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EB-1 visa requirements in practice: EB-1A extraordinary ability criteria, I-140 petitions, evidence for founders, and EB-1A versus O-1 and UK Global Talent.
12 articles tagged EB-1 Visa
L-1, EB-1C, O-1, EB-1A, H-1B, and EB-3 compared: company and employee requirements, renewal limits, and the path from a work visa to a green card.
Which visas suit IT specialists in 2026: O-1, EB-1, and EB-2. Why demand for AI, cybersecurity, and cloud services is growing despite layoffs.
O-1 needs 3 of 10 criteria and moves faster; EB-1A grants permanent status but wants 5-6 criteria. Compare sponsorship, taxes, and processing times.
O-1A needs 3 of 8 criteria, O-1B needs 3 of 6. Learn about sponsors vs. agents, skipping PERM, and 15-day premium processing for the O-1 visa in 2026.
No: the H-1B overhaul, 30-day RFE deadlines, and a Nebraska court ruling currently limit subjective review of O-1 and EB-1A cases.
I-140 filing fee is $715, premium processing $2,965 with a 15-day reply. Indian applicants still wait about 3 years — versus 20-25 years under EB2/EB3.
EB-1 is the first-preference employment-based immigrant category under US law, and it leads directly to a green card rather than a temporary stay. It has three subcategories: EB-1A for people of extraordinary ability, EB-1B for outstanding professors and researchers, and EB-1C for multinational managers and executives. All three start with Form I-140, filed with USCIS, and none of them requires PERM labor certification.
EB-1A is the only subcategory that allows a self-petition, so the applicant needs neither an employer nor a job offer. Eligibility rests on a one-time major internationally recognized award or on meeting at least three of ten regulatory criteria, such as published material about the applicant, judging the work of others, or high salary. Since the Kazarian v. USCIS decision, officers also apply a second step, a final merits determination of whether the person truly ranks among the small percentage at the very top of the field.
After the I-140 is approved, the applicant either adjusts status inside the US with Form I-485 or goes through consular processing, depending on whether their priority date is current in the Visa Bulletin. EB-1A is often confused with the O-1 visa: the evidence overlaps, but O-1 is a temporary nonimmigrant status tied to a sponsor or agent, while EB-1A grants permanent residence and sets a higher bar.