Case outcome database
What actually happened to 55 real petitions
Every record cites its source so you can read the original. Denials and appeal decisions are included and shown first, because they state the ground of failure in an adjudicator’s own words, which is the one thing an approvals-only collection can never tell you.
Read this first. This corpus is not a random sample and cannot be used to estimate approval rates. Law firms publish their wins, and self-petitioners who fail rarely post about it. 5 of 55 records here are denials; USCIS reported a 45% denial rate on decided petitions in FY2025. Use these records to understand why cases turn out as they do, never to estimate your odds.
- Median citations
- 58
- Approved with 0 citations
- 2
- Median days to decision
- 180
- Distinct fields
- 51
across the 22 records that report a figure
explicitly reported as zero, not merely unstated
where the source reports a timeline
from martial arts to radiation oncology
5 records
- RFE → deniedFirst-person account
Neuroscience, neurodegenerative disease · PhD student at an R1 university
Continue postdoctoral research into neurodegenerative diseases as a named primary contributor on an advisor's NIH grant.
Benefit is confined to one institution or region · Argues the field matters, not your role in it
- Degree
- PhD in progress
- Citations
- 250 citations
- Publications
- 10 pubs
- Days to decision
- ~300d
- DeniedAAO appeal decision
Law
Practise law in the United States serving clients in her specialism.
Benefit runs only to private parties
- Citations
- citations n/r
- Publications
- pubs n/r
- DeniedAAO appeal decision
International Studies
Teach and research international studies at a US university.
Benefit is confined to one institution or region · Argues the field matters, not your role in it
- Degree
- PhD
- Citations
- citations n/r
- Publications
- pubs n/r
- DeniedAAO appeal decision
Real Estate Development
Develop real estate projects in the United States.
The plan is not credible on the record · No credible execution plan
- Citations
- citations n/r
- Publications
- pubs n/r
- DeniedAAO appeal decision
Sales
Sales management in the United States.
EB-2 base eligibility not established
- Citations
- citations n/r
- Publications
- pubs n/r