Immigrant Visas for Extraordinary Individuals in DC

U.S. immigration laws provide special and expedited pathways to permanent residence for people who can show that they have reached the very top of their fields. Benach Collopy’s DC lawyers have helped hundreds of extraordinary immigrants obtain temporary visas, known as O-1 visas, and permanent residence in the employment based first preference (EB-1).

Permanent Residence Through EB-1A as an Individual of Extraordinary Ability

There are many benefits to seeking residence through the EB-1A pathway. Some of these are:

• Unlike other employment-based immigration pathways, EB-1A individuals of extraordinary ability do not require a job offer from a U.S. company. EB-1A individuals of extraordinary ability can self-petition and, thus, are not tied to a particular employer during the residence process and after.
• Generally, there is not a backlog for EB-1A individuals seeking to obtain residence. When a backlog does develop, it is significantly shorter than backlogs in the other employment-based preferences.
• There is no need for a costly, uncertain, and lengthy PERM labor certification process.
• Premium processing of the I-140 immigrant petition for EB-1A classification means that your eligibility for residence can be approved in 15 days or less.

The EB-1A pathway is for individuals who can demonstrate that they are one of the small percentage of people who have risen to the very top of their field. Their accomplishments must have earned sustained national and/or international recognition.

To demonstrate extraordinary ability, you must show that either: (1) you have received a major, internationally recognized award (such as a Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize, Oscar, or Olympic Medal), or (2) by providing evidence that you meet at least 3 of the following 10 criteria:

1. Awards: Receipt of lesser nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards for excellence in your field.
2. Memberships: Membership in associations in your field that require outstanding achievements of their members.
3. Published Articles Written by Others About Your Work: Published material about your work in professional or major trade publications or other major media.
4. Peer Review Activities: Evidence of your participation, either individually or on a panel, as a judge of the work of others in your field.
5. Original Contributions: Evidence of your original scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic, or business-related contributions of major significance in the field.
6. Published Scholarly Articles Written by You: Evidence of your authorship of scholarly articles in the field, in professional or major trade publications or other major media.
7. Artistic Exhibitions/Showcases: Evidence of the display of your work in the field at artistic exhibitions or showcases.
8. Critical Role: Evidence that you have performed in a leading or critical role for organizations that have a distinguished reputation.
9. Comparatively High Salary: Evidence you have commanded a high salary or other significantly high compensation for services, in relation to others in your field.
10. Commercial Success: Evidence of your commercial successes in the performing arts, as shown by box office receipts or record, cassette, compact disk, or video sales.

If the above criteria do not readily apply to your occupation, comparable evidence may be submitted to establish your EB-1A eligibility. Our DC lawyers can help immigrants with extraordinary abilities secure these visas.

Permanent Residence Through EB-1B as an Outstanding Professor or Researcher

Another category for residence without PERM labor certification is as an outstanding professor or researcher under EB-1B. While this has the advantage of not requiring a PERM labor certification and rarely has a backlog, unlike the EB-1A individual of extraordinary ability, an applicant for residence under the outstanding professor or researcher cannot petition for herself. A U.S. employer must petition on her behalf.

Moreover, the petitioner must be a university or institution of higher education or a private entity that employs three or more full-time researchers in a department or division with a track record of documented accomplishments in an academic field. Some of the interesting private employers our DC attorneys have worked with for outstanding researchers include the Honda Power Unit & Energy, the Hudson Institute, and the International Center for Foreign Journalists.

Evidentiary Standard

The EB-1B Outstanding Researcher or Professor category has a lower evidentiary standard than an EB-1A individual of extraordinary ability. You can demonstrate that your research or teaching achievements in your field are outstanding with evidence that you meet at least 2 of the following 6 criteria:

1. Awards: Receipt of major prizes or awards for outstanding achievement.
2. Memberships: Membership in associations which require outstanding achievements of their members.
3. Published Articles Written by Others About Your Work: Published material in professional publications written by others about your work (more than merely citations to your work).
4. Peer Review Activities: Participation as a judge (individually or as a part of a panel) evaluating the work of others in the field.
5. Original Contributions: Original scientific, scholarly, or artistic contributions in the field.
6. Published Scholarly Articles Written by You: Evidence of authorship of scholarly books/articles in journals with an international circulation.

The petition must be filed by a U.S. employer who can demonstrate a bona fide job offer to the applicant and the ability to pay the wage.

O-1 Non-Immigrant Visas

An O-1 visa is a temporary (non-immigrant) visa that allows extraordinary and distinguished individuals to work in the U.S. for a temporary period. The O-1 visa requires a U.S. petitioner, which can be an employer or, for individuals such as artists and entertainers, an agent. An O-1 can be good for up to three years and may be extended.

Some of the most interesting O-1s that our DC attorneys have worked on in the past include a French winemaker, a British pop star who opened for Ed Sheeran, an Afghan journalist, a soccer coach, and a Spanish chef.

There are two kinds of O-1 visas.

