Immigration Update: USCIS Issues Additional Guidance on How USCIS Evaluates Evidence For EB-1 Cases

Overview:

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued additional guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual to clarify how USCIS evaluates evidence to determine eligibility for extraordinary ability and outstanding professor or researcher first preference employment-based immigrant visa classifications.

Who can do an EB-1 Petition:

Persons with extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics can self-petition for first preference immigrant visa classification (E11) without a job offer or certification from the U.S. Department of Labor. from the U.S. Department of Labor.

OR

A U.S. employer, including a university, institution of higher learning, or private employer, can also petition for a professor or researcher. The person must be internationally recognized as outstanding in a specific academic area and to work in a tenured or tenure-track position or a comparable position to conduct research in a company.

What Was Updated?

• USCIS added guidance on the evaluation of evidence submitted in extraordinary ability and outstanding professor or researcher petitions.
• They also provided guidance describing examples of evidence that may satisfy the relevant evidentiary criteria or qualify as comparable evidence, as well as considerations for evaluating such evidence, with a focus on science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) fields.
• They clarified how officers evaluate the totality of the evidence to determine eligibility for extraordinary ability and outstanding professor or researcher petitions and provides examples of other positive factors that USCIS may consider