Where do the criteria packs come from?

They are maintained by our evidentiary research team from the governing regulations, the USCIS Policy Manual and designated AAO precedent decisions. Each element in a pack carries its citation so you can check the source rather than trust the tool.

What happens when a designated decision changes the framework?

The research team assesses product impact within ten business days of publication, updates the affected pack, and notifies every firm whose open matters use it. Packs are versioned, so a petition assembled under a prior version keeps its provenance in the audit record.

Can we build our own criteria pack?

On the Scale tier, yes. The custom prong rule builder lets a firm define its own criteria, evidence types and coverage thresholds — useful for unusual classifications or for a firm that wants its house standard to be stricter than the regulation.

Can one exhibit support more than one criterion?

Yes, and it frequently should. An expert declaration can support original contributions and a critical role simultaneously. Docket Build maps it to both, cites the same Bates range in each argument, and counts it once in the binder.

What does 'thin coverage' actually mean?

It means the criterion has evidence mapped but below the depth we see in petitions that clear it without a request — typically a single exhibit, or exhibits with no independent corroboration. It is a prompt to look, not a prediction.

Map

Map evidence directly to USCIS statutory criteria.

An exhibit that is not attached to a criterion is decoration. The mapper holds the statutory frame for each classification, aligns every exhibit to the element it supports, and shows you what is missing while there is still time to gather it.

Criteria pack

Matter of Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. 884 (AAO 2016)

All three prongs must be independently satisfied

Prong 1 — Substantial merit & national importance
Dhanasar at 889 · 5 exhibits · pp. 35–121
Substantiated
Prong 2 — Well positioned to advance the endeavour
Dhanasar at 890 · 5 exhibits · pp. 122–268
Substantiated
Prong 3 — Beneficial to waive the job offer
Dhanasar at 890–91 · 3 exhibits · pp. 269–312
Substantiated

Every criterion carries mapped evidence

Switch petition type above. Coverage figures shown are from a synthetic reference matter.

Criteria packs

Nine frameworks, maintained against the source.

Each pack carries the governing regulation and the controlling precedent, so every element in the mapper traces back to something you can cite.

EB-2 NIW

Matter of Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. 884 (AAO 2016)

Dhanasar drafting guide

Three prongs, each independently satisfied on a preponderance standard. Prong 2 generates the overwhelming majority of requests because records argue about the field rather than the individual.

Prong 1 — substantial merit and national importance
Prong 2 — well positioned to advance the endeavour
Prong 3 — beneficial to waive the job offer requirement

EB-1A / O-1A

8 CFR 204.5(h)(3) · Kazarian v. USCIS, 596 F.3d 1115

Kazarian two-step guide

A threshold count of regulatory criteria, then a qualitative final merits determination on the totality. Most petitions never argue step two, which surrenders the most subjective judgement in the process.

Ten regulatory criteria with per-criterion coverage scoring
Comparable evidence handling where a criterion does not readily apply
A separate final merits section with comparative eminence framing

H-1B

8 CFR 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A)

H-1B evidence library

Any one of four specialty occupation criteria, plus beneficiary qualification. The 2025 rulemaking sharpened the 'directly related' degree question, and wage-level coherence now drives most requests.

Degree normally the minimum requirement
Degree requirement common to the industry
Employer normally requires the degree
Duties so specialised and complex

L-1A / L-1B

8 CFR 214.2(l)(1)(ii)(A)–(D)

L-1A evidence library

The highest RFE rate of any major employment classification at 32.6%. Three elements must each stand on their own record, and the capacity element is where organisational charts without headcount fail.

Qualifying corporate relationship at every tier
One continuous year of qualifying employment abroad
Managerial, executive or specialized-knowledge capacity
New office viability where applicable

I-130 / I-485

8 CFR 204.2(a)(1)(i) · Matter of Chawathe, 25 I&N Dec. 369

I-130 evidence library

Bona fides by a preponderance of the evidence. The strongest packets are chronological rather than voluminous — continuous evidence across the marriage beats three times the pages clustered near the filing date.

Legally valid marriage with all prior marriages terminated
Commingled finances across the full period
Cohabitation with continuous address evidence
Shared life, affidavits and travel record

Missing evidence alerts

The alert that only matters before you file.

A criterion with zero mapped exhibits is invisible in a Word index and obvious in a structured map. Surfacing it at intake — rather than in an RFE four months later — is the entire value of holding the criteria in the system rather than in a paralegal's head.

Firms use the alert list as a client document-chasing checklist. It moves the awkward conversation about a missing award certificate to week one of the matter instead of week twenty.

Pre-filing coverage report — Okonjo, EB-1A

Kazarian step one · 6 criteria evaluated · generated 2 Sep 2026

Criterion (i) — Lesser awards
No exhibits mapped
Criterion (ix) — High remuneration
No exhibits mapped
Criterion (iii) — Published material
1 exhibit · no outlet circulation evidence
Criterion (v) — Original contributions
7 exhibits · 2 authors are co-authors

Four criteria carry evidence. Kazarian step one requires three — but two of the four are thin, and the attorney should look before filing.

Questions

On evidentiary mapping.

Next: the packet assembler

No. It shows what evidence is mapped to each criterion, how much of it there is, and where a criterion carries nothing at all. Whether that record satisfies the standard is a legal judgement, and it belongs to the attorney of record. The coverage score is a completeness signal, not a legal opinion.

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Software for licensed attorneys. Not legal advice.