A.     A petition for an alien of extraordinary ability must be accompanied by evidence that the alien has sustained national or international acclaim and that his or her achievements have been recognized in the field of expertise. Such evidence shall include evidence or a one-time achievement (that is, a major, international recognized award), OR at least three of the following:

1. Documentation of the alien's receipt of lesser nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards for excellence in the field of endeavor;
2. Documentation of the alien's membership in associations in the field for which classification is sought, which require outstanding achievements of their members, as judged by recognized national or international experts in their disciplines or fields;
3. Published material about the alien in professional or major trade publications or other major media, relating to the alien's work in the field for which classification is sought;
4. Evidence of the alien's participation, either individually or on a panel, as a judge of work of others in the same or an allied field of specification for which classification is sought;
5. Evidence of the alien's original scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic, or business-related contributions of major significance in the field;
6. Evidence of the alien's authorship of scholarly articles in the field, in professional or major tradeIn general, all documents that show that you either meet any of the above criteria, or would otherwise show that you have national or international acclaim, or extraordinary ability, should be included. This includes the following type of documents (this list is not exhaustive): publications or other major media;
7. Evidence of the display of the alien's work in the field at exhibitions;
8. Evidence that the alien has performed in a leading or critical role for organizations or establishments that have a distinguished reputation;
9. Evidence that the alien has commanded a high salary or other significantly high remuneration for services, in relation to others in the field; or
10. Evidence of commercial successes in the performing arts.

B.  If the above standards do not readily apply to the beneficiary's occupation, the petitioner may submit comparable evidence to establish the beneficiary's eligibility.

C.  NO OFFER OF EMPLOYMENT IS NEEDED, however, the petition must be accompanied by evidence that the alien is coming to the United States to continue work in the area of expertise.

How hard is it to show the above? It will depend on what type of work you are doing, and the extent that your activities have a nationwide or worldwide impact. It is much easier for research scientists to meet this standard, than, lets say, mechanics. The enabling legislation states that extraordinary ability is shown through "sustained national or international acclaim". The former Immigration and Naturalization Service (now the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) laid out the above regulations to demonstrate how sustained national or international acclaim can be shown. Of course, as stated in the regulations, other evidence besides the categories listed can be presented to meet this criteria.

In general, all documents that show that you either meet any of the above criteria, or would otherwise show that you have national or international acclaim, or extraordinary ability, should be included. This includes the following type of documents (this list is not exhaustive):

• Papers that you have written;
• News articles written about you, or your work (the article need not have your name listed as long as it can be traced back to your work);
• Citations to your articles;
• Proof that you have presented your findings at conferences;
• Patent applications, protein registrations, gene registrations, or any other type of scientific acknowledgement of the uniqueness of your work;
• Letters of Recommendation. (Very important to the application); and,
• Emails or postcards requesting reprints of articles, samples, information, advice. Etc.

These documents, and the entire petition should be put together in such a way as to explain exactly what type of research you are carrying out, how it is important to your field, the contributions you have made to your field, and the renown you have for making those contributions. While this is not easy, it can be done for many research scientists. We have been successful in over 99% of our cases.

If you are interested in finding out more about these petitions, or applying, please call our office