This newsletter is brought to you in partnership with Manifest Law, an immigration law firm in the US. The information below is for educational purposes and does not constitute legal advice.
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The EB-1A is an employment-based green card for people of extraordinary ability. “Extraordinary ability” does not mean you have to win a Nobel Prize. It means your work has earned you sustained national or international recognition in your field.
Take the Manifest Law quiz to evaluate your profile for FREE.
Just click the link and request for consultation: LINK
USCIS evaluates every EB-1A petition in two stages:
Step 1 (Threshold check): USCIS determines whether you meet at least 3 of the 10 criteria(listed below) by a preponderance of the evidence. This is an objective assessment of whether your evidence fits the regulatory descriptions.
Step 2 (Final merits determination): USCIS reviews the full record in totality to assess whether you are among the small percentage at the very top of your field.
To qualify, you must demonstrate evidence in at least 3 of the following 10 categories.
What it covers: Nationally or internationally recognised prizes or awards for excellence in your field.
Sub-criteria USCIS checks:
Were you personally a recipient (not just your employer or team)?
Is the award nationally or internationally recognised (not local or internal)?
Was excellence in the field the basis for granting it?
Threshold check (Step 1): Did you receive an award? Is it recognised beyond a single employer, locality, or school? Awards from well-known national institutions, professional bodies, or competitive programmes clear this bar.
Final merits (Step 2): How prestigious and competitive was it? How many people were eligible vs. selected? Does receiving this award indicate you are among the top in your field, or is it a participation-level honour?
What it covers: Membership in associations that require outstanding achievement of their members, judged by recognised national or international experts.
Sub-criteria USCIS checks:
Does the association require outstanding achievement for the specific membership level you hold (not just general membership)?
Is the basis for membership your achievements, not just payment of dues or years of experience?
Threshold check (Step 1): Does the association’s membership process involve expert evaluation of your accomplishments?
Final merits (Step 2): How selective is the association? What proportion of practitioners in the field hold this membership? Does membership at your level signal you are among the top in the discipline?
What it covers: Articles in professional or major trade publications, or major media, that are about you and your work.
Sub-criteria USCIS checks:
Is the material about you and your specific work?
Is it in a professional publication, major trade publication, or major media?
Does it include the title, date, and author?
Threshold check (Step 1): Is there published coverage of your work in a credible outlet with meaningful circulation or readership? Paid content, self-authored pieces, and employer-issued press releases do not count.
Final merits (Step 2): How prominent is the outlet? How much coverage is there? Does the body of published material indicate that the wider field recognises you as a notable contributor, not just that one article mentioned your name?
What it covers: Participation as a judge of the work of others in the same or an allied field.
Sub-criteria USCIS checks:
Did you actually complete the judging (not merely receive an invitation)?
Was it in the same or an allied field of specialisation?
Threshold check (Step 1): Can you document both the invitation and evidence that you completed the review? An invitation alone, without evidence of participation, does not satisfy this criterion.
Final merits (Step 2): How selective or prestigious was the judging role? Was it an invited role (indicating the organiser recognised your expertise) or open to anyone who applied? Does the pattern of judging roles indicate you are regarded as an authority in your field?
What it covers: Original scientific, scholarly, or business-related contributions that are of major significance to the field.
Sub-criteria USCIS checks:
Are the contributions original (not derivative work)?
Are they of major significance (not just published, patented, or funded, but actually impactful)?
Threshold check (Step 1): Is there concrete evidence that others in the field have adopted, cited, built upon, or been influenced by your work? Evidence includes: high citation counts relative to peers, widely adopted open-source tools (GitHub stars, download metrics, dependency counts), licensed patents with commercial traction, methodologies referenced in other researchers’ work, or documented industry adoption of your approach.
Final merits (Step 2): How significant and widespread is the impact? A paper with 10 citations and an open-source tool with 500 stars tell a different story than a paper with 2,000 citations and a tool used by major companies. USCIS looks at the scope of influence relative to what is normal in your field.
What it covers: Scholarly articles authored by you, published in professional or major trade publications or other major media.
Sub-criteria USCIS checks:
Is the article scholarly: does it report on original research or experimentation, is it written for learned persons in the field?
Is it published in a professional journal, major trade publication, or major media?
Threshold check (Step 1): Have you published peer-reviewed papers or formally published conference proceedings? Informal blog posts, LinkedIn articles, Medium posts, and self-published content do not qualify.
Final merits (Step 2): How highly ranked are the venues? What are your citation counts and h-index relative to peers in your field? Are you a first or senior author on high-impact work? Publication volume alone is not enough. The quality and impact of the work matters at Step 2.
Not applicable to science and technology professionals.
What it covers: A leading or critical role in an organisation or establishment with a distinguished reputation.
Sub-criteria USCIS checks:
Was the role leading (a title with authority and matching duties) or critical (essential to a significant outcome, even without a senior title)?
Does the organisation have a distinguished reputation?
Threshold check (Step 1): Can you document your role and the organisation’s reputation? Startup founders can use funding rounds and investor names. Letters from people with direct knowledge of your role are particularly important here.
Final merits (Step 2): How distinguished is the organisation relative to others in the industry? How essential were you specifically to its outcomes? A critical role at Google, DeepMind, or a Series B AI startup with major investor backing reads differently than a leading role at an unknown entity.
What it covers: Compensation significantly higher than peers in the same field and location.
Sub-criteria USCIS checks:
Is your salary or remuneration high relative to others working in the field?
Threshold check (Step 1): Can you document your compensation and show it is high relative to peers? Evidence includes: offer letters, pay stubs, equity agreements, and benchmark data from levels.fyi, Bureau of Labor Statistics, LinkedIn Salary, or similar sources.
