Pazega

EB-1A Guide

How we build an EB-1A profile, step by step.

USCIS asks you to meet at least three of ten criteria.

8 CFR 204.5(h)(3) gives you two routes. A single major, internationally recognized award, such as a Nobel Prize, an Olympic medal, or an Academy Award, can establish eligibility on its own. If you do not have that, you must document at least three of these ten. Read it as a checklist:

  1. 01Nationally or internationally recognized awards
  2. 02Membership in associations requiring outstanding achievement
  3. 03Published material about you
  4. 04Judging the work of others
  5. 05Original contributions of major significance
  6. 06Authorship of scholarly articles
  7. 07Display at artistic exhibitions
  8. 08Leading or critical role
  9. 09High salary or remuneration
  10. 10Commercial success in the performing arts

Do not worry if your work does not fit neatly into a list written decades ago. If your occupation does not map cleanly onto these ten, 8 CFR 204.5(h)(4) allows comparable evidence. That clause is what makes the EB-1A workable for founders, product leaders, and other roles the list was not written around, and framing comparable evidence well is where experienced counsel earns its keep.

The Kazarian two-step: why meeting three criteria is not the finish

Here is the point most EB-1A pages blur. Meeting three criteria on paper does not guarantee approval. Following Kazarian v. USCIS, 596 F.3d 1115 (9th Cir. 2010), USCIS uses a two-step analysis:

  1. Step 1

    Count the criteria.

    Do you meet at least three of the ten (or hold one major award)? This is a threshold check of whether the evidence exists.

  2. Step 2

    Final merits determination.

    USCIS then steps back and weighs all the evidence together to decide whether it truly shows sustained acclaim and top-of-field standing.

A petition can satisfy three criteria and still be denied at step two if the record, taken as a whole, does not show you are among the small percentage at the top. This is why a strong EB-1A case is built around a narrative, not a pile of exhibits, and why the same evidence can succeed or fail depending on how it is presented. That framing judgment is squarely an attorney task.

From assessment to attorney handoff.

  1. Phase 1

    Assess

    We review your resume, career history, existing evidence, goals and constraints.

  2. Phase 2

    Define

    We draft your field of endeavor and evidence narrative, for review with you and, where relevant, your attorney.

  3. Phase 3

    Prioritize

    We identify your credible strengths and gaps, then choose a few high-value workstreams.

  4. Phase 4

    Execute in parallel

    You pursue genuine opportunities, on timelines set by the third parties involved.

  5. Phase 5

    Document

    We capture invitations, selection criteria, metrics, screenshots, source links, dates and context.

  6. Phase 6

    Quality review

    We check consistency, remove weak or misleading material and flag remaining gaps.

  7. Phase 7

    Attorney handoff

    We deliver an organized evidence file to your independent immigration attorney.

Only genuine, independently earned evidence.

Our publication support covers research planning, editorial coaching, source development, manuscript editing, submission coordination and venue selection. The intellectual contribution is yours, you approve the final work, and authorship follows each venue's rules. You carry out every judging and peer-review duty yourself.

  • No fake citations or manipulated engagement.
  • No paid praise presented as independent media.
  • No pay-to-win awards passed off as merit recognition.
  • No ghost judging or peer review.
  • No false authorship.
  • No fabricated recommendation relationships.
  • No approval guarantees.

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