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
8 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
- RFE → approvedLaw firm case summary
Environmental and Industrial Fluid Mechanics · University graduate
Research and teach computational fluid dynamics at US university level.
- Degree
- PhD
- Citations
- 65 citations
- Publications
- 20 pubs
- Recommendation letters
- 5 letters
- RFE → approvedLaw firm case summary
Physics · Researcher
Research in physics and robotics with applications in product design, manufacturing, aerospace and energy.
- Degree
- PhD
- Citations
- 15 citations
- Publications
- 12 pubs
- Recommendation letters
- 2 letters
- RFE → approvedLaw firm case summary
General Medicine · Medical student and university researcher
Secure a research position at a US university and continue medical research.
- Degree
- In progress (medical degree)
- Citations
- 3 citations
- Publications
- 2 pubs
- Recommendation letters
- 7 letters
- RFE → approvedSelf-petitionedFirst-person account
Academic research · PhD student at an R1 university
Initially described at field level; narrowed on RFE response to a specific research project within that field.
Endeavor described at field level
- Degree
- PhD in progress
- Citations
- citations n/r
- Publications
- 2 pubs
- Recommendation letters
- 4 letters
- Days to decision
- ~300d
- RFE → approvedSelf-petitionedLaw firm case summary
Software Engineering · Senior software engineer
Establish a business providing cloud, data-management and scalable software solutions to US small and medium enterprises, plus a talent incubator training developers.
Benefit runs only to private parties · No credible execution plan
- Degree
- Bachelor's in software engineering
- Citations
- citations n/r
- Publications
- pubs n/r
- RFE → approvedLaw firm case summary
Wushu (martial arts) · Champion athlete and coach
Coach Wushu in the United States.
- Degree
- High school diploma
- Citations
- citations n/r
- Publications
- pubs n/r
- Recommendation letters
- 16 letters
- RFE → approvedLaw firm case summary
Wushu (martial arts) · Coach
Continue coaching Wushu in the United States.
- Degree
- Two bachelor's degrees (sport, food science)
- Citations
- citations n/r
- Publications
- pubs n/r
- Recommendation letters
- 2 letters