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On January 28, a District Court in Nebraska vacated a USCIS denial based on the EB1A Final Merits Determination in Mukherji v. Miller (D. Neb. Jan. 28, 2026).

Immigration advocates have all too frequently seen the scenario in which USCIS determines that an EB1A applicant meets the required 3 of the 10 criteria, but fails to meet the Final Merits Determination (FMD). The FMD portion of the adjudication process is vague at best. The FMD has been used by USCIS to deny otherwise qualifying petitions with a variety of claims by the USCIS adjudicator ranging from each individual piece of evidence does not demonstrate extraordinary ability to the individual applicant does not possess sustained or widespread a claim. 

The Nebraska District Court rejected USCIS‘s reasoning in its denial of Mukherji‘s EB 1A based on failure to meet the final merits determination. In interpreting the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) the court that it was unlawful for the USCIS adjudicator to to use FMD to deny EB1A applicants who otherwise met the criteria for this classification. The District Court remanded the case to USCIS for approval.

There are number of obstacles that could prevent this from having widespread positive impact for EB1A applicants. These range from a government appeal to a more favorable court to the possibility of a rule change. At a minimum, this decision provides advocates with some tools to argue against poorly reasoned denials based on FMD.