EB1 Extraordinary Ability – Part I
In continuation of our ongoing segment of national interest waiver approvals, we’re going to discuss another type of self sponsored residency applications. The EB1 Extraordinary Ability carries both a higher standard of approval and a higher priority for approved applicants. For Indian and Chinese nationals, an EB1 application means they can obtain US residency (green card) in a matter of weeks or months because the EB1 category is current and is not backlogged or retrogressed like the EB2 NIW category.
In the case I am going to discuss, the applicant was a Chinese national. We filed the EB1 petition on October3, 2005 and the case was approved on October 11, 2005. Unfortunately the issuance of the green card in this case was delayed due to an incomplete medical examination by the USCIS civil surgeon but it was still ultimately approved.
EB1 Extraordinary Ability Requirements
In order to qualify for the EB1-EA, the applicant must have won a Nobel Prize OR show documentation in three of the following areas:
- Receipt of lesser nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards for excellence;
- Membership in associations in the field that demand outstanding achievement of their members, as judged by recognized national or international experts;
- Published material about the alien in professional or major trade publications;
- Evidence that the alien is a judge of the work of others in the field;
- Evidence of the alien’s original contributions of major significance to the field;
- Authorship of scholarly articles;
- 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 a high salary in relation to others in the field; or
- Evidence of commercial success in the performing arts.
EB1 Extraordinary Ability Approved Case Part I
Degree: BA in Biology
Position: Research Associate at a US University
Field of Expertise: HIV/AIDS
Publications: 25
Citations: 200 including self citations
Conferences: 54
Recommendation Letters: 6
The applicant in this case was a Chinese national. The EB1 application was approved in approximately 1 week. This application was filed in 2005 and processing times do vary. From 2006 through 2008 we saw processing times range from 6-12 months but now they have settled back down and we are regularly seeing approvals issued in 3 months or less.
While the applicant was certainly lacking an advance d degree, she more than made up for it by producing a large volume of high impact research and presenting that research at both national and international conferences. Based on her objective accomplishments, we were able to show that the applicant played a leading role in high level research and that she would continue to play a leadership role in future research. USCIS agreed with our position and approved the petition in just over one week.