In 2025, USCIS started issuing more requests for evidence and notices of intent to deny, including for employment-based filings such as O-1, L-1, EB-1, and EB-2 national interest waiver petitions. Lawyers report RFEs that are both more frequent and sometimes broader or more demanding than before.
Why are you seeing more RFEs and NOIDs
Practitioners point to staffing changes, shifting enforcement priorities, and the new administration’s guidance as background factors that led to increasing scrutiny of employment-based petitions in tech and research fields, and advise preparing stronger, more anticipatory petitions and packing responses with more evidence (expert letters, adoption/commercialization metrics, employer evidence, etc.).
USCIS has updated how officers should evaluate employment petitions and has been explicit about weighing the “totality of the record.” In practice, that has two effects:
- When a petition is well documented, the guidance reduces ambiguity and helps adjudicators approve consistent cases.
- When evidence is thin, the same guidance provides officers with clearer, targeted grounds to request more information or issue a NOID. Practitioners have reported both more RFEs and a higher risk of NOIDs in 2025.
It is a change in how adjudicators document their decisions and in the level of detail they expect from petitioners.
What the official Policy Manual updates actually say
EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver)
January 15, 2025: USCIS published updated Policy Manual guidance that clarifies how officers evaluate EB-2 petitions with a request for a national interest waiver (NIW). The guidance is still vague as to what exactly constitutes ‘National Importance’ of an endeavour, and just directs adjudicators to the statutory prongs for NIW and gives examples of evidence officers should accept. These examples are often not relevant to industry experts in technology or entrepreneurship fields. Essentially, the new guidance clarified that not every entrepreneurial venture is presumed to qualify as an endeavour of National Importance, but they do not provide examples or standards on which entrepreneurial ventures are of National Importance and put the burden of proof and explanations on petitioners.
EB-1 (Extraordinary Ability / E11)
Oct 2, 2024 (incorporated into the Policy Manual): USCIS updated the EB-1 “extraordinary ability” chapter to give clearer examples of what evidence may satisfy the regulatory criteria (including treatment of team awards, publications, exhibitions, and the use of “comparable evidence” when traditional items are unavailable). The update emphasizes that adjudicators should consider the totality of the record and also asks officers to explain specific reasons why the record does not meet the standard. This guidance corrected some legally wrong adjudication practices and was welcomed by the practitioners.
O-1 (Nonimmigrant Extraordinary Ability)
The O-1 chapter in the Policy Manual reiterates the same “totality of the evidence” approach used for extraordinary-ability adjudications and instructs officers to articulate specific reasons for a denial decision if a petitioner fails to meet the standard of proof. It also stresses that meeting listed evidentiary items alone does not automatically establish the high statutory standard — officers must evaluate sustained acclaim under the final merits part of the adjudication process and whether the beneficiary is indeed among “a small percentage” at the top of the field.
What USCIS is focusing on for employment-based filings
For O-1, EB-1, and EB-2 NIW petitions, adjudicators are looking for evidence that is directly mapped to the regulatory criteria and that shows real, verifiable impact. Common triggers for RFEs in 2025 include:
- Insufficient linkage between the evidence and the regulatory criterion being claimed.
- Weak evidence for proof of employment or job duties documentation for employer-sponsored petitions.
- Lack of independent corroboration for claims of adoption, commercialization, or impact.
- Missing evidence or not enough explanations of the ‘national importance’ of an endeavour or how the beneficiary is ‘well-positioned’ for NIW petitions.
How we prepare stronger petitions and faster RFE responses
We treat the Policy Manual guidance as practical instructions. Our approach reduces the risk of RFEs and enables quicker, more effective responses.
We build the petition so the totality of evidence is obvious on first read. That includes a short legal narrative that maps every major exhibit to a regulatory element.
If the RFE is issued, we prepare a detailed and well-organized RFE response package that addresses each point in the RFE, with an exhibit map and numbered exhibits so an adjudicator can easily find the supporting documents.
We answer all RFEs and NOIDs at no extra cost for our clients.
Why work with an immigration lawyer
In 2025, adjudication standards for employment petitions are stricter. That is manageable if a petition is built with the totality of the record in mind, and if any RFE is answered with a surgical, evidence-first response.
The best way to avoid an RFE is to prevent it — hire a trustworthy immigration lawyer at the start so your strategy and petition are built correctly from day one.
We do not recommend (and generally do not prefer) piecemeal fixes: sending us a petition you prepared yourself or asking for last-minute RFE triage often means a near-complete remake of the filing under a tight deadline. That work is costly, time-consuming, and (because of conflicts, capacity, and case risk) many reputable firms will decline to take on those requests. A reactive review is usually less effective and more expensive than hiring counsel up front.
Our recommendation: engage counsel for full pre-filing representation to structure, document, and pace your case to minimize RFE risk. The current guidance rewards careful preparation and clear evidence mapping. A firm experienced in extraordinary ability petitions will:
- anticipate common RFE points;
- prepare expert letters and exhibit index that match USCIS expectations; and
- respond quickly and precisely if USCIS asks for more information.
Yes, USCIS is issuing more RFEs and denials, but create very thorough arguments and strategies, and we still get people approved. It could get tougher. So don’t wait. Schedule your free evaluation for O1A, EB1A, and EB2 NIW today.