EB1 Visa for Priority Workers

Employment-Based Immigrant Visas (Permanent Resident Status)

Priority Workers: EB1

There are three groups of priority workers all of whom are equally entitled to available visas within this category. These visas do not require a labor certification. That is to say, none of them require that the U.S. Department of Labor certify that there is no U.S. citizen or U.S. permanent resident who is qualified and willing to work in this particular position. The three groups of priority workers are as follows:

1. Persons of Extraordinary Ability – Non U.S. citizens of extraordinary ability are defined by statute as those who can show “extensive documentation” that they have “extraordinary ability in the sciences, art, education, business or athletics, which has been demonstrated by sustained national or international acclaim and whose achievements have been recognized in the field through extensive documentation.” This category is not limited to Nobel Prize winners, but only those who have reached the very top of their fields and are nationally or internationally renowned will qualify. Neither a job offer nor a labor certification is required for foreign nationals of extraordinary ability. However, they must seek to enter the United States to continue working in his or her area of extraordinary ability.
2. Outstanding Professors and Researchers – To qualify as an outstanding researcher, the foreign national must be internationally recognized as outstanding in a specific academic area, have a minimum of three years of experience teaching or researching in that area, and be entering the United States in a tenure or “tenure track” teaching or comparable research position at an institution of higher education. Alternatively, the employer may be a private company with at least three full-time research employees and “documented accomplishments in an academic field.”
3. Multinational Executives and Managers – To qualify as a multinational executive or manager, the foreign nation must be coming to work in a managerial or executive capacity for a U.S. employer, which alone or through its affiliate or subsidiary conducts business in the U.S. and at least one other country. In addition, the foreign national must have worked abroad in an executive or managerial capacity for the same company or its affiliate or subsidiary for at least one continuous year within the three years immediately preceding either (a) the filing of the Form I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker; or (b) the foreign national’s entry into the U.S. as an L-1A nonimmigrant. The U.S. employer must have been doing business for at least one year.

On September 25, 2006, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) began accepting Premium Processing requests for EB-1 petitions for outstanding professors and researchers. It began accepting Premium Processing requests for EB-1 persons of extraordinary ability on November 13, 2006. The USCIS excluded immigrant petitions for multinational executives and managers from Premium Processing. Under the Premium Processing Service, the USCIS guarantees that, for an extra $1,225 processing fee, it will issue either an approval notice, a notice of intent to deny, or a request for evidence or it will open an investigation for fraud or misrepresentation, within 15 calendar days from the date it receives the petition. If the petition is not processed within 15 calendar days, the USCIS will refund the $1,225 fee and continue to process the request as part of the Premium Processing Service.

How Ferman Law can help you:

At Ferman Law, we discuss with our clients the feasibility and type of petition which is appropriate. We assess if you qualify as a priority worker. We prepare the required forms and assist our clients with the collection of the extensive supporting documentation. Once all of the supporting documentation has been collected, we file our clients’ petitions with the USCIS Nebraska Service Center or the USCIS Texas Service Center. Thereafter we prepare our clients’ immigrant visa applications or applications for adjustment of status. An immigrant visa application includes a medical examination by a physician approved by the U.S. Embassy and a visa interview at the U.S. Embassy. An application for adjustment of status includes a medical examination by a civil surgeon. Ordinarily, the requirement for a personal interview at the USCIS is waived when the application for adjustment of status is based on employment.