The US limits the number of employment-based immigrants annually, by both visa category and country of birth. While the annual supply for most categories and countries of birth seems sufficient to prevent lengthy waiting periods, significant exceptions apply for immigrants born in India and mainland China. Many employment-based immigrants born in those two countries face multiple years of waiting in the queue. The US State Department reports immigrant visa waiting times in its monthly Visa Bulletin, which can be found here: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin.html

Who can petition for an EB-1A? 

EB-1A applicants can self-petition but may also have a sponsoring employer petition on their behalf. Applicants do not need a job offer from a US employer and go through the PERM Labor Certification process.

What are the specific requirements for an EB1 Permanent Resident Visa?

Because the terms “extraordinary” and “outstanding” or even “manager” may be open to interpretation, US immigration authorities have provided some guidelines to assist petitioners.

 

Extraordinary Ability: Petitioners must be able to demonstrate their superior abilities in business, education, the sciences, arts or athletics, and must have received sustained (i.e. not occasional or one-time) acclaim at either a national or international level. All achievements, such as awards, commendations, honors, medals, patents, trademarks and so on, must be verified through extensive documentation.

 

Outstanding Professor or Researcher: Petitioners must have at least three years of verified experience as a professor, researcher or teacher in their academic area of expertise (ie they cannot have training in one academic field, but teaching experience in another). Furthermore, petitioners must be entering US to pursue tenure (or a tenure track) research position at an accredited university, college, or other institution of higher learning. Multinational Manager or Executive: in the preceding 3 years prior to submitting their application, petitioners must have worked outside of the U.S. for at least 1 year with the multinational firm in question. Furthermore, their employment must have been in a managerial or executive capacity with the same employer, an affiliate, or a subsidiary.

 

Application Process: All petitioners, regardless of EB1 sub-category —- extraordinary ability, outstanding professors and researchers, or multinational manager or executive — must submit Form I-140. However, petitioners seeking a visa under the latter two sub-categories (outstanding professors and researchers, or multinational manager or executive) must have their employer submit the file. They cannot submit it directly on their own behalf.

Reference letters, or letters of recommendation, are required on the field, but also to show evidence of recognition in the field. The letters of recommendation need to be from prominent experts.

Applicants need to show that they intend to work in the field through which they have attained their extraordinary ability. This, however, does not prohibit them from working part-time in a different field.

No. Many EB-1A applicants petition from overseas. Petitioners who are not in the US will need to go through consular processing.

The EB1-A is a prestigious US employment based immigrant visa reserved for extraordinary individuals which can lead to EB1-A green card. This coveted visa category is for individuals who have attained extraordinary achievement in the fields of business, education, science, art and athletics. Qualified applicants are at the very top of their field, are widely known within their area and their work has the ability to have a positive impact on US.

An “extraordinary” individual is one who has risen to the top of their field by fulfilling the criteria for evidence classified into two groups: A) The applicant has won a major international award that is widely recognized. Examples include the Nobel Prize, an Olympic Gold Medal, or a Pulitzer Prize

Or 

 B) The applicant can demonstrate fulfilling at least three of the following alternative criteria:

1. Receipt of lesser nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards for excellence
2. Membership of an association that requires outstanding achievement as a condition
3. Published material about the work in professional, trade journals or major media publications
4. Participation on a panel or individually as a judge of the work of others in the same or related field
5. Demonstrating significant contributions of a scholarly, scientific, artistic or athletic nature
6. Authorship of scholarly articles in the field published in professional journals or other major media
7. Display of the work at significant exhibitions
8. Holding a significant role for organizations or establishments that have a distinguished reputation
9. Commanding a high salary or remuneration that indicates extraordinary ability
10. Commercial success in the performing arts as shown by box office receipts or sales records, cassette, CD or video sales, or

Other comparable evidence if the above types of evidence do not readily apply to the applicant’s occupation