Analytics
Why NIW petitions fail
Updated with decisions published up to 2026-08-21. Numbers change as new decisions are added.
Every NIW decision under the current test, including motions and rejections.
Read these as patterns in denied cases, not approval odds. Every appeal here was first denied by USCIS; approved petitions never reach the appeals office. Tags are automated from decision text.
Free account
Draft your petition around these objections
Draft builds a petition letter outline from your case profile, with a list of the objections raised most often in your field to address before you file.
See it on a sample caseKey findings
- 67%
of these appeals failed on Prong 1, merit and national importance: more than on any other part of the test.
- 53%
raised “Job creation or economic claims unsupported”, the most common objection.
Decisions per year
Sustained and remanded, % of decisions
Years with 5+ decisions
Which prong the AAO found not met
From the appeals office's own findings; a decision can fail more than one, and many stop at the first. 5 with unclear wording on a prong are left out of it.
- Step 05011%
- Prong 131567%
- Prong 26414%
- Prong 3214%
What the Director's denial rested on
From the denial being appealed, as the decision reports it. 188 decisions don't say which part specifically.
- Step 05612%
- Prong 119442%
- Prong 28518%
- Prong 313228%
Most common objections
Share of decisions in scope where the objection was found. Click one for examples.
- 53%246 decisions
- 52%242 decisions
- 40%185 decisions
- 27%126 decisions
- 26%121 decisions
- 19%90 decisions
- 19%88 decisions
- 16%77 decisions
- 15%72 decisions
- 13%63 decisions
- 11%52 decisions
- 10%46 decisions
- 9%44 decisions
- 8%38 decisions
- 7%34 decisions
- 7%32 decisions
- 6%29 decisions
- 6%26 decisions
- 5%24 decisions
- 5%23 decisions
- 3%16 decisions
- 3%15 decisions
Evidence discussed: wins vs losses
% of sustained+remanded vs % of dismissed decisions that discuss each kind of evidence. Discussion is not proof it helped.
- Citations47%27%
- Peer review22%16%
- Grants & funding10%7%
- Patents6%7%
- Publications29%32%
- Government interest22%34%
- Awards6%20%
- Support letters49%66%
- STEM policy27%47%
- Business plan8%35%
- Media33%66%
- Job creation10%70%
Outcomes by field
Sustained + remanded share, all fields (All NIW decisions, post-Dhanasar)
- 5.6%1,772 decisions
- 11.5%609 decisions
- 10.5%467 decisions
- 10.2%462 decisions
- 10.4%241 decisions
- 13.2%227 decisions
- 7.0%185 decisions
- 6.9%130 decisions
- 37.3%102 decisions
- 15.2%99 decisions
- 9.0%78 decisions
- 21.4%70 decisions
- 8.3%48 decisions
- 11.1%45 decisions
Career stage mentioned
Sustained + remanded share
- Entrepreneur6.7%119 decisions
- Professor13.2%53 decisions
- Postdoc15.8%19 decisions
- Ph.D. student11.1%9 decisions
Authorities cited most
- Chawathe42391%
- Dhanasar42290%
- Christo's37380%
- L-A-C-22849%
- USCIS Policy Manual22248%
- Caron5311%
- Katigbak388%
- Ho368%
- NYSDOT337%
- E-M-327%
- Izummi235%
- M-P-204%
Countries named in NIW decisions
A name is not a nationality: it can be where the petitioner studied or worked, or part of the argument. Open a country to read the sentences.
Named most often
- 865decisions
- 103decisions
- 88decisions
- 70decisions
- 62decisions
- 58decisions
- 56decisions
- 52decisions
- 51decisions
- 46decisions
112 countries in all. Drag the globe to turn it; select a country to search for it.