EB-1: The Employment Based First Preference

1.The EB1-EA (Persons of extraordinary ability)

The EB1-EA green card is for aliens of extraordinary ability engaged in the arts, sciences, business, education or athletics. No job offer or labor certification is required. An EB1-EA petition may be filed simultaneously with another green card application. 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:

1. Receipt of lesser nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards for excellence;
2. Membership in associations in the field that demand outstanding achievement of their members, as judged by recognized national or international experts;
3. Published material about the alien in professional or major trade publications;
4. Evidence that the alien is a judge of the work of others in the field;
5. Evidence of the alien’s original contributions of major significance to the field;
6. Authorship of scholarly articles;
7. Display of the alien’s work at artistic exhibitions or showcases;
8. Evidence the alien has performed in a leading or critical role for organizations that have a distinguished reputation;
9. Evidence that the alien commands a high salary in relation to others in the field; or
10. Evidence of commercial success in the performing arts.

2. The EB1-OR (Outstanding Professor or Researcher)

(a Ph.D. is not a requirement). An EB1-OR petition may be filed simultaneously with another green card application. One petition may be approved faster than the other and can offer additional protection if one petition is denied while another is approved. Employer required but Labor Certification not required

In order to qualify for the EB1-OR, the applicant must:

• Be internationally recognized as outstanding in a specific academic field;
• Have a minimum of three years of experience in teaching and/or research in that field; and
• Enter the US in a tenure or tenure-track teaching or comparable research position at a university or other institution of higher education, or in a comparable research position with a private employer under certain circumstances.

The individual must have an offer of employment in his/her field. Employment from an accredited university must be for a tenure-track position. The employment can also be for a permanent research position with an employer who has at least three full-time researchers and has documented accomplishments in that field.

3. EB1-ET Green Card Details (Multinational Executive or Manager)

The EB1-ET green card is for multinational executives and managers. A multinational executive or manager may qualify for the EB1-ET green card if he or she has been employed outside the US in a managerial or executive capacity for at least one of the three years immediately preceding the filing of the petition, or, if already in the US, one of the three years preceding entry to the US as a nonimmigrant. Other green card applications may be filed simultaneously. The E13 immigrant visa category is designed to facilitate international transfer of executive or managerial personnel within multinational companies. The transfers can be between different branches of the same company, or between different companies with one of the following types of relationship: (1) parent-subsidiary; (2) home office-branch office; and (3) affiliate-affiliate.

In this category, the employee must have worked in either a managerial or executive capacity, for the related company abroad, for at least a one-year period in the three years preceding the transfer