EB1 Employment Visa

EB1 employment visa is for applicants who want to become US permanent residents based on employment or a job offer.  EB1 employment visas are applicants with extraordinary abilities, outstanding professors and researchers, and certain multinational executives and managers.

EB1 Extraordinary Ability

EB1 employment visa applicants in this category must be able to demonstrate extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics through sustained national or international acclaim.  EB1 employment visa applicant’s achievements must be recognized in their field through extensive documentation.  No offer of employment is required.  EB1 employment visa applicants must meet three of ten criteria below or provide evidence of a one-time achievement (i.e., Pulitzer, Oscar, Olympic Medal) to prove extraordinary ability in your field:

  • Evidence of receipt of lesser nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards for excellence;
  • Evidence of your membership in associations in the field which demand outstanding achievement of their members;
  • Evidence of published material about you in professional or major trade publications or other major media;
  • Evidence that you have been asked to judge the work of others, either individually or on a panel;
  • Evidence of your original scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic, or business-related contributions of major significance to the field;
  • Evidence of your authorship of scholarly articles in professional or major trade publications or other major media;
  • Evidence that your work has been displayed at artistic exhibitions or showcases;
  • Evidence of your performance of a leading or critical role in distinguished organizations;
  • Evidence that you command a high salary or other significantly high remuneration in relation to others in the field; or
  • Evidence of your commercial successes in the performing arts.

EB1 Outstanding Professors and Researchers

EB1 employment visa applicants in this category must demonstrate international recognition for their outstanding achievements in a particular academic field.  EB1 employment visa applicants must have at least three years of experience in teaching or research in that academic area.  EB1 employment visa applicants must be entering the US in order to pursue tenure or tenure track teaching or comparable research position at a university or other institution of higher education.  EB1 employment visa applicants must include documentation of at least two listed below and an offer of employment from the prospective U.S. employer:

  • Evidence of receipt of major prizes or awards for outstanding achievement;
  • Evidence of membership in associations that require their members to demonstrate outstanding achievement;
  • Evidence of published material in professional publications written by others about the alien’s work in the academic field;
  • Evidence of participation, either on a panel or individually, as a judge of the work of others in the same or allied academic field;
  • Evidence of original scientific or scholarly research contributions in the field; and
  • Evidence of authorship of scholarly books or articles (in scholarly journals with international circulation) in the field.

EB1 Multinational Manager or Executive

EB1 employment visa applicants in this category must have been employed outside the US in the three years preceding the petition for at least one year by a firm or corporation and you must be seeking to enter the US to continue service to that firm or organization.  EB1 employment visa applicant’s employment must have been outside the US in a managerial or executive capacity and with the same employer, an affiliate, or a subsidiary of the employer.  EB1 employment visa applicant’s petitioning employer must be a US employer.  EB1 employment visa applicant’s employer must have been doing business for at least one year, as an affiliate, a subsidiary, or as the same corporation or other legal entity that employed them abroad.

The US State Department maintains an updated monthly list of the wait times for EB1 employment visa applications. The monthly list of wait times is called the “Visa Bulletin” and can be found on the US State Department website. The Visa Bulletin will show various dates under each employment visa category (First Preference).  The date listed therein is the date in which the EB1 employment applications they are currently processing were filed.

Please note that once you apply for an EB1 employment visa that such applicant would not qualify for a tourist, business or student visa because such visas require an intent “not” to immigrate to the US.  By filing the EB1 employment visa application an applicant is declaring they have an intent to immigrate to the US.  Such intent to immigrate makes an applicant ineligible to receive a visitors visas such as tourist, business or student visas.