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EB1 EXTRAORDINARY ABILITY VISA
2023 LEGAL UPDATES
EB1 Extraordinary Ability Visa
EB1 Extraordinary Ability Visa generates Green Cards for Extraordinary Ability Professionals, Outstanding Professors, and Researchers, Certain Multinational Managers or Executives with or without a job offer (based on subcategory) and without the need for a Labor Department Certification.
Number of visas issued in 2021: 19,700
Normal Processing Time: 6-9 months Government Fees $785
Expedited Processing Time: 45 days Government Fee $2,500
Attorney’s Fee: $4,900.00 (paid in 2 installments $2,900, $2,000)
See if you qualify. Schedule your Initial Consultation $95.00/30 min
10 Things You Need to Know About the EB1 in 2023
- Table of Contents -
- Overview
- EB1A Extraordinary Ability Requirements
- EB1B Outstanding Professor or Researcher Requirements
- EB1C Multinational Manager or Executive Requirements
- Do I Need a Job Offer
- Application Timeline
- Processing Times and Fees
- Premium 45 Days Expedited Processing Times and Fees
- Attorney’s Processing Times and Fees
- After Approval, Apply to Register Permanent Residence
1. EB1 Extraordinary Ability Visa - Overview
The EB-1 Category confers Permanent Residence in the United States to the principal applicant, their spouse, and minor children under 21.
The EB-2 classification is divided into three sub-categories or Pathways:
- Persons with Extraordinary Ability – You must be able to demonstrate extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics through sustained national or international acclaim.
- Outstanding Professors and Researchers – You must demonstrate international recognition for your outstanding achievements in a particular academic field. You must have at least 3 years of experience in teaching or research in that academic area. You must be entering the United States in order to pursue tenure or tenure track teaching or a comparable research position at a university, institution of higher education or private employer.
- Certain Multinational Managers or Executives – You must have been employed outside the United States for at least 1 year in the 3 years preceding the petition or the most recent lawful nonimmigrant admission if you are already working for the U.S. petitioning employer. The U.S. petitioner must have been doing business for at least 1 year, have a qualifying relationship to the entity you worked for outside the U.S., and intend to employ you in a managerial or executive capacity.
You can receive permanent residence in either of the 3 pathways, and you do not need to cumulate the elements.
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service is the institution responsible for approving this type of petition. *
2. EB1A Extraordinary Ability Visa - Requirements
In order to demonstrate you have sustained national or international acclaim and that your achievements have been recognized in your field of expertise, you must either include evidence of a one-time achievement (major internationally recognized award such as Pulitzer, Oscar, Nobel Price, Golden Globe, Music Awards, Olympic Medal, International World Competition, or any medal in global sports, world record, invention certificate, prize, world exhibition, very high standing in an international tournament, competition, or major award, on a case by case basis, non-limiting) or 3 of the 10 listed criteria below (or comparable evidence if any of the above criteria do not readily apply):
- 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.
- Evidence of your commercial successes in the performing arts.
3. EB1B Outstanding Professor or Researcher
How do I demonstrate that I am an Outstanding Professor or Researcher to qualify for a EB1 B Visa?
In order to demonstrate you are an outstanding professor or researcher, you must include evidence of at least 2 of the 6 listed criteria below (or comparable evidence if any of the criteria do not readily apply):
- 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 noncitizen’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.
- Evidence of authorship of scholarly books or articles (in scholarly journals with international circulation) in the field.
4. EB1C Multinational Manager or Executive
How do I demonstrate that I am a Multinational Manager or Executive to qualify for EB1 C Visa?
You must have been employed for 1 year with the same employer abroad in the past 3 years.
Alternatively, you must have been employed for 1 year with the employer as a non-immigrant in the United States.
The United States petitioner must have been doing business for at least 1 year and have a qualifying relationship with the entity you worked for abroad. Furthermore, the employer intends to employ you in a managerial or executive capacity.
5. EB1 First Preference - Do I Need a Job Offer
For which subclasses do I need a Job Offer?
You do not need a job offer for
- Subclass A – Extraordinary Ability: You may apply for yourself.
The EB-1 classification requires a job offer from a U.S. employer for the following subclasses:
- Subclass B – Outstanding Professors and Researchers: Your U.S. employer must file a Petition for Alien Worker. As part of the application process, your employer must be able to demonstrate a continuing ability to pay the offered wage as of the priority date. Your employer may use an annual report, federal income tax return, or audited financial statement to demonstrate a continuing ability to pay your wage.
