Pt. 4 - Breaking Down the EB-1A Criteria for Private Sector Professionals

Missed our previous posts in this-6 part series? No worries, find them below!

We know that used correctly, the EB-1A can be a fantastic way to fast-track your green card process when you’re dealing with the Visa Backlog. Now that you understand some of the variety of successful EB-1A cases and how long it takes to put a case together, we want to introduce and discuss the Top 5 Categories of evidence that a qualified professional who works in business, technology, or science would use for self-petitioned EB-1A cases.

As you will see, these 5 are distilled from the 10 EB-1A categories that the USCIS posts on its website. It’s important to note that the 10 EB-1A evidence categories are applicable to all industries, so there will definitely be a few that are not applicable to you (e.g., you might not have displayed your work at artistic exhibitions).

You only need to meet 3 out of 10 to meet the EB-1A standard. However, it’s worth noting that because of the totality of the evidence standard, and because of the second step of the EB-1A adjudication, which considers whether you’ve risen to the top of the field, it’s a good idea to argue for as many categories as you can, while still concentrating most on your strongest ones.

Category 1: Evidence of your essential or critical role for distinguished employers

Here, the government is looking for evidence that you played a critical part in key projects for your employer—current or past. Maybe you took the lead on an engineering project that ended up boosting your employer’s sales or profit—or just made a certain process more efficient. Perhaps as a founder of a small company, you were directly responsible for growing your company from scratch. These are both great examples of playing an essential role for your employer. How do we prove this, though? Objective evidence of growth or sales is great, but typically we rely on detailed testimonials from experts in the field to corroborate your critical impact.

In addition, you need to show that the employer is “distinguished.” For larger, well-known, companies, this is usually fairly easy and you can focus on the impact of your work. For those who may have worked in critical roles for smaller companies, we generally focus on the funding the company has received, the impact on the broader industry, etc. to show its distinguished reputation. It takes a bit more effort, but can definitely be done so do not let this give you pause.

Category 2: Evidence of your significant and major contributions to your field of expertise

This category of evidence can be similar to the one above, but here we aim to prove that you have made a major impact on your field of expertise. Again, this could be proved by objective evidence like commercialized patents you’ve filed, but we’ll commonly be relying on detailed expert letters of recommendation to help prove this point. In addition to highlighting your essential role, these letters will discuss major breakthroughs or advances that you made in your field by leaning on the professional opinions and perspectives of recognized experts.

Category 3: Evidence that your work has been featured in major media

This is a commonly misunderstood category of evidence for EB-1A. The media coverage needs to be of your work, but it doesn’t need to mention you by name—of course, if it does, that’s great! What we look for here is media coverage in leading industry publications (no need to be the NYT or WSJ) that discuss projects you’ve had a direct role. Successful EB-1A applicants generally have many examples of such media coverage to showcase their prominence in their field.

Category 4: Evidence that you are a member of a prestigious organization

Again, the regulations here can be very confusing and seem to suggest that you should be a member of a group whose bylaws explicitly state that they only invite “outstanding” members. However, successful EB-1A applicants in the private sector have submitted a variety of evidence to meet this requirement, including membership in distinguished professional organizations, entrepreneurial associations, and other groups where we can demonstrate that you are a member because of your prominent position in your field.

For computer engineers and scientists, for example, IEEE is a great example, as the organization makes it very clear how one needs to receive the recognition of their peers for the work done in the field to be recognized with the designation of a “Senior” member. If you’ve received this distinction, it is easy for us to argue you meet this category because the membership rules of IEEE itself lay out how you must have achieved outstanding results in your field.

Category 5: Evidence of the authorship of professional or scholarly articles

Here is another confusing one. Despite the language of the regulation, which says “scholarly,” articles, you can typically meet this category of evidence by authoring any article in your field of expertise that is written for other professionals in your field—this means a technical article in an industry or trade publication, for example, could meet this criterion. Immigration case law has made it clear, it is the subject of the writing that determines its scholarly nature. The fact is simple, you do not need peer-reviewed academic journal articles as exclusive evidence of your authorship in your field of expertise.

Conclusion

Now, these are just some of the most common evidence criteria claimed in successful EB-1A applications for professionals in the private sector. You may or may not meet all of them. Combined with the other 5 categories that we have not discussed here, our guess is you probably have a good shot at more categories than you think.

When you consult with an experienced ImmiPartner attorney, we will explore the many types of evidence and criteria that can be used to meet the EB-1A standard. The fact of the matter is, EB-1A applications for professionals must be tailored to their field of expertise, but can definitely be creatively presented to meet the high standards of the visa to ensure a good chance of success.

Next Up: Part 5 - Secret Tips: 5 Things You Could Do Right Now to Improve Your EB-1 Chances

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