EB-1C denied or RFE? The five points of dispute in the petition

Few letters from USCIS cause as much anxiety as a Request for Evidence, or RFE. It arrives in a thick envelope, cites statutes and decisions and lists everything the agency finds lacking in your EB-1C petition. It is not a no. It is a request to close the gaps, and it comes with a deadline.

This guide shows how often USCIS actually denies the EB-1C, what the different notices mean, which five points of dispute make up almost every request and which paths remain after a denial. The basics of the category are in the guide EB-1C requirements.

1How often USCIS denies the EB-1C

The numbers are more reassuring than the stories in online forums suggest. Every quarter, USCIS publishes how many petitions are received, approved and denied in each category. In the first three quarters of fiscal year 2026, from October 2025 to June 2026, the agency approved 9,421 EB-1C petitions and denied 275. That means just under 3 in 100 decisions ended in a denial.

A comparison with its sister category shows why the EB-1C is so attractive for companies. For the EB-1A for extraordinary ability, USCIS denied more than twice as many petitions as it approved from April to June 2026 alone. The EB-1C asks about facts a company can shape and document; the EB-1A asks about recognition you either have or don't.

Two caveats apply. USCIS does not report in this data how many EB-1C petitions receive a request before the decision. And the low rate says nothing about your case. It only shows that well-prepared petitions are the norm in this category.

2RFE, NOID and denial: what the letter means

USCIS has three options when the documents submitted are not enough. If required documents are missing, the agency can deny right away or request them. If all required documents are there but do not establish eligibility, it can deny, request more evidence with a Request for Evidence, or issue a Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID) announcing that it plans to deny and stating its reasons.

The deadlines are set in the regulations. To respond to an RFE, USCIS gives you no more than twelve weeks; to respond to a NOID, no more than 30 days. Neither can be extended. If you paid for Premium Processing, note this: the 45-business-day clock stops with the RFE and starts again when USCIS receives your response. The response goes in as one complete package with all requested documents.

Read the letter twice. USCIS usually states exactly which requirement it considers unproven and what kind of evidence it expects. A good response addresses every point in the order of the letter, with evidence, and explains why that evidence meets the requirement.

The response does have one built-in limit. Under the regulations, you must have met the requirement on the day you filed and continue to meet it until the decision. An RFE is therefore your chance to prove what was already true then: the role, the structure, the year abroad. If you hire staff or restructure ownership after filing just to answer the request, you are more likely documenting a gap than closing it. In that case, a new petition on the improved footing is often the more honest and faster route.

3Point one: the role is not primarily managerial

The most common objection concerns the role itself. The law requires you to work in the US primarily as a manager or executive, and the USCIS Policy Manual is clear: simply repeating or paraphrasing the statute does not meet the burden of proof. A job description built from phrases like "directs strategic direction" and "makes far-reaching decisions" almost inevitably triggers the question of what you actually do on an ordinary Tuesday.

If you also handle operational tasks, the description must show which share is managerial and which is not. For a function manager, USCIS explicitly requires the time percentage for each task and proof that you manage the function rather than perform it yourself. How to tell the three roles apart and build a job description that holds up to a request is covered in the guide Manager, executive or function manager.

4Point two: too few staff under you

The second objection follows from the first. If you are meant to manage primarily, you need people to do the day-to-day work. The Policy Manual states that a one-person office is not ruled out, but that the sole employee normally spends most of their time on routine work. An executive needs enough staff, whether employees or contractors, to focus on running the business.

The law itself helps against this objection. When USCIS looks at staffing levels, it must consider the reasonable needs of the organization in light of its purpose and stage of development. You have to document those needs: with business figures, with contracts for outsourced services, with the role of the parent company. Artificial layers of hierarchy and inflated titles do not help; USCIS may compare employees' duties and salaries with their place in the org chart. How small companies clear this hurdle is explained in the guide EB-1C for small and new US subsidiaries.

