EB-1 Green Card Requirements 2024

Published by Mei in EB1 Green Card | Updated 2024

USCIS have developed a list of criteria and requirements for you to satisfy in order to determine you are extraordinary.

The USCIS have devised these requirements to relate to all professions as this visa is not just for the arts but also for the sciences, education, business, and athletics – this can mean that not all criteria relate to your profession.

They judge your application using a two part analysis, the first – do you satisfy the base criteria, and the second – “final merits examination” wherein your career and art are reviewed from an overall perspective to see if you are an expert they want in the USA.

The EB1 Green Card is a paper application. Applicants that understand these requirements have a better chance of success. We believe it was our interpretations of these criteria and our arguments along with solid evidence that made us successful.

Here are the Green Card Requirements –

Either

• provide evidence of a one-time achievement (i.e., Pulitzer, Oscar, Grammy)

Or 

• Prove you meet at least 3 of these 10 criteria
  • Lesser Awards
  • Memberships in Associations
  • Published Material
  • Judge of Others
  • Original Contributions
  • Scholarly Articles
  • Artistic Exhibitions
  • Leading or Critical Roles
  • High Salary
  • Commercial Success
  • ALL EXPLAINED BELOW!

AND

• Show you have sustained national OR international acclaim.
• Show that you are coming to the US to continuing to work in the area of your expertise. 
• Your entry into the United States will substantially benefit prospectively the United States.

It is important to understand that the USCIS officers never look at the quality of your work as a critic. It would save a lot of paper if you could send them links to your portfolio online instead they judge your work through the eyes of your peers, recommendation letters, newspaper articles etc. that you present in your case.

The application was shaped by Kazarian who was denied the extraordinary ability Green Card and brought the USCIS to court Kazarian v. USCIS, 596 F.3d 1115 (9 Cir. 2010) to defend his case.

The USCIS now uses this Kazarian’s two-step test to:

(1) Determine whether the petitioner has submitted evidence that meets the one major prize or three criteria; and

(2) Determine whether the evidence submitted is sufficient to demonstrate that the beneficiary or self-petitioner meets the required high level of expertise for the extraordinary ability preference category during a final merits determination.

NOTE: The secret to success is to understand the criteria.

This assessment is made by examining your body of work as a whole, as well as the prospective work you will create in the United States.

IF YOU CAN SATISFY 3 OF THESE CRITERIA, PAINT AN OVERALL POSITIVE IMAGE OF YOUR CAREER SHOWING SUSTAINED ACCLAIM + IF YOU CAN PROVE THAT YOU WILL CONTINUE TO CREATE WORK IN THE US THEN YOU ARE IDEALLY POSITIONED TO QUALIFY AS AN EXTRAORDINARY ABILITY PERSON.

Let’s have a brief look at these criteria. They are comprehensively analyzed here on our site.

ONE-TIME AWARD

Have you won a major internationally recognized award? The awards necessary here are the top awards in each art form; an Oscar, Grammy, Tony, Pulitzer, Nobel Prize etc. If you have, then this accomplishment alone should be sufficient for you to qualify for the EB1 green card. If the award is obscure but very elite this may also be argued as a major award as long as you can show that it is internationally recognized.

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If you haven’t received an award such as this, don’t panic, the USCIS require you to satisfy at least 3 of the 10 following criteria. In all cases you must give evidence of the achievement itself and corroborate that evidence with supporting documentation from external sources. Remember you only need to satisfy 3 of these criteria to qualify as an extraordinary ability person as deemed by the USCIS requirements. However in our experience if you have evidence to satisfy 3 you will invariably satisfy five or six.

LESSER AWARDS

Documentation of your receipt of lesser nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards for excellence in the field of endeavor. So you haven’t won an Oscar but perhaps you won an award in your home country or a festival award etc. Keep in mind local and national government contracts and grants can be considered as awards too.

MEMBERSHIPS

Documentation of your membership in associations in the field for which classification is sought, which require outstanding achievements of their members, as judged by recognized national or international experts in their disciplines or fields. If you are a member of an elite association within your field you certainly qualify here. If you can argue that they are prestigious many residencies, organizations and academies count as long as you can prove that they have strict standards for membership. You can include any unions/guilds you may be a member of, however, they are usually seen as part of your occupation to be a member and so membership is not required to be outstanding. The same, too, for film academies such as BAFTA, being outstanding is not always a requirement.

PUBLISHED MATERIAL ABOUT YOU

Published material about you in professional or major trade publications or other major media, relating to your work in the field for which classification is sought. Publicity throughout your career is used by the USCIS not only to fulfill this criteria as a measure of your extraordinary ability but a great way to prove your sustained acclaim. You should also ensure include any radio/TV interviews you have given. If you are applying as someone in the entertainment industry and you don’t have publicity, we strongly recommend you focus on building this criteria, as it can be expected by the USCIS. Submit articles with the title, date, and author of the material.

JUDGE OF OTHERS

Evidence of your participation, either individually or on a panel, as a judge of work of others in the same or an allied field of specialization for which classification is sought. If you sat on an award/college jury or your union’s ‘New Member’ committee, worked as a script reader or festival programmer, whether paid or voluntary, competitive or for critical analysis, all may qualify. This is a fantastic way to prove your merit in your art form – it’s not everyone that is asked to judge their peers it is important that you can prove that your role as a judge is indicative you being one of that small percentage who have risen to the very top of the field to have been asked to judge.

SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION / INNOVATION

Evidence of your original scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic, or business-related contributions of major significance in the field. The focus here is on significance. While most art and business can be considered an original contribution, the USCIS seeks evidence of its impact on your field. Have you developed a new approach which others now follow, found a new application for that has generated advancement for the field beyond your own career, pioneered a technique or had an influence on related fields?

SCHOLARLY ARTICLES

Evidence of your authorship of scholarly articles in the field, in professional or major trade publications or other major media. Articles should be listed in online scholar libraries or major trade publications specific to your field. Being published in major media rarely qualifies here as scholarly articles are considered to be those written for an audience of educated peers. The articles should be within your art field. The examiner will look to see if that have been cited by others.

ARTISTIC EXHIBITIONS OR SHOWCASES

Evidence of the display of your work in the field at artistic exhibitions or showcases. Has your art been exhibited, film screened at a prestigious artistic venue or showcase? This can include film festivals, famous galleries, etc. Cinema and television releases do not count here as they are considered to be commercial exhibitions. Although this criterion appears straightforward in its requirements it is biased toward artists that display work. Performers have more difficulty proving this criteria. Interpretation that this criterion is limited to the visual arts – this has been upheld by a federal district court (case Negro-Plumpe v. Okin, 2:07-CV-820-ECR-RJJ at *1, *7 (D. Nev. Sept. 8, 2008)). Do not be deterred you may still be able to argue this as a performing artist. If you are not in the arts you may still qualify. Check out our further analysis on our site.

LEADING/CRITICAL ROLE

Evidence that you have performed in a leading OR critical role for organizations or establishments that have a distinguished reputation. The equivalent criterion within the O-1 visa application allows for a leading role within a production – your position as director etc is critical to a film – however, for the EB-1, the focus is on your role within an organization. Have you sat the board of your union or any organizations? It is important to note the association’s “distinguished reputation”. This again is not so straight forward for actors. You may have performed a ‘role’ in a film or theater production but how was that influential within the organization or establishment. Also, it is important to note that there is a difference between the definition of ‘leading’ and ‘critical’, your role must be either or. We show you how to relate it to your career [here].

HIGH SALARY

Evidence that you have commanded a high salary or other significantly high remuneration for services, in relation to others in the field. This section requires you do some digging through your governments salary statistics to compare your salary to others working in your field. Though not strictly specified, it is advised that you give evidence that your earnings are continually in the top 10% of your profession. Consider how much others in your field can earn in the USA – your salary might be impressive for your home country and on first look might pass this criteria, however it could lose you the ‘final merits determination’.

COMMERCIAL SUCCESS

Evidence of commercial successes in the performing arts, as shown by box office receipts or record, cassette, compact disk, or video sales. Box office and sales receipts establishing the commercial success of your work. Be careful that you do not submit data that contradicts your claim – if your film takes €1m in box office but your budget is reported elsewhere as €1.2m, then the USCIS will deem the production a failure, so you would need to ensure you have included home entertainment or other revenue streams to prove an overall success.

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Job Offer

Even though you must prove that you are coming to the US to continue to work in the area of your expertise the USCIS don’t require you to have an offer of employment or labor certification. This visa is special in that it is self sponsored. You are coming to the US on your extraordinary merit. To show you will substantially benefit prospectively the United States it is wise to have evidence of how you will continue to practice your specialty in the US. There was a case of a concert violinist that submitted evidence of schools that wished to hire her as a tutor in the US but no evidence of her intention to perform – she was denied her Green Card. Demonstrate that you intend to continue working in the area of your extraordinary ability and that your work will continue to the level and above in the future.

Letters of Endorsement

You will also need Letters of Endorsement, also known as Testimonies, Letters of Recommendation etc. We go through these more in-depth [here – Recommendation Letters].

Determination

The USCIS satisfied that you have fulfilled at least 3 criteria will then make their final merits determination. Yes you are extraordinary as determined by the criteria but looking at your career overall are you extraordinary. They will take into account if your evidence shows that you have sustained national OR international acclaim, that your achievements have been recognized in your field of expertise, indicating that you are one of that small percentage who has risen to the very top of your field of endeavor and that that you are coming to the US to continuing to work in the area of your expertise and so your entry into the United States will substantially benefit the United States in the future.

The officer when making with decision applies a preponderance of the evidence standard* when making this determination. *Preponderance of the evidence standard is used in a burden of proof analysis. Under the preponderance standard, the burden of proof is met when the party with the burden convinces the fact finder that there is a greater than 50% chance that the claim is true. In other words, your paper evidence in your application should prove your arguments without a doubt. The officer considers the quality of your evidence eg. whether your judging responsibilities were internal or whether the scholarly articles are cited by others in the field.

Each of these criteria should be argued separately in your petition letter – see our 28 Reasons for Rejection/Denials.

Look at your application as a legal argument. Most artists, scientists, business people, educators and athletes are well suited to writing their own petition letters as sometimes it is difficult to fully convey the importance of what they do to an attorney. Also many are used to filing grant applications or writing thesis. Your application is just like that.

The arts are abstract and subjective so it can be difficult to determine what will and will not qualify as extraordinary, however, the USCIS have designed these criteria to cover every case. Knowing the criteria allows you to focus on getting your case ready to file or work toward an application in the near future. Read How to get your Career Visa Ready for inspiration.

Our exploration of these criteria from the artist, athlete, scientist, business person and educator perspectives are further analyzed in our articles.

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