“‘Each day that Dr. Korah is not a permanent resident is a day he is ineligible for funding that would help advance research in an academic field of great interest to many sectors outside traditional academic circles, particularly U.S. government agencies and the U.S. military,’ IIT says. ‘Each day that USCIS’s impermissible denial stands is a day in which educational institutions, such as IIT, and highly-qualified foreign nationals, such as Dr. Korah, have less trust in the predictability and fairness of the immigration process.’
“‘Over the past number of years, USCIS, as well as its Administrative Appeals Office, have treated the number of independent citations as a controlling factor in these types of cases, but citations, independent or otherwise, are not mentioned in the statutory or regulatory criteria,’ Noelia Rodríguez-Quiñones, an attorney for IIT, told Law360. ‘USCIS's own written policy, however, does state that the opinions of experts in the beneficiary's field should be considered. We believe that in this case such opinions along with the other cited factors should have resulted in a favorable decision on the petition at issue.’ Rodríguez-Quiñones said they are seeking review of the decision. ‘We hope that the outcome of this case will bring greater clarity to how these types of petitions should be handled, thereby benefiting researchers, the institutions they serve, and the scientific community as a whole,’ she added.”