Extraordinary Ability (EB-1)

EB-1 Visas for Aliens of Extraordinary Ability occupy a special place in US Immigration Law. Unlimited immigrant visas are reserved for them, and they can avoid the cumbersome and time-consuming process known as Labor Certification is not necessary to be awarded this type of permanent residents.

According to the Immigration and Nationality Act, EB-1 Visas are reserved to Aliens of Extraordinary Ability – defined as: “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” – have no quotas, no wait times, do not require an offer of employment in the United States to obtain a visa, and can avoid filing for PERM, the new automated service that should have streamlined the Labor Certification Process but that instead has rendered it in some way more obscure.

Correctly classifying the alien as Alien of Extraordinary Ability for EB-1 Visa purposes can therefore have considerable advantages. However, it is highly advisable to use the services of a skilled immigration attorney to apply for an EB-1 visa. Problems however often arise in the interpretation of the meaning of “extraordinary ability”. Clients interested in filing an EB-1 immigrant visa petition as aliens of extraordinary ability call Immigration Attorney Giuseppe Scagliarini, thinking that as long as they can produce any evidence to meet three of the ten criteria spelled out in the Code of Federal Regulations, they are assured issuance of a green card in this category (“known as EB-1 or EB-1-A).  Alas, it is not so easy.

EB-1 visas for Extraordinary Ability Aliens are reserved for the very cream of the crop in their respective fields of endeavor. Immigration examiners do not simply “count documents” to see if the requirements are mechanically met, but they also want to see hard evidence that the success, notoriety, level of ability and other achievements of the alien are truly extraordinary compared to others in the same field. It is not so much a quantitative judgment as much as a qualitative one. For general information please see USCIS press release on EB-1 Visas for Extraordinary Ability.  See also the seminal decision in Kazarian vs USCIS which helped defined the current two-step analysis performed in Extraordinary Ability cases.

Immigration attorney Giuseppe Scagliarini has experience in EB-1 Visas and representing clients in connection with filings for permanent residence as aliens of extraordinary ability and invites clients or potential clients to request a consultation to see if they could potentially qualify.

Many times, however, it is important that a realistic judgment be made at the outset as to whether the application has any realistic chances to be approved. This is not to say that it is not worth considering this option in the context of a comprehensive immigration strategy to obtain a US immigrant visa. But, many clients have a simplistic approach and believe that the simple receipt of any awards, any publications of their work or any degree of commercial success will be sufficient to obtained a visa as aliens of extraordinary ability.  This is simply not so.

Moreover, the burden is on the petitioner to explain how each piece of evidence tends to establish extraordinary ability, and which specific prong of the regulations it demonstrates.

Normally, aliens of extraordinary ability tend to fall into a high-achievers, energetic, extremely busy group and it may be hard for them to slow down enough to grasp and deal with the apparently incomprehensible rationale behind all the bureaucratic rules involved.

For all petitioners who intend to explore this immigration option, attorney Giuseppe Scagliarini highly recommends a consultation which can be conducted  either in person, on the phone or via Skype conference to examine the multiple complexities involved.