|
EB-1
Eligibility and Filing
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:
1.
Receipt
of lesser nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards
for excellence;
2.
Membership
in associations in the field which demand outstanding achievement of
their members;
3.
Published
material about the alien in professional or major trade publications
or other major media;
4.
Evidence
that the alien has judged the work of others, either individually or
on a panel;
5.
Evidence
of the alien's original scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic,
or business-related contributions of major significance to the
field;
6.
Evidence
of the alien's authorship of scholarly articles in professional or
major trade publications or other major media;
7.
Evidence
that the alien's work has been displayed at artistic exhibitions or
showcases;
8.
Performance
of a leading or critical role in distinguished organizations;
9.
Evidence
that the alien commands a high salary or other significantly high
remuneration in relation to others in the field;
10.
Evidence
of commercial successes in the performing arts.
Outstanding professors and
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.
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 the petition for at least one year by a firm or
corporation and seeks to enter 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.
Application
Procedures
A CIS Form I-140 Petition for Alien Worker is
required. All I-140 petitions must be filed at the CIS 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.
|
