EB-1A eligibility criteria - how can I strengthen my application?

EB-1A refers to the employment-based first-preference green card for individuals with extraordinary ability. According to the U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), foreign nationals who excel in fields like arts, sciences, education, business, or athletics are eligible.

This visa allows you to apply for permanent residence within the United States of America if you can prove you're among the small, elite percentage in your field. Also, the EB-1A visa does not require an employer or employment offer. That means you can file the petition yourself.

In this article, we’ll break down the eligibility criteria, explain how to strengthen your application under each requirement, and share practical tips to improve your chances of approval.

Who can apply for the EB-1A Visa?

The EB-1A visa is for individuals who are distinguished in their field. Eligible candidates come from disciplines like arts, science, education, business, athletics and technology.

Applicants do not need a job offer or employer sponsorship, and you can self-petition. What's most important is having a record to attest to your prowess in these areas.

To qualify for the EB-1A green card, you must demonstrate extraordinary ability through one of two paths.

• Path 1: If you have received a major internationally recognized award, like a Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize, Academy Award, Olympic medal, or Fields Medal, you qualify without needing to meet any of the 10 regulatory criteria.
• Path 2: Meet at least 3 out of the 10 regulatory criteria for EB-1A. Meeting 3 criteria allows your petition to be considered, but it does not guarantee approval. USCIS then evaluates all of your evidence together in the final merits determination to decide whether you truly qualify as someone with extraordinary ability.

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The 10 EB-1A eligibility criteria

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services outlines 10 EB-1A eligibility criteria. They include critical role, high remuneration, awards, judging, membership, original contributions, scholarly articles, published materials, displayed work, and commercial success.

Let’s explain what each criterion means and how to use it to build a strong application.

1. Critical role at distinguished organizations

There are 2 things you should keep in mind for this EB-1A criterion.

First, your role must be relevant to the organization’s operations. Think that what matters is the level of impact your work had on achieving the organization’s goals, not your title or seniority in itself.

Second, the organization must have a distinguished reputation. This is often easier to show for large, internationally recognized companies like Google or Meta, but size alone is not determinative.

Reputation can be demonstrated through:

• Relevant media coverage, receipt of media grants, evidence of funding supports, rankings and other related assessments.
• For small businesses or startups with limited public recognition, a strong track record with reputable organizations, governments, or industry bodies is especially important.
• Recognition by chambers of commerce and credible third-party mentions can also strengthen the case.

Documentation: Proof of roles, documents detailing your work performance and success, letter of recommendation from your organization and proof of employment, and proof of organization’s status.

Tips for success: The letter of recommendation should come from someone who has managed you directly, in a higher position. Their vote of confidence holds more weight than a VP who barely knows your day-to-day workflow.

2. High salary or remuneration

Your salary should be in the top 10% of your profession and above the benchmark set by the Department of Labor if you’re in the US.

USCIS considers whether you have earned a high salary or other significant compensation compared to others in your field. This includes base salary, bonuses, stock options, equity, or any other form of remuneration.

Suppose you live and work outside the US. You can compare your salary with those of similar professionals in your local and national areas to determine whether you're in the 10%.

Documentation: You should submit pay stubs for at least the last 6 months, a W-2 form if applicable, a recently issued offer letter containing your salary, and a bank statement to confirm the salary actually lands in your account.

You can also include employment contracts and related offer letters showing your salary, third-party wage data, or salary surveys for your occupation, valuation or documentation of stock/equity holdings.

Tips for success: Support claims with third-party salary data that places you clearly above industry norms.

3. Awards and prizes

This criterion covers nationally or internationally recognized awards for excellence in your field. Here,USCIS considers whether the person was a recipient of prizes or awards. A team award may qualify if the person was one of the recipients. The USCIS also considers whether the award is a lesser nationally or internationally recognized award for excellence in the field.

A qualifying award may come from well-known national institutions or professional associations, doctoral dissertation awards or awards for presentations at recognized conferences.

• Officers consider the criteria used to grant the award, its national or international significance, the number of recipients, and limits on competitors.
• Awards limited to a single locality often carry little weight, while those open to members of respected national institutions or professional bodies may qualify. Some awards limited to early-career professionals may still meet this standard if they receive national or international recognition.

Documentation: Includes award certificates, profiles of the organizers of the award or funding event, official announcements, selection guidelines, reputation of granting bodies, and media coverage.

Tips for success: Provide third-party evidence, like media coverage, and press releases. You should also include details about eligibility, number of recipients, and statements showing the significance of the award, and the importance of your contribution (where the award is team-based).

4. Judging the work of others

Judging is considered as proof of peer trust in your expertise and experience. Hackathons, peer reviews, paper reviews, startup pitch evaluations, and judging competitions are all good evidence.

• It could also include your participation in selecting the next cohort of an accelerator program or the next member of a reputable public organization.
• Things not considered include judging within your organization or judging student works. That’s because they do not reflect recognizable trust in your expertise. Mentoring is a better fit in these cases.

Documentation: Invitation to serve as a judge, email acknowledgements after the event, certificate or official records of judging, a direct letter from the organization confirming your role, and scorecards are useful. Future judging is not an eligible piece of evidence.

Tips for success: Emphasize selectivity, frequency, and the institution’s authority in appointing you.