- Subclass C – Multinational Manager or Executive: Your U.S. employer must file a Petition for Alien Worker. As part of the application process, your employer must be able to demonstrate a continuing ability to pay the offered wage as of the priority date. Your employer may use an annual report, federal income tax return, or audited financial statement to demonstrate a continuing ability to pay your wage.
6. EB1 Extraordinary Ability Visa - Application Timeline
Every client’s file and situation are different, but in general terms, the following is a timeline of our office processing your case.
- Initial Client Consultation
- Strategy Session
- Office issues checklists
- Complete Client Intake Questionnaire
- Client Completes Draft Forms
- Client Uploads Documents on Portal
- Review Supporting Documents (Credentials, Resumes, References, Articles, Pay, Research, Acclaim)
- Client submits Career Overview
- Prepare together supporting Memorandum
- Finalize Final Draft
- Final Joint Review
- Upload/Submit to USCIS
The most crucial phase is securing the required documents (Credentials, Resumes, References, Articles, Pay, Research, Acclaim) and ensuring they comply with the USCIS standards.
Based on your documentation, we request that you prepare a career presentation and overview, which would be the basis for our office to prepare your case memorandum.
Our office will review and prepare the memorandum and finalize your application within 2-3 weeks from receiving all documents.
7. EB1 Extraordinary Ability Visa - Processing Times and Fees
For the EB1 Extraordinary Ability Visa, the general jurisdiction is the U.S. Consulate where the applicants are residing (which may be different than their citizenship).
However, if within the United States on an entry other than ESTA, one can apply for a change of status in the United States in which case the application will be processed by USCIS.
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) charges the following governmental fees, subject to changes.*
Standard Processing Fee
USCIS Standard Application Fee: $460.00 (See USCIS official processing Fees)
The standard processing time is, on average, 6-9 months. (See USCIS official processing Times)
8. EB1 Extraordinary Ability Visa- Premium 45 Days Expedited Processing Times and Fees
USCIS Premium Processing Application Fee: $1,250.00 (in addition to the standard fee of $700) (See USCIS official processing Fees)
There is the possibility for your case to be processed faster if you pay a premium governmental processing fee of $2500 directly to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service, which will guarantee the processing of your application in only 45 days or sooner (time updated on September 15, 2022).
9. EB1 Extraordinary Ability Visa - Attorney's Processing Times and Fees
Attorney’s Fees: $4,900.00, payable in two installments ($2,900 at inception and $2,000 at submission),
The attorney’s fee to prepare the EB1 Extraordinary Ability Visa petition includes the consultations, review, document preparation, memorandum, and file submission to USCIS (a complete file submission).
Our fees are, in general, non-refundable. Still, in cases of EB1 Extraordinary Ability Visa , we usually offer a money-back guarantee after receiving all client documentation that confirms our requirements and checklists so that clients can rest assured of our services.
Once your EB-1 Extraordinary Ability Visa petition is approved, you would have to further petition either in the U.S. if you are already present in the U.S. or at the U.S. Consulate abroad to register your permanent residence, which is subject to another governmental fee. You can also retain our firm to prepare your petition, which is what we advise. In the Permanent
Residence Application, you will also petition for your spouse and minor children.
The governmental fees vary based on USCIS processing or Consular processing.
10. EB1 Extraordinary Ability Visa - After Approval Apply to Register Permanent Residence
Once your EB1 Application is approved, you must further apply in the U.S. if you are already present in the U.S. or at the U.S. Consulate abroad to register your permanent residence. In the Application to Register Permanent Residence, you will also petition for your spouse and minor children. They will also file separate petitions with you based on your already approved EB1 Application.
The governmental fees vary based on USCIS processing or Consular processing and are as follows:
USCIS Processing:
- $1,140.00 for the principal applicant
- $1,140 for the main applicant’s spouse, filing at the same time as the applicant
- $750 per minor filing at the same time with the principal applicant
- $85 for each type of applicant age 14-78 (principal, spouse, child)
Consular Processing:
- $325.00 for the principal applicant
- $325 for each dependent (spouse/child)
- $1,250.00 for the principal applicant
- $350.00 for each dependent (spouse/child)
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EB-1 Do it Yourself Package
We also offer a do it yourself package which contains all the official information, forms, adjudicator manual, sample letters, documents, and memorandum should you decide to do it at your own risk.