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Does winning an online contest count as an award?

Key answer

The format (online or offline) does not decide by itself - the contest's reputation does: media coverage, who judges it, past winners, real selection. The community warns that contests handing awards to anyone who applies and pays are recognized by officers, and such awards carry zero weight.

Community answers

The answers below are translated from the original Russian - the language of the community chats.

  • It depends on how well-known the competition is: has the media written about it, are there famous judges and winners? Look for all mentions—if you plan to apply, they will be needed for evidence.

  • An award is suitable if it is from your field, you have proof of receipt, it has a national or international status, it was personally received, there are publications about it, and other well-known people in your field have received it.

  • From the candidates' perspective, some awards hand out prizes freely across various categories. This means that the merit value of the award is zero—officers see that.

The answers are anonymized community experience from the public chats, not legal advice. Officers may decide similar cases differently.

Why "Awards" gets refused

Accepted in 14% of challenged petitions (25 of 184); not an approval rate.

The award itself is not shown to enjoy national or international recognition. Officers assess the prize itself, not merely the fact that you won it.

All refusal grounds and the sample

Sources

All questions on: Awards

Related on this site

Similar questions

A reference page built from community experience, not legal advice. Requirements and practice change - verify on uscis.gov.

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