Extraordinary Ability in the Sciences, Education, Business or Athletics

To qualify for an O-1A visa, you must prove that you are among the top of your field in Science, Education, Business or Athletics, either by receiving a major, internationally recognized award (such as a Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize or Olympic Medal), or by showing that you meet at least 3 of the following 8 criteria:

1. Awards: Receipt of lesser nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards for excellence in your field.
2. Memberships: Membership in associations in your field that require outstanding achievements of their members.
3. Published Articles Written by Others About Your Work: Published material in professional or major trade publication or in the major media about the alien and relating to the alien’s work in the field of endeavor.
4. Peer Review Activities: Participation as a judge (individually or as a part of a panel) of the work of others in the alien’s field.
5. Original Contributions: Evidence of your original scientific, scholarly, or business-related contributions of major significance in the field.
6. Published Scholarly Articles Written by You: Authorship of scholarly articles in the field, in professional journals or other major media.
7. Critical Capacity: Performance in a critical or essential capacity for organizations with distinguished reputations.
8. Comparatively High Salary: Evidence that you have commanded a high salary or other significantly high compensation for services in relation to others in your field.

If the above criteria do not readily apply to your occupation, comparable evidence may be submitted to establish your O-1 visa eligibility.

Extraordinary Ability in the Arts.

The O-1B standard for individuals in the arts is significantly lower than for O-1As. An applicant must only show that they achieved “distinction” in their artistic field. Distinction means “a high level of achievement as evidenced by a degree of skill and recognition substantially above that ordinarily encountered to the extent that the person.”

You can qualify for an O-1B visa by showing that you have been nominated for, or received, a major, national or international recognized award (such as an Academy Award, an Emmy, a Grammy, or a Director’s Guild Award). Even if you haven’t received any of these major awards, you can still qualify for an O-1B visa if you can provide documentation meeting at least 3 of the following 6 criteria:

1. Leading Role in Productions/Events: You have been or will be performing a lead or starring role in productions or events which have a distinguished reputation (as evidenced by critical reviews, advertisements, press releases, publications contracts, or endorsements).
2. Critical Reviews: Critical reviews or other published material in professional or major trade publication or in the major media about you which show that you have achieved national or international recognition for your achievements.
3. Leading/Critical Role for Organizations: Evidence of performance in a lead, starring, or critical role for organizations with distinguished reputations.
4. Major Commercial Success: Evidence of a record of major commercial or critically acclaimed successes in the performing arts, as shown by box office receipts or record, cassette, compact disk, or video sales.
5. Significant Recognition: Evidence of significant recognition for achievements form organizations, government agencies, or other recognized experts in the field.
6. Comparatively High Salary: Evidence of having commanded a high salary or other significantly high remuneration for services in relation to others.

If you work in an artistic field and the above criteria do not readily apply to your occupation, a DC attorney may help you find comparable evidence to be submitted to establish your O-1 visa eligibility.

EB-2 National Interest Waivers

Another option for the highly skilled immigrant is to seek classification in the employment based second preference as either: (1) an individual with an advance degree; or (2) an individual of exceptional ability. An application for a national interest waiver does not require an employer to petition and an immigrant can self-petition for himself.  The requirement of a job offer and a PERM labor certification that generally applies to all employment-based second preference immigrants can be waived if the applicant can show that it is in the national interest to waive the labor certification.

Applicants must show that they satisfy the following three elements of the so-called Dhansar test, which is named for a decision by the USCIS that created the standards. Applicants must show that:

• Their field of work has both substantial intrinsic merit and national importance.
• They are well-positioned to advance the proposed work; and
• It would be in the national interest to grant a waiver of the normal job and labor certification requirements.

National interest waivers require an applicant to show that their work is in an important field and that their unique and compelling skills and experience outweigh the interest in protecting the labor market through the PERM labor certification process. Some interesting NIWs that we have worked on include a former NHL hockey player running youth hockey programs for at-risk youth, a journalist specializing in disinformation, and an expert in countering violent extremism.

How an Extraordinary Immigrant Visa Attorney Helps You

We listen. It all starts with listening to you and learning about what you do. In fact, this is our favorite part. We love to learn about the fascinating and cutting-edge things our clients are involved in. Some of our most interesting cases involve clients who are involved in complex systems theory, sabre fencing, avant-garde Russian film, Indo-Pakistani national security, and acclaimed Spanish cuisine. Whatever field you specialize in, it is always exciting to meet and learn about people who are passionate and excellent at what they do.

Identifying the field of expertise is another important step that our Washington DC lawyers undertake in your case. By articulating the field and narrowing it to be specific to your particular expertise, we enhance the chance of success. For example, if we define the field as “biologists,” we compare our client to the entire universe of biologists. However, if we define the field as “evolutionary biologists,” the universe of individuals in the field is much smaller.

Extraordinary Individuals Looking for an immigrant Visa Should Call our DC Law Firm

Benach Collopy lawyers will also work with you to identify which of the criteria you can demonstrate and what type of evidence you will need to produce. A large part of a successful EB-1 filing is the inclusion of reference letters from experts in your field. Once you identify who could provide a reference for you, our lawyers will research them to demonstrate their expertise and work with you and them to draft letters of support to help you demonstrate your achievements and accomplishments.

Once the evidence is collected, Benach Collopy will draft a legal memo bringing together all the evidence and demonstrating how the evidence satisfies the criteria for approval. Throughout this process, our DC extraordinary individuals visa lawyers will be in constant contact with you to make sure that all the evidence is collected and your case is presented as well as possible.