EB-1 Green Card Attorney: First Preference Immigration Lawyers

The EB-1 green card is the employment-based first preference category for people with extraordinary ability, outstanding professors and researchers, and multinational managers and executives, and none of its three subcategories requires a PERM labor certification. Capitol Law Partners handles EB-1 petitions in all three subcategories for scientists, academics, engineers, physicians, artists, founders and executives and their sponsoring employers. We tell you which subcategory fits, whether the EB-2 National Interest Waiver serves you better, and how to sequence the filing with your status and the Visa Bulletin.

What an EB-1 attorney does for you

• Evaluate your record against all three EB-1 subcategories and the EB-2 National Interest Waiver, and recommend one route or a combination.
• Identify the correct petitioner: you, in an EB-1A self-petition, or your employer in an EB-1B or EB-1C case.
• Plan the evidence, guide your recommenders, and draft the brief and Form I-140.
• File with premium processing where it helps, respond to Requests for Evidence, and manage the I-485 or consular stage alongside your O-1A, H-1B, L-1A or J-1 status.

The three EB-1 subcategories

EB-1A: extraordinary ability

The EB-1A green card, under INA 203(b)(1)(A) and 8 CFR 204.5(h), is for people with extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business or athletics, shown by sustained national or international acclaim. You can self-petition without an employer or job offer. Unless you hold a major internationally recognized award, you must document at least three of ten criteria and then pass a final merits determination showing that you are among the small percentage at the very top of the field.

EB-1B: outstanding professors and researchers

The EB-1B green card, under INA 203(b)(1)(B) and 8 CFR 204.5(i), is for academics recognized internationally as outstanding in a specific field with at least three years of teaching or research experience. The employer files the petition and must offer a tenured or tenure-track teaching position, a comparable permanent research position at a university, or a permanent research position with a private employer that employs at least three full-time researchers and has documented accomplishments in the field. At least two of six criteria are required.

EB-1C: multinational managers and executives

The EB-1C green card, under INA 203(b)(1)(C) and 8 CFR 204.5(j), is for managers and executives transferring within a multinational company. You must have worked abroad for the same company or its parent, subsidiary or affiliate in a managerial or executive capacity for at least one year in the preceding three years, and the U.S. employer must have been doing business for at least one year. Many beneficiaries hold L-1A status, though it is not a prerequisite.

What the three subcategories share

• No labor certification. There is no recruitment process and no prevailing wage determination in any EB-1 subcategory.
• Form I-140. Every EB-1 case starts with Form I-140, filed by you or by the employer, and the filing date becomes your priority date.
• Premium processing. USCIS commits to act on EB-1A and EB-1B petitions within 15 business days of a premium processing request, and on EB-1C petitions within 45 business days.
• Concurrent filing. If you are in the United States in lawful status and your priority date is current under the Visa Bulletin, you can file Form I-485 with the I-140 and request employment authorization and advance parole while both are pending.
• Derivatives. Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 receive green cards with you.

How to choose between EB-1A, EB-1B and EB-1C

If no employer will sponsor you, or you want a petition that does not depend on one job, EB-1A is the only EB-1 option, and it carries the highest standard. If an institution has offered you a permanent research or tenure-track position, EB-1B asks for two criteria instead of three and tests international recognition rather than the very top of the field, but the petition belongs to the employer. If you have managed a team or function abroad for a multinational company that will employ you in a similar role here, EB-1C turns on corporate structure and duties rather than acclaim.

When the EB-2 NIW is the better fit

The EB-2 National Interest Waiver also avoids a labor certification and allows self-petition, but under Matter of Dhanasar it asks whether your proposed endeavor has substantial merit and national importance, whether you are well positioned to advance it, and whether waiving the job offer benefits the United States. The NIW is often the stronger route when your record is solid but does not yet show sustained acclaim. Because it is a second preference category, the Visa Bulletin can be less favorable than EB-1, so we often file an EB-1A and an NIW together.

Process and timeline

1. Profile evaluation. We review your CV, awards, publications, roles and employer situation and tell you which subcategory is realistic.
2. Strategy. We decide whether to file one petition or several, whether to use premium processing, and how the filing fits your status and the Visa Bulletin.
3. Drafting. We assemble the exhibits, guide your recommenders and draft the brief and Form I-140.
4. Adjudication. With premium processing, USCIS acts within 15 business days on EB-1A and EB-1B petitions and 45 business days on EB-1C petitions.
5. Green card stage. If a visa number is available, we file the I-485 concurrently or on approval. Applicants abroad proceed to consular processing.

Evidence and documents

EB-1A and EB-1B cases rest on award records, membership criteria, press, peer review records, publication and citation data, patents and letters from independent experts. EB-1C cases rest on corporate documents proving the qualifying relationship between the entities, organizational charts and detailed descriptions of the duties. Employer petitions also require proof of the ability to pay the offered wage.

Common problems in EB-1 cases

EB-1A petitions most often fail at the final merits stage, where USCIS accepts three criteria but finds no sustained acclaim. EB-1B petitions are refused when the position is not permanent or when a private employer cannot show three full-time researchers. EB-1C petitions are refused when the duties are operational rather than managerial or when the corporate relationship is poorly documented. We address each issue before filing and take over RFEs and denials on petitions prepared elsewhere.

Why Capitol Law Partners

Cagatay Ersoy, founder and managing partner of Capitol Law Partners, is a graduate of Columbia Law School and focuses on employment-based immigration, including EB-1, EB-2 NIW, O-1, E-2 and L-1 matters, alongside business and trademark law. Our attorneys and staff work in English, Turkish, Spanish, Portuguese and French. We represent EB-1 clients nationwide from our offices in Washington, DC, Northern Virginia, New York and Minneapolis, and our Istanbul office serves clients applying from abroad.

Learn more about EB-1 green cards

• Employment-based green cards: a guide to the preference categories
• The fastest ways to get a green card in the United States
• Priority date vs. filing date: how the Visa Bulletin works

Start your EB-1 case

Send us your CV, a summary of your awards, publications and roles, and a note on whether an employer will sponsor you. We will tell you which EB-1 subcategory fits. Schedule a consultation or call +1 (202) 440-2272.