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Supporting documents for an extraordinary petition 

In a July 30, 1992 letter from L. Weinig who was serving as Acting Assistant Commissioner, we are given helpful insight into what the INS considers to be helpful supporting documents.

1. Peer reviewed presentations at academic symposia;

2. Peer-reviewed articles in scholarly journals;

3. Testimony from other scholars about how the applicant has contributed to the academic field;

4. A significant number of entries in a citation index which cite the alien’s work as authoritative; in the field;

5. Participation by the alien as a reviewer for a peer-reviewed scholarly journal;

6. Thesis direction, especially for Ph.D. thesis.
   

The letter also provides a description of supporting documents that the INS considers to have little or no value.

1. A book written by the alien that is written by a "vanity" press;

2. A footnoted reference to the applicant’s work that has not been evaluated;

3. An unevaluated listing in a subject matter index;

4. A negative or neutral review of the applicant’s work.