The Immigration and Nationality Act provides a yearly minimum of 140,000 employment-based immigrant visas which are divided into five preference categories. Employment-Based First Preference (EB-1) Priority Workers receive 28.6 percent of the yearly worldwide limit. Of course, giving priority to these individuals so they may obtain a green card quicker bears with it stricter qualifying criteria. Within this preference there are three sub-groups:
Persons of extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics. Applicants in this category must have extensive documentation showing sustained national or international acclaim and recognition in the field of expertise. Such applicants do not have to have a specific job offer so long as they are entering the U.S. to continue work in the field in which they have extraordinary ability. Such applicants can file their own petition with the USCIS, rather than through an employer;
Outstanding professors and researchers with at least three years experience in teaching or research, who are recognized internationally. No labor certification is required for this classification, but the prospective employer must provide a job offer and file a petition with the USCIS; and
Certain executives and managers who have been employed at least one of the three preceding years by the overseas affiliate, parent, subsidiary, or branch of the U.S. employer. The applicant must be coming to work in a managerial or executive capacity. No labor certification is required for this classification, but the prospective employer must provide a job offer and file a petition with the USCIS. All Priority Workers must be the beneficiaries of an approved Form I- 140, Immigrant Petition for Foreign Worker, filed with USCIS.
How We Serve Our Clients
Our dynamic and knowledgeable attorneys will consult with you to determine that the nature of the offered position and the foreign candidate's education and professional experience qualify them under the priority worker immigrant visa category. We will also recommend possible alternative strategies if the foreign beneficiary's experience renders them ineligible for this visa category. Our attorneys work closely with both the employer and beneficiary to ensure that the required documents are rendered and all legal issues addressed. We relieve human resources personnel of the burdensome paperwork requirements by preparing all required forms and supporting documents for submission to the appropriate government departments and agencies. Our staff is easily accessible by both the employer and foreign beneficiary to answer questions as they arise.
Qualifications For EB-1 Priority Workers
Aliens of Extraordinary Ability
Aliens with extraordinary ability are those with "extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics which has been demonstrated by sustained national or international acclaim and whose achievements have been recognized in the field through extensive documentation." You must be one of "that small percentage who have risen to the very top of the field of endeavor," to be granted this classification. For example, if you receive a major internationally recognized award, such as a Nobel Prize, you will qualify for an EB-1 classification. Other awards may also qualify if you can document that the award is in the same class as a Nobel Prize. Since few workers receive this type of award, alternative evidence of EB-1 classification based on at least three of the types of evidence outlined below, is permitted. The worker may submit "other comparable evidence" if the following criteria do not apply:
Receipt of lesser nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards for excellence;
Membership in associations in the field which demand outstanding achievement of their members;
Published material about the alien in professional or major trade publications or other major media;
Evidence that the alien has judged the work of others, either individually or on a panel;
Evidence of the alien's original scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic, or business-related contributions of major significance to the field;
Evidence of the alien's authorship of scholarly articles in professional or major trade publications or other major media;
Evidence that the alien's work has been displayed at artistic exhibitions or showcases;
Performance of a leading or critical role in distinguished organizations;
Evidence that the alien commands a high salary or other significantly high remuneration in relation to others in the field;
Evidence of commercial successes in the performing arts.
Outstanding Researchers
Outstanding professors or researchers are recognized internationally for their outstanding academic achievements in a particular field. In addition, an outstanding professor or researcher must have at least three years experience in teaching or research in that academic area, and enter the U.S. in a tenure or tenure track teaching or comparable research position at a university or other institution of higher education. If the employer is a private company rather that a university or educational institution, the department, division, or institute of the private employer must employ at least three persons full time in research activities and have achieved documented accomplishments in an academic field.
Evidence that the professor or researcher is recognized as outstanding in the academic field must include documentation of at least two of the following:
Receipt of major prizes or awards for outstanding achievement;
Membership in associations that require their members to demonstrate outstanding achievements;
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.
Intra-Company Transfer of Managers & Executives
Some executives and managers of foreign companies who are transferred to the U.S. may qualify. A multinational manager or executive is eligible for priority worker status if he or she has been employed outside the U.S. in the three years preceding entry in the United States for at least one year by a firm or corporation and seeks permanent residency to the U.S to continue service to that firm or organization. The employment must have been outside the United States in a managerial or executive capacity and with the same employer, an affiliate, or a subsidiary of the employer.
The petitioner must be a U.S. employer, doing business for at least one year, that is an affiliate, a subsidiary, or the same employer as the firm, corporation or other legal entity that employed the foreign national abroad.
USCIS Petition
A USCIS Form I-140 (Petition for Alien Worker) is required. All I-140 petitions must be filed at the USCIS Regional Service Center that has jurisdiction over the place where the individual will work. The petition packet must include the required documentary evidence and should follow the specific filing guidelines of the Service Center. No labor certification is needed for EB-1 petitions. While the EB-1 worker of extraordinary ability may petition for himself or herself, the employer must file the petition for an outstanding professor or researcher and a multinational executive or manager.
Visa Ineligibility & Waiver
The immigration laws of the United States, in order to protect the health, welfare, and security of the U.S., prohibit the issuance of a visa to certain applicants. Examples of applicants who must be refused visas are those who: have a communicable disease, or have a dangerous physical or mental disorder; have committed serious criminal acts; are terrorists, subversives, members of a totalitarian party, or former Nazi war criminals; have used illegal means to enter the U.S.; or are ineligible for citizenship. Some former exchange visitors must live abroad for two years. Physicians who intend to practice medicine must pass a qualifying exam before receiving immigrant visas. If found to be ineligible, the consular officer will advise the applicant of any waivers.
