It might have been an issue - I can't know without knowing all the facts - but your lawyers should fight hard on not receiving the RFE and the resulting denial, file a motion/appeal, get a Congressional office involved. This isn't uncommon and usually USCIS will correct this.
Thank you! At this point we reapplied but left thinking, what if we had filed a motion? The main thing was they did not know how quick it would have reopened and I risked running out of authorization in the meantime.
They did not strike me as particularly knowledgeable as to getting a Congressional office involved even though I brought it up. Just big-tech provided lawyers, not sure how effective they are when the process deviates from usual
