.