Hi friends, I called a nearby Toyota dealer yesterday. One Sienna Woodland Edition (MSRP $53,271) is on the lot. I inquired about numbers for a 36-month lease. What they currently offer is $798/month, including tax and fees (0 down). 12k miles per year. I wonder if this is something I can further negotiate. Thank you so much.
Hi friends. I just got the approval today. Here is some information.
Timeline:
Case received: 12/15/2025
Case upgraded to PP: 2/7/2026
RFE sent: 3/27/2026
RFE response received: 6/17/2026
Approved:8/18/2026
I filed it myself.
Background:
PHD in educational statistics (STEM) with 7 years of work experience (All PE related). 4 papers with 20 citations (increased to 40+ when responding to the RFE) at filing. Reviewed 30+ journal/conference papers.
RFE Response:
My prongs 1 (national importance) and 3 were challenged. When receiving the RFE letter, I realized my PE was not framed well. I included two sub-areas in my PE, which looked a little scattered. So the first thing I did was to synthesize my PE statement. I almost spent days only optimizing the PE statement. After that, I included the research agenda to specify my PE. I also included three independent recommendation letters (I believe this is the most important part for my RFE response). In the RFE response letter, I addressed USCIS concerns one by one. I spent 90% of my effort on national importance.
Some thoughts:
Based on my and my friends' cases, I think the number of papers and citations matter but not matter that much. One of my friends has less than 5 citations but got approval without RFE (Q3 of 2025). I also know a couple of professors who have 100+ citations but unfortunately got denied.
PE statement is the most important thing in your petition because it leads everything you will draft. In the PE statement, you should clearly say what problem you are solving.
In my RFE response, all the recommendation letters only talk about my PE-related research instead of my credentials. They don't say anything about "I am good". They talked about how my PE-related research can help from their perspectives. For example, the letter from a professor only talked about how my PE-related research can help in his funded projects. Another letter from a VP in a big organization only mentioned how my PE-related research can help their operational work.
I used ChatGPT when preparing for the original filing. When preparing for the RFE response, I relied heavily on Claude but also used ChatGPT to do some QA work.
Overall, it is quite a long journey. I experienced three H1B lottery failures, which were very frustrating. I am very proud of myself.
I really appreciate this community where I got a lot of helpful information. May the Force be with you!
Hi friends. I received the approval email from ELISdonotreply@uscis.dhs.gov this morning, but the system shows USCIS Is currently Processing the Case (Changed from RFE response received). I wonder if this happens normally. Thank you!