5Point three: the year abroad

The law requires at least one year of managerial work for the group abroad within the three years before the petition or, if you already work for the group in the US, within the three years before your last entry as a nonimmigrant. The year does not have to be continuous, but it must have been managerial. Requests arise when the foreign company's org chart is missing, when the job abroad was more specialist than managerial, or when the dates don't add up.

One trap affects people who left the group for a while. Under a binding USCIS decision (Matter of S-P-, Inc., Adopted Decision 2018-01), anyone who, after entering as a nonimmigrant, has not worked for the group for more than two years no longer meets the requirement. They then need another year of managerial work abroad. If you worked for an unrelated company in the US on a different visa, clarify this point before you apply.

6Point four: the relationship between the companies

The US company must be the same company as, or the parent, subsidiary or affiliate of, your employer abroad. USCIS tests this by ownership and control: who owns the shares and who actually runs the company. For affiliates owned by the same people, the shares must be held in roughly equal proportions. If control rests on voting proxies, they must be irrevocable from filing until the decision.

The relationship must exist not only at filing but last until the green card, and at least one company of the group abroad must keep doing business until then. If the entire business moves to the US, the basis is gone. In restructurings, under Matter of F-M- Co. (Adopted Decision 2020-01), a successor in interest can carry the relationship if this is documented. A branch office of a foreign company that is not a separate entity cannot file the petition; the US company must be its own legal entity.

7Point five: doing business and ability to pay

At filing, the US company must have been providing goods or services regularly, systematically and continuously for at least one year. One year on the state's register is not enough. Sales to related companies count. Requests come when the first months after formation show hardly any revenue or when the evidence only starts shortly before the petition. Unlike the L-1, the EB-1C has no new-office rule.

Then there is the ability to pay. The employer must show that it can pay the offered salary from the priority date until the green card, with annual reports, federal tax returns or audited financial statements; USCIS may also request profit and loss statements, bank statements or personnel records. If a young subsidiary's first tax return shows a loss, include extra evidence in the petition, such as bank statements and payroll records showing the salary is actually being paid.

8After a denial: appeal, motion or new petition

There are two formal ways to challenge a denial, both using Form I-290B and a fee of $800. An appeal goes to the Administrative Appeals Office and must arrive, together with the supporting brief, within 30 days of service of the decision. A Motion to Reopen or Motion to Reconsider goes to the office that made the decision, also within 30 days. A Motion to Reopen rests on new facts, a Motion to Reconsider on an error of law.

A new petition is often the faster route. You can file it at any time, speed it up with Premium Processing and close every gap the denial pointed out. One thing to keep in mind: a denied petition does not establish a priority date. For anyone born in Europe that matters little as long as EB-1 is current. An approved L-1A, by the way, only helps so much: USCIS takes it into account but is not bound by it, and if it denies, it should briefly explain why the L-1A still isn't enough. Your L-1A is a status of its own, and under the law a green card application does not count as intent to give up your home abroad for it; how much time your L-1A gives you is covered in the guide From L-1A to the EB-1C Green Card.

If you receive a request for evidence, don't answer it alone. And if you've been denied, have someone check before your next step whether the gap was in the documents or in the structure. The first is fixed with a better-documented petition, the second only with a change in the company. The cost of a new petition is in the guide EB-1C Costs, and Process and Documents walks you through the paperwork.

In short

• USCIS rarely denies EB-1C petitions: in the first three quarters of fiscal year 2026 there were 275 denials against 9,421 approvals.
• RFEs and denials revolve around five points: managerial or executive role, staffing, the year abroad, the relationship between the companies, and business operations and ability to pay.
• You get twelve weeks at most to answer an RFE and 30 days at most to answer a Notice of Intent to Deny, with no extensions.
• After a denial you have 30 days for an appeal or motion; a new, better-documented petition is often the faster route.

How we help you

• Visa RoadmapIn writing: which visa fits you and your family, prepared with the immigration attorney on the firm's team.
• Visa and Green Card ConsultationWhich route to the USA fits you, settled in one conversation.
• Visa Roadmap for Company FormationFormation and visa in one plan, so the company carries the visa.