EXTRAORDINARY ABILITY

A green card applicant with extraordinary ability in the arts, sciences, education, business or athletics meeting the following criteria may be eligible for treatment as a priority worker in the EB1 employment preference category. (The O-1 Visa is the nonimmigrant, temporary version of the extraordinary ability category.)  Individuals who qualify as persons with extraordinary ability can waive both the labor certification and offer of employment requirements.*  Applicants in the EB1 extraordinary ability category should be prepared to show:

• sustained national or international acclaim, and achievements recognized in the field through extensive documentation;
• entry to the U.S. to continue work in the area of extraordinary ability; and
• work is of substantial, prospective benefit to the U.S. (national interest).

Extraordinary ability is defined as "a level of expertise indicating that the individual is one of a small percentage who have risen to the very top of the field of endeavor."  The statute requires extensive documentation to establish eligibility.  Evidence should include a major one-time achievement (e.g., an internationally recognized award such as the Nobel Prize, Oscar or Grammy), or at least three (preferably as many as possible) of the following:

• Documentation of applicant’s receipt of lesser nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards indicating excellence in the field of endeavor;
• Documentation of applicant’s membership in associations that outstanding achievements as judged by recognized national or international experts in their disciplines or fields (this would not include professional/scientific/academic organizations that merely require a fee for membership, however prestigious the organization may be);
• Published material about the applicant in professional or major trade publications or other major media; materials should relate to the applicant’s work in the field for which classification is sought; such evidence should include title, date, author, and any necessary translation;
• Evidence of applicant's participation on panel as judge of others in the same or allied field;
• Evidence of applicant's original scientific and/or scholarly contributions of major significance in the field;
• Evidence of applicant's authorship of scholarly articles in the field, published in professional or major trade publications or other major media;
• Evidence of the display of applicant’s work in showcases or events;
• Evidence that applicant has performed in a leading or critical role for organizations or establishments that have a distinguished reputation;
• Evidence that applicant has commanded a high salary or other significantly high remuneration for services, in relation to other’s in the field; or
• Evidence of applicant's commercial success in the performing arts, as shown by box office receipts or record, cassette, compact disk, or video sales.

With regard to the above category, please note that USCIS has made it considerably more difficult in the past few years to obtain a classification as a person of "extraordinary ability" either at the nonimmigrant (O-1) or immigrant (EB1) level. For example, for scientists and academics, they appear to be leaning much more heavily on publications (in prestigious journals with international circulation) and also on citations of those publications. Quantity is not necessarily dispositive. However, it is very important that a petition demonstrate a major impact on the field.

Please note that awards won at a student level will not be considered by USCIS in your application. Student publications by or about the candidate will not be given substantial weight in evaluating an extraordinary ability application. Similarly, fellowships--no matter how prestigious--will generally not be considered to fulfill the awards criterion above. Patents will be given substantial weight only if the patent is granted (a patent that is pending carries little to no weight), and only if the candidate can show that the patent has had a significant impact on the field and/or has been adopted commercially on a widespread basis.

Letters from experts in the applicant's field of expertise will be given considerable weight. Therefore, it is important to choose letter writers carefully. Obviously, the more recognizable the person's name or position, the more weight that person's opinion will carry. In addition, examiners are looking for a mix of experts to comment on the case, including "objective" letter writers who may not know the applicant personally, but know of his/her work due to its prominence, or who at least are not in the applicant's immediate professional circles.

If you would like an initial evaluation of your chances in this category, please email us at info@immigration-lawyer.com. Please include with your email a CV, list of publications (if applicable to your field), citations for each of your publications specifying the number of "self" citations, "group" citations and other citations for each publication, any press about you or your work that has appeared in major media and/or in professional/ scientific journals (this does not include press releases), and any other information you deem relevant for an assessment of your case. If you believe you have made contributions that are considered to be "breakthrough" or "of major significance," please specify what those contributions are and why they are considered to be very significant to others in your field. Also specify any particular impact or practical application of your contributions, as this is of great importance to USCIS as well.

*Note, however, that applicants for EB1 category "outstanding professors and researchers" and "multinational executives or managers" must have an offer of employment; however, labor certification is not required for these groups.

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Please note that we will accept an extraordinary ability case only if we feel it has a high chance of success after examining the prospective client's credentials and subjecting to them to an analysis of the regulations and the latest trends in adjudication of this case type.