EB-1 Visa Program
The EB-1 Visa Program is meant to allow for highly valued and skilled workers to enter the U.S. legally. Employment First Preference (E1) or Priority Workers applicants are eligible for employment-based immigrant visas under several conditions (listed b elow).All First Preference applicants need an Immigrant Petition for Foreign Worker (Form I-140) to be approved by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). About 28.6 percent of the yearly limit of employment-based immigrant visas in the U.S. are Priority Workers seeking an EB-1 visa.
Unlike other types of employment-based visas, Priority Workers require no labor certification. Within the EB-1 visa program, there are three subgroups:
- EB-1(a) Visa: Aliens of Extraordinary Ability
- EB-1(b) Visa: Outstanding Researchers/Outstanding Professors
- EB-1(c) Visa: Managers and Executive Transferees
There are some stipulations to each as you’ll see further broken down below.
EB-1(a): Extraordinary Ability in Sciences, Arts, Education, Business, or Athletics
Employment-based visa applicants listed under this Priority Workers subcategory will need to prove extensive evidence and documentation showcasing their national or international acclaim in their particular field. Individuals wishing to enter the U.S. with extraordinary abilities in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics do not need to have specific job offers to apply for their visas; only that they continue to work in these fields upon entering the U.S, and file their Form I-140 petition with USCIS.
If you are applying under this category, you must provide evidence of at least three of the criteria listed below to prove your extraordinary ability:
- Receipt of lesser nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards for excellence;
- Membership in associations which require outstanding achievement of their members;
- Publishings in professional, major trade publications or other major media about your ability in this field;
- Being asked to judge the work of others, either individually or on a panel;
- Original scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic, or business-related contributions of major significance to the field;
- Authorship of scholarly articles in professional or major trade publications or other major media;
- Work that has been displayed at artistic exhibitions or showcases;
- Performance of a leading or critical role in distinguished organizations;
- High salary or other significantly high remuneration in relation to others in the field;
- Commercial successes in the performing arts.
EB-1(b): Internationally Recognized Professors and Researchers
The second category of the EB-1 visa program is for outstanding, internationally recognized professors and researchers with at least three years experience in teaching or research. To apply under this category, applicants must be coming to the U.S. to pursue tenure, tenure track teaching, or a comparable research position at a university or other institution of higher education. Applicants will need a prospective employer to (1) provide a job offer as evidence and (2) file Form I-140 on their behalf with USCIS.
The following evidence is needed to prove that a person is an outstanding professor or researcher:
- Receipt of major prizes or awards for outstanding achievement;
- Membership in associations that require their members to demonstrate outstanding achievement;
- Published material in professional publications written by others about the alien’s work in the academic field;
- Participation, either on a panel or individually, as a judge of the work of others in the same or allied academic field;
- Original scientific or scholarly research contributions in the field;
- Authorship of scholarly books or articles (in scholarly journals with international circulation) in the field.
EB-1(c): Multinational Managers or Executives (Employed by a U.S. Company)
Multinational managers and executives are eligible as Priority Workers if they have been employed for at least one of the previous three years by a U.S. company. This can come as an overseas affiliate, parent, subsidiary, or branch of the U.S. employer. The applicant’s employment with this company must have been in a managerial or executive capacity. Furthermore, applicants under this category must be coming to the U.S. to work in a managerial or executive capacity again. The applicant’s prospective employer must (1) provide a written job offer as evidence along with (2) a Form I-140 filing on his or her behalf with USCIS.
