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RFE phraseThe standard of review

"The petitioner has not established": what it means in an RFE or denial

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The petitioner has not established that the beneficiary meets this criterion. / The record does not establish…
USCIS Policy Manual, Vol. 1, Part E, Ch. 4 (burden and standards of proof)

What it means

RFE

An RFE (Request for Evidence) is a USCIS request for additional proof. It is not a denial: the officer needed more material and sets a deadline (usually up to ~87 days) to send it in one package. A complete, structured on-time response often ends in approval.

In the RFE the officer lists which criteria they do not yet consider met and why. Respond strictly to those objections: new evidence, explanations and references to already-filed exhibits - all in one package before the deadline.

Typical objections per criterion and how to answer them are covered in the RFE section; a response draft can be assembled with the tool.

The glossary entry

Kazarian

Kazarian is the court precedent that established the two-step EB-1A review: first a formal count of the criteria (at least 3 of 10 required), then final merits - a holistic assessment of whether the evidence really shows extraordinary ability. USCIS applies this approach to every EB-1A case.

The practical consequence: 'ticking three criteria' off a checklist is not enough. The same evidence is weighed on the merits at step two, so a strong petition builds a coherent story of recognition in the field out of it.

How officers apply the two-step analysis is visible in the published AAO decisions in the database on this site.

The glossary entry

From the knowledge base: Glossary of Terms for U.S. Talent Visas O-1, EB-1, EB-2

This is the layer of terminology that separates people who just read instructions from those who understand the reasoning behind denials. All these terms appear in AAO decisions and in RFE texts, and without knowing them, it is impossible to understand why some cases are denied despite meeting all criteria.

Read the full article

The precedent behind the sentence

Treasure Craft · Matter of Treasure Craft of California, 14 I&N Dec. 190 (BIA 1972)

An assertion with no document behind it is not evidence.

  • The line that gets quoted: going on record without supporting documentary evidence does not meet the burden of proof. Matter of Soffici (1998) usually appears alongside it - the same point, and the two have been cited as a pair ever since.
  • In practice: a letter saying "the beneficiary is widely recognised" proves only that its author thinks so. The evidence is what the letter points AT - the invitation, the contract, the publication, the minutes.
  • Which is why a stack of similar recommendation letters with no exhibits behind them draws this citation almost every time.

Seen in 9 of 150 parsed notices, across 7 desks.

The precedent page

Matter of E-M- · Matter of E-M-, 20 I&N Dec. 77 (Comm'r 1989)

The standard of proof: preponderance of the evidence, judged on quality rather than volume.

  • The 1989 decision states how an officer must weigh evidence: truth is determined not by the quantity submitted but by its quality - the relevance, probative value and credibility of each document.
  • The bar itself is not high: preponderance of the evidence, i.e. more likely than not. Not "beyond reasonable doubt", not "clear and convincing".
  • In this corpus all six citations fell on the high-salary criterion - where the argument is about whether figures are comparable, not about how many there are.

Seen in 6 of 150 parsed notices, across 6 desks.

The precedent page

What the chats ask about ""The petitioner has not established""

  • 1×We are expecting a child - does that not confirm the authenticity of the relationship?
  • 1×petitioner has not established eligibility for the benefit sought. As a result, USCIS intends to deny Form I-140.

Questions and answers on the site

Distilled from the public community chats, anonymised; corpus as of June 2026. These are participants' observations, not legal advice and not USCIS statistics.

Related

All RFE phrasesRFE by criterionPrecedents officers citeAfter a denial← Preponderance of the evidenceTreasure Craft: assertions without documents →

Frequently asked questions

What does ""The petitioner has not established"" mean?
An RFE (Request for Evidence) is a USCIS request for additional proof. It is not a denial: the officer needed more material and sets a deadline (usually up to ~87 days) to send it in one package. A complete, structured on-time response often ends in approval.
Where is this stated officially?
USCIS Policy Manual, Vol. 1, Part E, Ch. 4 (burden and standards of proof): https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-1-part-e-chapter-4
Which precedent is behind it?
Treasure Craft - An assertion with no document behind it is not evidence.

The sentence is quoted from its official source (link under the quote); the explanation is assembled from the site glossary, the precedent notes, the knowledge base and distilled community observations. Not legal advice; the site is not affiliated with USCIS.