Final merits (Step 2): How significantly higher is your compensation? Being in the top 10% is meaningfully different from being in the top 1%. A Senior SWE earning $350K in California with levels.fyi data showing the median for that role is $200K makes a stronger case.
Not applicable to science and technology professionals.
If you think you may qualify for an EB-1A, the first step is to evaluate how strong your profile is across these criteria.
Take the Manifest Law quiz to evaluate your profile for FREE.
Just click the link and request for consultation: LINK
Fill in the sections below and share this document with your immigration lawyer for review and filing.
Full Legal Name: _______________________________________________
Date of Birth: ________________________________________________
Country of Birth: _____________________________________________
Country of Citizenship: _______________________________________
Current Immigration Status: ___________________________________
Current Employer: ____________________________________________
Job Title: ___________________________________________________
Current Address: _____________________________________________
Email: ______________________________________________________
Phone: ______________________________________________________
Field (e.g., Software Engineering, Machine Learning, Biomedical Research):
______________________________________________________________
Sub-specialisation (e.g., Natural Language Processing, Oncology):
______________________________________________________________
Number of years working in this field:
______________________________________________________________
Brief description of your primary work and contributions (2-3 sentences):
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Check the criteria you can support and list your evidence for each.
Criterion 1: Awards and Prizes
[ ] I have received nationally/internationally recognised awards
Award Name: _________________________________________________
Awarding Organisation: ______________________________________
Year Received: ______________________________________________
Selection Process (how competitive): ________________________
Evidence Available (certificates, press coverage, etc.): ______
Criterion 2: Membership in Exclusive Associations
[ ] I am a member of an exclusive, merit-based association
Association Name: ___________________________________________
How Membership Is Earned: ___________________________________
Year Joined: ________________________________________________
Evidence Available: _________________________________________
Criterion 3: Published Material About You
[ ] I have been featured in major media or professional publications
Publication Name: ___________________________________________
Article Title: _____________________________________________
Date Published: _____________________________________________
Reach/Circulation of Publication: __________________________
Link or Copy of Article: ___________________________________
Criterion 4: Judging the Work of Others
[ ] I have served as a judge, reviewer, or panelist
Organisation/Event: _________________________________________
Role (e.g., Peer Reviewer, Hackathon Judge): ________________
Year(s): ___________________________________________________
Evidence that you completed the review (not just the invitation): ____
Evidence Available (invitation letter, confirmation, certificates): ___
Criterion 5: Original Contributions of Major Significance
[ ] My work has been adopted, cited, or built upon by others in my field
Contribution Description: ___________________________________
Impact/Adoption Evidence: ___________________________________
Citations (if applicable): __________________________________
GitHub stars/downloads (if applicable): ____________________
Patents (number, status): ___________________________________
Criterion 6: Authorship of Scholarly Articles
[ ] I have authored published scholarly articles in my field
Note: Scholarly articles must report on original research, be written for
experts in the field, and generally be peer-reviewed with citations or a
bibliography. Informal blog posts do not qualify under this criterion.
Article Title: _____________________________________________
Publication/Conference: _____________________________________
Year Published: _____________________________________________
Peer-reviewed? Y / N
Citation Count (if applicable): ____________________________
Google Scholar Link: ________________________________________
Criterion 8: Leading or Critical Role in Distinguished Organisation
[ ] I held a leading or critical role at a well-known organisation
Organisation Name: __________________________________________
Your Role/Title: ____________________________________________
Dates in Role: _____________________________________________
Why the Organisation Is Distinguished (size, ranking, funding, media coverage):
______________________________________________________________
Your Specific Impact in This Role: __________________________
Evidence Available (offer letter, org chart, performance reviews): _________
Criterion 9: High Salary or Remuneration
[ ] My compensation is significantly higher than peers in my field
Current Annual Base Salary: _________________________________
Total Compensation (including equity): _____________________
Location: __________________________________________________
Evidence of Industry Benchmarks for Comparison: ____________
(e.g., levels.fyi data, Bureau of Labor Statistics, LinkedIn Salary)
List the individuals who will provide recommendation letters in support of your petition.
Letter Writer 1:
Name: _______________________________________________________
Title and Organisation: _____________________________________
Relationship to You: ________________________________________
Why They Are Qualified to Speak to Your Work: ______________
Letter Writer 2:
Name: _______________________________________________________
Title and Organisation: _____________________________________
Relationship to You: ________________________________________
Why They Are Qualified to Speak to Your Work: ______________
Letter Writer 3:
Name: _______________________________________________________
Title and Organisation: _____________________________________
Relationship to You: ________________________________________
Why They Are Qualified to Speak to Your Work: ______________
Aim for at least 5 to 7 letters. At least 2 to 3 should be from independent experts, people who do not know you personally but are familiar with your work through its impact, and whose letters are corroborated by documentary evidence in the record.
Describe the work you intend to continue doing in the US in your field of extraordinary ability:
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
How does this work benefit the US (optional but strengthens the case):
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Before submitting this to your lawyer, ensure you have:
Collected supporting evidence for each criterion (certificates, screenshots, PDFs)
Gathered documentation of current salary/compensation
Collected copies of publications, articles, and press coverage
Prepared your CV/resume (current, detailed, academic format preferred)
If you think you may qualify for an EB-1A, the first step is to evaluate how strong your profile is across these criteria.
Take the Manifest Law quiz to evaluate your profile for FREE.
Just click the link and request for consultation: LINK
Manifest Law’s attorneys bring over 10 years of focused immigration experience to EB-1A petitions for engineers, researchers, and founders and have secured approvals in several fields.
Disclaimer: This newsletter is for educational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice. Immigration law is complex and fact-specific. Please consult a licensed immigration attorney before filing any petition.
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