My experience with EB1-A - merit based green card in the United States
Raising awareness on merit based green card EB1-A + starting my cohort based course on demystifying EB1-A
Disclosure: In addition to sharing my experience with EB1-A, I’m also including a link at the end of this article to sign-up for my cohort-based course on demystifying EB1-A. If nothing else, I hope this plants a seed and inspires you to take action.
My journey to the United States
I came to the USA in 2014 for a master’s program. My entry into the US was based on an F1 visa. I later moved to an H1-B visa when I started working in the industry. My H1B was picked in the lottery at the first attempt and I knew we typically get it for six years. My plan back then was to never apply for a green card and an end of H1B would be a great forcing function to go back to India(where I come from). I didn’t care about getting a green card. Therefore, I never bothered to learn about the green card application process. Terms like priority dates, backlog, reading the visa bulletin, rest of the world, etc. meant little to me. To date, I don’t have an i-140 filed via any of my current or previous employers.
Fast forward to 2021, I applied for EB1-A(extraordinary ability) green card. Earlier this year, I received my green card.
Here’s why I did it
If I had to explain it in one word - it boils down to “freedom”. And, coming to an understanding that having freedom in this country didn’t necessarily mean shutting down doors to my own country. There’s obviously a longer personal story and nuanced explanation behind it. Perhaps, I’ll save it for another day.
Before we get into further details, some housekeeping..
Please note that I am not a lawyer and this does not, and is not intended to offer any legal advice. It is meant to raise awareness on EB1-A, and share experiences. All information, content, interactions, and materials in this are for general informational purposes only.
I am here to raise awareness of EB1-A as an option and share my experience based on my own application and months and months of research that went behind it.
If you want to forge your own path instead of leaving it to fate in securing a green card. It is possible and you can do it without a Ph.D., research papers, or approved patents. Keep reading.
Overview of employment-based green card
US has three types of options for employment-based (EB) green card,
First preference (EB-1) - skilled workers,
A: Aliens with extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics; (this is the category we’ll explore here)
B: Outstanding professors and researchers;
C: Certain multinational managers and executives.Second preference (EB-2) - advanced degree or exceptional ability,
Third preference (EB-3) - skilled workers, professionals, et al.
It is a well-known fact that chances are if your country of birth is either India or China, you have a multi-decade wait in getting a green card in EB-2 and EB-3 categories. So, if you’re unlucky in those departments and don’t want to wait that long, it is worth considering EB1-A.
Learning about EB1-A (person of extraordinary ability)
EB1-A category is for individuals in the field of sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics.
What makes it special?
You can self-petition for EB1-A and not be tied to an employer.
This means that no matter the state of your employment or employer, your EB1-A status remains unaffected.While EB1-A typically remains current, you can port over your priority date.
A denial or request of evidence(RFE) is not the end of your immigration dreams. USCIS will provide you with a reason. You can still re-apply again!
The work you put in to gather and document evidence is good for your career anyway. So, it’s not all a loss, no matter the outcome.
You can do it from anywhere in the world. Yes, you don’t need to be physically present in the US or hold any other US visa.
How much does it cost?
Here is a typical breakdown of costs,
USCIS fee: i-140 fee - $700 + optional $2500 (premium processing)
Legal service: EB1-A legal service would typically cost $7k - $10k for i-140 preparation. This is your core EB1-A application.
How does it work?
For a successful adjudication for EB1-A, you need to fulfill the two-step analysis of evidence,
First, you must meet at least 3 of the 10 criteria* below, or provide evidence of a one-time achievement (i.e., Pulitzer, Oscar, Olympic Medal, Nobel prize) as well as evidence showing that you will be continuing to work in the area of your expertise. No offer of employment or labor certification is required.
Evidence of receipt of lesser nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards for excellence
Evidence of your membership in associations in the field which demand outstanding achievement of their members
Evidence of published material about you in professional or major trade publications or other major media
Evidence that you have been asked to judge the work of others, either individually or on a panel
Evidence of your original scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic, or business-related contributions of major significance to the field
Evidence of your authorship of scholarly articles in professional or major trade publications or other major media
Evidence that your work has been displayed at artistic exhibitions or showcases
Evidence of your performance of a leading or critical role in distinguished organizations
Evidence that you command a high salary or other significantly high remuneration in relation to others in the field
Evidence of your commercial successes in the performing arts
Second, you must fulfill the final merits determination (FMD), Evaluate all the evidence together when considering the petition in its entirety for the final merits determination, in the context of the high level of expertise required for this immigrant classification. More details here.
The application process
Every application is unique in its own way. Here’s how I approached it,
I did my undergraduate in Computer Science from a lesser-known college in India and pursued a master’s in Information Technology from Carnegie Mellon. For the last 5 years or so, I’ve worked at Amazon, Microsoft, Bank of America, and, Schlumberger. I submitted my application on the following criteria,
Evidence of your original scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic, or business-related contributions of major significance to the field
Evidence that you have been asked to judge the work of others, either individually or on a panel
Evidence of your performance of a leading or critical role in distinguished organizations
Evidence that you command a high salary or other significantly high remuneration in relation to others in the field
Evidence of published material about you in professional or major trade publications or other major media
I do not know which of these criteria I actually satisfied, since, USCIS doesn’t share that information on successful adjudication. I just know that at least three of the five I applied for were sufficient, in addition, to the final merits determination, of course.
Researching the process,
I started by researching profiles of those who were successfully adjudicated for EB1-A. I found people by searching on LinkedIn, searching internally in Amazon, and, searching on Google and Twitter. I found various blog posts of people sharing their experiences with the process. It was clear to me that I already had similar(or better), or it was possible for me to achieve those accomplishments in due time. This may be worth a shot.
After that, I filled out a self-evaluation noting evidence for each criterion, evidence for FMD, list of individuals who could write a letter of endorsement. Here I listed every single accomplishment - no matter how small or big, from winning a hackathon to having an approved patent. Once I had this doc, I set up consultations with various lawyers to understand the process better and get their opinion on my case. I ultimately chose a small boutique firm that came highly recommended from my personal network.
It took me ~6 months to prepare and submit my application. I went with premium processing. I didn’t receive an RFE and luckily it was a slam dunk. I would say it was a lot of work, almost like having a second full-time job. During that time, I only focused on my day job and putting together an application.
Here is my timeline,
Aug 2021, inter-filed i.e. filed i-140 and i-465 together (In hindsight, I should’ve filed i-465 separately for faster processing)
Aug 2021, i-140 was approved and i-465 was moved to processing
March 2022, biometrics appointment (re-scheduled twice due to international travel)
June 2022, RFE for medical
July 2022, green card received
Join my cohort-based course on EB1-A
If you found this useful and are interested in learning more, consider joining my next cohort for EB1-A for STEM professionals. You’d be a good fit, if you’re in an engineering or product role — SDE, PM, MLE, AS/DS, or SDM. I created this course because I realized that there is a general lack of awareness on EB1-A and this space is fairly misunderstood. So, I put multiple hours into preparing for this course, distilling my learnings and hopefully making this less intimidating. Since then, I have helped my friends and folks from across the tech industry in engineering and product roles navigate EB1-A (some were successfully adjudicated, and some others are prepping their applications). Interested in learning more about the next cohort? Head on over to https://www.usasmartimmigration.com/ — read everything and if all checks out — sign up for the course. I’ll be keeping the cohort size small and will disable the buy button once we reach capacity!