US startup CTO’s Green Card application rejected citing job at Apple as reason, but he ‘NEVER worked at Apple!’

In a surprising and controversial move, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has rejected the green card application submitted by Yuchen Jin, a prominent computer scientist and Chief Technology Officer of AI startup Hyperbolic Labs. The rejection has sparked considerable discussion in the tech community about the evaluation criteria used by immigration authorities.

Jin, who co-founded Hyperbolic Labs and successfully secured $20 million in funding for the company, was informed that his contribution was deemed to lack the necessary impact “beyond Apple, Inc.” In an unusual error, USCIS mistakenly identified Jin as Apple’s Chief Technology Officer – a position he has never held.

After over a year of waiting for a decision, Jin expressed his frustration on social media platform X, criticizing the agency’s reasoning as “careless and inconsistent.” He stated, “WTF? I’ve NEVER worked at Apple! I got my CS PhD, co-founded an AI startup and raised $20M. Yet, after waiting a whole year, I get rejected with this absurd rationale.”

Despite recognizing Jin’s significant contributions to advanced technology, USCIS ultimately determined that his work did not meet the economic and national impact criteria necessary for the green card category. That decision has raised alarm among business leaders, who pointed out that the agency’s rationale appears vague and potentially formulaic.

In response to the rejection, Jin has appealed to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a federal initiative launched by President-elect Donald Trump to reform the high-skilled immigration system. Composed of notables including Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, DOGE is focused on streamlining government processes and reducing regulatory burdens.

Jin has called for an overhaul of the high-skilled immigration system, arguing that America’s competitiveness depends largely on its ability to attract talented immigrants. He stated, “Highly skilled immigrants are America’s secret weapon. It should be merit-based – not left to some USCIS officer carelessly going through documents and copying and pasting reasons for denial!”

One user commented on Jin’s post, asking: “Are you considering an appeal? This is so obviously wrong that you might succeed (success rate is under 2%).”

To this he replied: “@deedydas told me that the chances of the appeal are slim and some people said that a pending appeal can affect resubmissions so I decided to just resubmit. I hope this time the system matches me with a better officer.”