My office has obtained Form I-140 immigrant visa petition approvals pursuant to the EB-1A extraordinary ability preference category for a Nepalese singer and songwriter and an Indian professor of sociology who conducted superlative research in the comparative labor market. The key to a successful EB-1A extraordinary ability immigrant visa petition is appropriately framing and narrowing the category in which you are claiming that the foreign national is extraordinary, thereby reducing the pool of similar experts against whom the foreign national is compared.
The EB-1A extraordinary ability visa petition is the most challenging. One must show extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business or athletics that has been demonstrated by sustained national or international acclaim and whose achievements have been recognized in the field through extensive documentation. One must have a level of expertise indicating that the individual is one of “that small percentage who have risen to the very top of the field of endeavor.” In other words, the worker should be the cream of the crop. Receipt of a major, internationally recognized award, on its own, can qualify a worker for extraordinary ability classification, such as the Nobel Prize. Other lesser awards might also qualify, but would have to rise to the level of a Nobel Prize or similar awards.
The regulations provide for alternative evidence if the foreign national has not received a single high-ranking, distinguished, internationally-recognized award. To satisfy the alternative requirement, the petition must include evidence that the individual satisfies at least three of the following criteria:
- Receipt of lesser nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards for excellence;
- Membership in associations in the field which demand outstanding achievement of their members, as judged by recognized national or international experts in their fields;
- Published material about the alien in professional or major trade publications or major media relating to the alien’s work in his field;
- Evidence that the alien is a judge of the work of others in the same or allied field of endeavor;
- Evidence of the alien’s original contributions of major significance to the field;
- Authorship of scholarly articles in the field, in professional journals or other major media;
- Display of the alien’s work at artistic exhibitions or showcases;
- Evidence the alien has performed in a leading or critical role for organizations that have a distinguished reputation;
- Evidence that the alien commands high remuneration in relation to others in the field; and
- Evidence of commercial success in the performing arts, as shown by box office receipts or record, cassette, compact disk, or video sales. In the case of the Nepalese singer, her music was both modern and culturally distinct. We emphasized that her extraordinary ability was as a contemporary singer and songwriter in modern Nepalese music. In the case of the professor of sociology, her research spanned a broad array of issues relating to labor and ethnicity, gender and race. We argued that she had a unique expertise at the interdisciplinary and comparative crossroads of the study of gender, labor, race, ethnicity, immigration and globalization. We also emphasized her expertise on female labor within South Asia as well as within South Asian immigrant communities in the United States.
In the case of the Nepalese singer, her music was both modern and culturally distinct. We emphasized that her extraordinary ability was as a contemporary singer and songwriter in modern Nepalese music. In the case of the professor of sociology, her research spanned a broad array of issues relating to labor and ethnicity, gender and race. We argued that she had a unique expertise at the interdisciplinary and comparative crossroads of the study of gender, labor, race, ethnicity, immigration and globalization. We also emphasized her expertise on female labor within South Asia as well as within South Asian immigrant communities in the United States.