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Explore visasEB-1ACommon RFE topics

Eligibility criteria

Sustained acclaim

Whether your national or international acclaim has been maintained over time.

What USCIS is questioning

  • Whether your acclaim has been maintained, rather than achieved at one point and not kept up.[1]

The legal standard

  • INA 203(b)(1)(A) requires extraordinary ability demonstrated by sustained national or international acclaim.[2]
  • The Policy Manual says acclaim must be maintained, but 'sustained' implies no age limit and no fixed time frame, and a young or early-career beneficiary may still qualify. If you were recognized in the past, the officer asks whether you have kept a comparable level of acclaim since.[1]

How the request usually reads

  • Interpretation An RFE on this issue typically says the evidence is concentrated in an earlier period and does not show that you have maintained a comparable level of acclaim since.[1,3]

Evidence petitioners often provide

  • Interpretation Recent evidence across the criteria, such as current roles, recent awards, and recent citations, coverage, or invitations, showing continued recognition up to the filing date.[1,3,4]

Where responses go wrong

  • Interpretation Relying on achievements from many years ago without recent recognition.[1]
  • Assuming youth or a short career is a bar; the Policy Manual says it is not.[1]

This information is for general informational purposes and is not legal advice. It does not create an attorney-client relationship and does not predict the outcome of any individual case.

Sources

  1. 1.USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 6, Part F, Chapter 2 — Extraordinary AbilityUSCIS · USCIS Policy Manual · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  2. 2.8 U.S.C. 1153 (INA 203) — Allocation of immigrant visasOffice of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives · Statute · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  3. 3.USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 1, Part E, Chapter 6 - EvidenceUSCIS · USCIS Policy Manual · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  4. 4.8 CFR 103.2 - Submission and adjudication of benefit requestseCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Sep 27, 2026