EB-1A and EB-1B First Preference
Visas for Specialists
The U.S. visas for priority specialists fall into the first category of employment-based immigration visas. Eligible candidates include world-class representatives in art, the sciences, culture, sports, education, and business. It has three sub-categories: EB-1A, EB-1B, and EB-1C.
(Note: EB-1C for businessman and executives has its own peculiarities and is explained in a separate section of our website.)
EB-1A visa for people with extraordinary abilities
The EB-1A is coveted for its relatively short processing period. In some cases, a visa may be available within as few as 15 working days. A person may submit an I-140 petition inside or outside of the U.S. A petition for a Green Card may be filed simultaneously, significantly reducing the amount of time it takes to achieve U.S. residency status. Extensive, documented evidence of petitioner’s solidity and recognition in national or international expert community scope is a must. The visa is not contingent upon having an offer of employment. However, the applicant must continue to be active in the field of the specialty after arrival in the U.S.
The greater the international recognition of the applicant, the less documentation is necessary. Nobel Prize winners and Olympic medalists, for instance, will find it much easier to be approved than lesser-known individuals with comparable expertise and ability.
EB-1A candidates who are not international award winner in their field of competence are assessed on the basis of 10 criteria, of which they must provide documentation that they comply with at least three.
Official requirements for the U.S. immigration of EB-1A people with extraordinary abilities:
- A recipient of lesser nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards for excellence in a profession.
- A member of associations in a field in which outstanding achievement is a requirement for membership.
- A media-person who has published material in professional or specialized publications or other major media.
- An expert who has been asked to judge the work of others, either individually or on a panel.
- A contributor to their field by their original scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic, or business-related works of major significance.
- An author of published scholarly articles in professional or major trade publications or other major media.
- An author of works that have been displayed at artistic exhibitions or showcases.
- A leading employee or an expert in a distinguished organization.
- An individual who receives significantly high remuneration relative to others in the field.
- An individual who has had commercial success in the performing arts.
| Read also: | EB-1A visa for swimming coach |
EB-1B visa for distinguished professor and researchers
EB-1B visa is reserved for world-recognized professors and researchers who have more than three years of internationally-acclaimed experience.
The purpose of entry must employment as an assistant, professor, or researcher in an acknowledged U.S. higher education establishment. In this case, an invitation from the institution is required.
Fluency in multiple languages is no guarantee of acceptance in this class but it may be given some consideration provided the required criteria are met.
Higher education establishments and research institutions typically offer full professorship only to mature professors and scientists who well-established, internationally recognized for specific discoveries and achievements. In other cases, an individual may need to consider a visa in a different category.
The list of criteria for outstanding professors and researchers is comprised of only six items, but the essence is the same. The person must provide documented evidence of being quoted in authorized international editions and/or published references to him as an expert in his field. Participation in expert panels, judging contests and being a part of a commission may also be submitted as. An individual must prove that he is an actively cited and published expert within his competence.
Criteria for U.S immigration for an EB-1B distinguished professors and researchers visa:
An applicant has to provide a job offer from an employer-to-be, and proof of at least two of six facts below:
- Receipt of major prizes or awards for outstanding achievement.
- Membership in associations that require their members to demonstrate outstanding achievement.
- Published material in professional publications written by others about the applicant’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.
Since visas of the EB-1 category are private cases of an employment-based immigration visa, the visa-approval stages are uniform and are linked here.
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