5. Membership in selective associations

Membership must be based on your excellence within your field of expertise and be highly selective. For the selection process, your entry should involve expert evaluation, peer nomination, or a competitive review. And the organization issuing membership must limit it to top professionals.

• It can be an advisory board, a senior-level membership, an invitation-only academy, or a fellow status.
• What doesn’t count includes open professional groups, alumni associations, company-labelled membership, student bodies, or organizations that anyone can join after paying a fee without showing any achievement.

Documentation: Official membership certificates or letters, admission criteria showing selectivity, and bylaws or public descriptions of the evaluation process. There should also be evidence of peer or expert review during admission and member activity after admission.

Tips for success: You don’t need too many memberships. Pick a few important ones and actively participate in them.

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6. Original contributions of major significance

Original contributions are one of the strongest and most scrutinized criteria. They must demonstrate the impact of your work in the industry, not just within your company.

• These contributions include inventions, methods, frameworks, discoveries, and/or products that changed or improved how work is done in your field.
• The USCIS looks for evidence that others have adopted, relied on, cited, licensed, commercialized, or built on your work.

Documentation: Public adoption evidence or contracts, citation records depicting how your research paper has impacted others, and testimonials from companies using your open source code.

Tips for success: Focus on work that solves clear industry problems and can grow or draw wide notice. Partner with credible institutions, document impact over time, share results through conferences and contribute to open source spaces where others can rely on your work.

7. Scholarly articles

The scholarly articles are a way to show your thought leadership and intellectual contribution to the field. This can include peer-reviewed scientific journal papers, conference proceedings, and technical publications on major research outlets

• Each article must relate to your field, should showcase your expertise, and you need to be one of the authors, whether first or not. Citations are not required, and there is no minimum number of articles you must include.
• What doesn’t count as scholarly articles includes blog posts or content on your company’s website because they lack editorial oversight and are not published on major research outlets.

Documentation: Evidence of scholarly articles, proof of peer-review or editorial standards, and information about the publication’s reputation.

Tips for success: write articles that show clear expertise and original thoughts, recognition from peers. Support this with numbers such as citation counts or impact factors, explain what the article adds to the field and show the reliance of others on it.

8. Published materials about you and your work

Published materials are publications written about you but not by you. This differentiates it from scholarly articles. Also, the articles need to appear in a major media or publication outlet not controlled by you or your organization.

• Qualifying materials include articles, interviews, or features. The content should discuss your work, impact, leadership, or contributions rather than simply mention your name.
• Additionally, each article must include a title, an author as proof of editorial review, and a date. In this context, press releases are not useful.

Documentation: Full copies of the published material with screenshots, publication details, and circulation, third-party statistics, and a letter from the outlet if needed. There should also be proof of independence from you or your employer and a clear identification of you as the subject.

Tips for success: To show the major trade, aim for those with at least 500,000 monthly views.

9. Displayed work at artistic exhibitions

This criterion applies mainly to artists and requires evidence that your creative work has been shown to the public, either online or in physical spaces.

• USCIS looks for artistic and non-artistic works that have been exhibited in one way or the other.
• Qualifying materials include curated exhibitions, public art installations, gallery exhibitions and presentations at conferences or festivals.

Documentation: Photos of you at the venue with your work, screenshots of online features, press features, confirmation from the exhibiting organization, evidence of public recognition, evidence of ownership of work, and audience data.

Tips for success: Prioritize platforms and exhibitions with documented audience or critical attention. Provide evidence to show each display should reflect  recognition, selectivity, and critical attention, but none of these are a must.

10. Commercial success in the performing arts

This relates to performers, musicians, filmmakers, and other artists whose creative work has achieved measurable financial success.

• USCIS looks for evidence that your art has reached wide audiences and generated significant revenue from public engagements.
• Qualifying evidence includes ticket revenue from paid performances, box office sales, verified streaming numbers, licensing income, major chart rankings or documented sales figures compared with peers. Local shows, or unpaid gigs carry little weight because they do not show broad public impact.

Documentation: Box office tallies, or gross revenue statements, music streaming or download statistics, sales reports for albums, books, or performance, independent chart rankings, press coverage or industry reports documenting commercial success, distributor or venue statements verifying your impact on performance turnout.

Tips for success: Relative success boosts your application. Specify how your art ranks top three or ten on the crowded chart, top gross income or box office sales, and peak streaming numbers compared to others’ works.

How does USCIS evaluate the EB-1A eligibility criteria?

USCIS uses a two-step process when reviewing EB-1A petitions. Many applicants focus only on the criteria and underestimate the importance of the second step.

Step 1: Criteria evaluation

Either you have a major, internationally recognized award, such as the Oscar, the Pulitzer, or an Olympic Medal. Or you meet at least 3 of the 10 EB-1A eligibility criteria listed above. For best results, aim for at least 5 of the 10 eligibility criteria.

Step 2: Final merits determination

The immigration office checks how relevant and significant each criterion you checked is. For example, you may have three original contributions, but how many, and how much impact do they have within your field or industry compared to peers?

Starting your EB-1A Application

Before starting, you can get a clearer, profile-based view of which visa may be a better fit right now with our Visa Match tool. If the EB-1A visa remains your best option, you can speak directly with us to help prepare next steps.

Schedule a call with our team today