Matter of Ho: what this citation means in your RFE
Updated: Author: Alina Kanametova
Matter of Ho, 19 I&N Dec. 582 (BIA 1988)
One inconsistency lets the officer re-examine the reliability of everything else.
Mentioned in 24 of 183 whole notices (20 distinct cases). Inside individual criterion analyses - 4 of 150 parsed notices, across 3 different desks.
What the decision holds
The 1988 decision: doubt cast on any aspect of the proof calls into question the reliability and sufficiency of the rest. Such doubt is resolved only by independent objective evidence - an explanation alone will not do it.
This is the most expensive citation on the list: it turns one local inaccuracy into a reason to re-read the whole file.
The usual sources are date mismatches between a CV and the letters, different job titles across documents, figures that do not agree between two exhibits.
AAO decisions on uscis.govWhere it sits in the notice
After the officer has named a specific discrepancy - and usually just before casting doubt on a neighbouring criterion.
Which criteria it appears beside
- Scholarly authorship2 notices
- Membership1 notices
- Published material about you1 notices
- High remuneration1 notices
What to do about it in a response
- 1Resolve the discrepancy with a document, not a paragraph of explanation: a certificate, an order, a corrected and dated letter.
- 2Go through the rest of the packet for the same discrepancy elsewhere - it will be found.
- 3Put dates, titles and figures into one table and file it: that shows the contradictions are gone.
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.