The United States offers EB-1 visas to multinational executives, managers, and individuals who are exceptional and unusual.

Immigrant Visa EB-1 (Employment-Based)

The EB-1 visa allows select multinational executives, managers, and individuals with exceptional skills in science, art, education, business, or sport to obtain legal permanent residence in the United States. The EB1-C employment-based immigration visas for multinational managers and executives may be the greatest method for many immigrant employees to achieve lawful permanent residence in the United States. In comparison to other employment-based immigration, the EB1-C immigrant visa process is relatively rapid. It also allows business people to enter without making a significant investment.

Eligibility

The EB-1 employment-based immigrant visa is available to three groups:

• Executives and managers from global corporations

• Professors and researchers of distinction

• Those with exceptional abilities in science, the arts, education, business, or athletics

Visa EB1-C Executives and Managers from Multinational Corporations

A multinational manager or executive is eligible for priority worker status if they have worked for at least one year outside the US for a firm or corporation in the three years prior to the petition and seeks to enter the US to continue serving that firm or organization (in a managerial or executive capacity). The job must have been in a managerial or executive capacity and with the same employer, an affiliate, or a subsidiary of the business outside of the United States. Some international executives and managers transferred to the United States may be eligible.

The petitioner must be a US employer that is an affiliate, a subsidiary, or the same employer as the firm, corporation, or other legal entity that hired the foreign national overseas and has been in operation for at least one year.

For this classification, no labor certification is required, but the employer must make a job offer and file a petition with the USCIS.

Possibility of employment

EB-1 Applicants for Multinational Executives and Managers must have a confirmed job – as a manager or executive – with their existing multinational employer’s US office.

Criteria

The applicant must have worked for the multinational corporation (or its affiliate/subsidiary) for at least one year in the previous three years in order to qualify for this visa.  The US branch must demonstrate that it has been open for at least one year.

Visa EB-1 Professors and Researchers of Note

Internationally, exceptional academics and researchers are acknowledged for their outstanding academic achievements in a specific discipline. Furthermore, an outstanding professor or researcher must have at least three years of experience in teaching or research in that academic field and must enter the US in a tenure or tenure track teaching or similar research position at a university or other higher education institution. If the employer is a private firm rather than a university or educational institution, the private company’s department, division, or institute must employ at least three people full-time in research activities and have verified academic accomplishments.

Employment offer EB-1 Outstanding Professors and Researchers candidates must have a job offer from a recognized university or other higher education institution in the United States as a tenured professor or researcher.

Criteria

This category has six requirements. Applicants must show that they meet at least two of the following requirements by submitting documents:

• A national or international trophy or honor for exceptional performance or distinction in your field.

• Membership in exclusive organizations that need great achievement in order to get admission.

• Publication of content published by others about your work in the field in professional publications – such as scientific journals.

• Working as a judge of others’ work in your industry or one that is closely linked.

• Publication of your material in academic books and/or foreign journals.

Visa EB-1 Exceptional talent

Applicants must demonstrate exceptional skill in the sciences, arts, education, business, or sport to be considered for this category. A recognized entity, such as reputable institutions, art organizations, or sports regulating bodies, must recognize this skill on a national or international level.

Possibility of employment

This category does not necessitate a job offer.

Criteria

The EB-1 Extraordinary Ability category has ten requirements, and candidates must meet at least three of them in order to be awarded a visa. However, evidence of receiving a prestigious prize or honor – such as a Nobel Prize, an Oscar, or an Olympic medal – permits applicants to avoid these eligibility requirements.

Those who have not yet won any prestigious awards may find it easier to meet the second set of standards. You may also qualify if you meet at least three of the following ten criteria:

1. Winning a lesser-known national or international award for success in your field. A medical fellowship, a Fulbright prize, or a Caldecott award are all examples of this.

2. Membership in professional organizations that demand “exceptional achievement” from its members. This standard is a little hazy. Associations that are open to all members of a profession can be considered, but those that limit membership to only the most successful people are undoubtedly more valuable.

3. Information about you that has been published in major trade periodicals or other prominent media. The content must be relevant to your fieldwork. Journals pertinent to your field, such as The Journal of Otolaryngology, and major newspapers, such as The New York Times, are examples of publications. This need is not restricted to print; a piece about you on “60 Minutes” can also suffice.

4. Serving as an individual or on a panel judge for others in your field. Participating in the peer-review process of a scientific article or serving on a thesis review committee would satisfy the criteria, as would sitting on the Nobel Prize Committee.

5. Major contributions in your field that are original, scientific, academic, artistic, athletic, or business-related. This is a wide-open standard. Essentially, USCIS will evaluate your contribution based on the letters of support submitted by others in the area. As a result, letters from respected experts in your industry who believe your unique and substantial contributions will suffice to meet this requirement.

6. Contribution to scholarly works in your field as an author. As with standard three above, this relates to articles you published about your job rather than content written about you by others. Even though the requirements mention “articles,” other kinds of publication should suffice, such as visual media. The publications might range from big commercial journals to the popular press.

7. Participation in exhibitions or presentations of your work. The restrictions make no mention of the exhibition’s importance.

8. Working for a prestigious organization in a vital or leadership function. This may include working as a curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art or as a key researcher in a major laboratory.

9. Being able to command a high wage in your field. A teacher does not have to earn as much as a professional football player because the regulation mandates that your compensation or remuneration be high in comparison to others in the field.

10. In the performing arts, commercial success is number ten. Box office receipts from your films or plays, record sales, or the sale of your video documentary to a network for a significant sum can all be used to establish this.

Both number and quality are essential to USCIS. Even if you meet three of the ten criteria, USCIS will not automatically award you EB-1 status as an alien of outstanding ability. Comprehensive documentation of your qualifications is critical, like so many other parts of immigration law.