All objections
Procedure & record
Not eligible at the time of filing
A qualification (degree, publication, role) was obtained after the petition was filed.
What this objection usually means
A petitioner must be eligible when the petition is filed. Degrees or achievements obtained later cannot fix the petition.
What has tended to answer it
File only after every qualifying credential exists and is documented; date every exhibit.
General patterns drawn from past decisions, not legal advice for your case. Ask a licensed immigration attorney how this applies to you.
The rule
Quoted from the USCIS Policy Manual current as of Sept 23, 2026. Check the online manual before filing.
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See what your own profile records against this objection
Assess compares your case profile with the kinds of evidence that have answered “Not eligible at the time of filing” and the other catalogued objections in past decisions. It shows evidence coverage, not a prediction.
See it on a sample caseHow often it is raised, by year
307 of 3,701 decisions in scope (years with 5+ decisions)
By field
Decisions raising it
- Business & finance1087% of field
- Engineering459% of field
- Clinical & health4511% of field
- Computing, AI & data328% of field
- Education189% of field
- Aviation & transport1510% of field
- Arts, media & sports109% of field
- Energy, environment & agriculture89% of field
Where it sank the appeal
Recent dismissed appeals raising this objection
- Dismissed2026-07-30Law & policy
In addition, the copyright registration (filed on I I2025) postdates the filing of the petition and is not probative in demonstrating the Petitioner's eligibility at the time of filing. 8 C.F.R. § 103.2(b)(l); see also Matter 3
Read decision JUL302026_02B5203 - Dismissed2026-07-20Engineering
In addition, these letters postdate the filing of the petition, both written in July 2025, and raise questions as to whether they intended to 3 We examined expelt letters from Dr.
Read decision JUL202026_03B5203 - Dismissed2026-07-13Clinical & health
Because the Petitioner must establish eligibility at the time of filing, her claims related to her new occupational health consulting company proffered after the filing of the petition cannot be considered. 8 C.F.R. § 103.2(b)(l2); Matter of Katigbak, 14 I&N Dec. 45, 49 (Comm'r 1971). 3
Read decision JUL132026_01B5203 - Dismissed2026-07-08Arts, media & sports
Subsequent developments cannot retroactively cause the Petitioner to have been eligible at the time of filing.
Read decision JUL082026_03B5203 - Dismissed2026-06-29Engineering
The Petitioner must establish eligibility at the time of filing. 8 C.F.R. § 103.2(b)(12); Matter ofKatigbak, 14 I&N Dec. 45, 49 (Comm'r 1971).
Read decision JUN292026_03B5203 - Dismissed2026-06-26Education
The Petitioner contends on appeal that USCIS did not properly analyze her publication record, citation evidence or letters of support, and erred by declining to consider evidence ofcitations to her work that post-date the filing of the petition.
Read decision JUN262026_01B5203
Where the petitioner still won or got a remand
Sustained or remanded decisions where this issue was discussed: read them to see what answered it
- Remanded2026-02-03Engineering
After the petition's filing date, the Petitioner entered what he described as "a short-term, summer research internship at I a U.S.-based startup founded by [his] academic advisor," while his doctoral studies continued.
Read decision FEB032026_03B5203 - Remanded2025-12-17Biomedical & life sciences
Regarding his peer review activity, the Petitioner presented documentation indicating that he reviewed one manuscript for the Journal ofCrop Improvement in May 2024, but this review post-dates the filing of the petition and does not establish eligibility at the time of filing.
Read decision DEC172025_02B5203 - Remanded2025-12-02Computing, AI & data
The figures from the RFE response derive from after the petition's filing date, and therefore they do not establish eligibility at the time of filing.
Read decision DEC022025_01B5203 - Remanded2025-11-06Computing, AI & data
SCOPS did not make any findings on whether the Petitioner is well positioned to advance the proposed endeavor, or that, on balance, a waiver of the required job offer, and thus of the labor certification, would be in the national interest. 4 The Petitioner did not claim that he meets qualifications of an advanced degree professional. 5 The record indicates thatLJ is a departmental organization at~I-----------~ 6 The Petitioner provided his membership card showing that he has been a member ·'since 2024" but the record does not indicate whether this membership began before or after the filing of…
Read decision NOV062025_01B5203 - Remanded2025-04-02Clinical & health
In the denial decision, the Director pointed to copies oftwo emails provided by the Petitioner in response to the request for evidence (RFE), noting one indicated that a university's medical school had no room for the Petitioner's research in their department and that another was dated after the petition was filed.
Read decision APR022025_08B5203 - Remanded2023-12-11Clinical & health
In her decision, the Director determined that since the Petitioner's business plan was apparently created after the filing of the petition, it did not show that the Petitioner "will continue to work in the United States in the claimed field of expertise."
Read decision DEC112023_03B5203