RFE Misreading Pattern
USCIS Quoted Original Material Out of Context
The RFE quotes a phrase from the original filing, but the quoted phrase's actual role or meaning in the source document does not match how USCIS is using it to challenge the petition.
What it typically looks like
A short quoted phrase used to argue the petitioner "admits" a limitation, when the surrounding sentences in the original document show the phrase was describing a past stage of the project, a hypothetical, or someone else's prior work — not a concession about current qualifications.
Why it's a misreading
Long petition letters and personal statements are dense, and a phrase lifted without its surrounding sentence can read very differently than intended — especially language describing career progression ("I started as...") or comparative framing ("unlike earlier approaches...") that is easy to mistake for a self-assessment of present limitations.
How to rebut it
Quote the full surrounding passage, not just the disputed phrase, and show plainly what it was actually describing. This is the one misreading category where reproducing more of the original text — not less — is the strongest response, because it lets the adjudicator see the quote in its real context rather than take the response's word for it.
ImmiFlo compares your RFE notice against your original filing and flags misreadings like this one automatically — you confirm or reject each finding before it's used in your response letter.
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