Many employers and employees who stand to benefit from the EB-1 preference category cannot claim they understand it. And who can blame them? The category is difficult to understand. After all, the category, apparently a single category, is really three categories. To be more precise, the EB-1 category contains three large sub-categories.
Here, we’ll eliminate some confusion surrounding the EB-1 category by laying out its three sub-categories.
We’ll start with EB-1A sub-category for individuals of extraordinary ability.
EB-1A – Individuals of Extraordinary Ability
Some notable characteristics:
- A sponsoring employer is not required. A foreign worker can petition for herself.
- The foreign worker will work in the US in her field of expertise in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics.
- The foreign worker must have significant achievement and sustained acclaim, meeting three or more criteria from the relevant regulation.
EB-1B – Outstanding Researchers or Professors
Some notable characteristics:
- A sponsoring employer is required.
- The foreign worker will work in the US as a professor or researcher.
- The foreign worker must be recognized internationally as outstanding in her field, meeting two or more criteria from the relevant regulation.
- The foreign national must have, among other things, three or more years of research or teaching experience.
EB-1C – Multinational Executives or Managers
Some notable characteristics:
- A sponsoring employer is required.
- The foreign worker will work in the US as an executive or manager.
- The foreign worker must, among other things, have been employed abroad in an executive or managerial position.