Source: http://usvisalawyers.co.uk/article4.htm
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 20:15:04+00:00

Document:
Please note: This article was written in 2005 and is no longer being updated.1 However, it still serves as an accurate overview and introduction to the use of the ‘alien of extraordinary ability’ green card for business people.
Aliens of extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business or athletics can qualify for lawful permanent residence in the first employment-based immigrant preference category.3 The extraordinary ability preference offers many advantages to the qualified applicant, among them the valuable option to self-petition, thereby dispensing with the need to obtain a sponsor.
Although potentially very useful to the world’s best and brightest, the preference category for aliens of extraordinary ability is very little used; in Fiscal Year 2003 only 1224 principal applicants obtained lawful permanent residence on this basis.4 It is our belief that qualified applicants have been discouraged from using the EB-1-1 category due to a mistaken impression that it is available only to the winners of major awards such as the Nobel, or to those persons outstanding in the arts or sciences.
However, “business” is specifically listed as one of the fields of endeavor as to which the EB-1-1 is available, and in fact many of the criteria used to prove extraordinary ability in the more familiar contexts of the arts and sciences can easily be adapted to benefit aliens who seek permanent residence in the United States based upon their success in business.
This article is designed to encourage aspiring permanent residents and their attorneys to consider immigrant petitions based upon extraordinary ability in business.
The EB-1 immigrant visa for aliens of extraordinary ability (hereinafter “EB-1-1”) was created by the Immigration Act of 1990.5 That Act added a new subsection to the Immigration and Nationality Act6 and created five immigrant visa preference categories, including employment-based, special immigrants, and employment creation.
The first step is to define the relevant field of endeavor. Your client may not be at the very top of all businesspeople world-wide, but could be at the top of all those involved in commercial passenger aviation, or financial journalism, or automobile manufacture. Define the field as narrowly as possible.
If the alien does not have a Nobel or other “major, international recognized award,” then one needs to produce evidence of at least three types from the list of 10 in 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(h)(3).12 Let us review those criteria with particular attention to the types of documentation that might be available to businessmen and -women. Our experience and the examples we give are largely from the United Kingdom, but your client’s home country may well have equivalent resources that you can mine for material.
Lesser prizes or awards for excellence in the field of endeavor.
Membership in associations in the field, which associations require outstanding achievements, as judged by recognized experts in the field.
Some business organizations may accept as members anyone with an interest and a check for the membership fee. Membership in such an organization is of no assistance in an EB-1-1 application. However, your client’s participation in a roundtable of well-regarded businesspeople is worth documenting. A British example: The business organization “Institute of Directors” offers several levels of membership, depending on the applicant’s qualifications and experience, and includes the level of “Fellow,” which is available only upon invitation of the Institute’s Board.14 Qualify the Board members as “experts in the field,” and selection of a client as a “Fellow” could fit this rubric.
Published material about the alien in professional or major trade publications or other major media, relating to the alien’s work in the field.
Was your client the first to offer pay-as-you-go wireless telephone service in his country? Perhaps he created the first company in his area to offer data processing to US companies seeking to outsource that work? Such pioneering endeavors can often be proved through articles in the press. In addition to trade publications do not overlook “home town” or weekly newspapers which are often particularly interested in trumpeting a new product or service made available by a local resident. Letters from colleagues or other persons knowledgeable in the field can be of assistance here in explaining the significance of the contribution.
Performed in a leading or critical role for organizations or establishments that have a distinguished reputation.
This is a natural choice for anyone who has held an important position at a successful company. Establish the company’s “distinguished reputation” and then show how important your client was to the company. For journalists, circulation figures for their periodicals should be obtained, and any distinguished history or reputation of the publication should be emphasized.
Many professional and trade organizations perform periodic salary surveys that can be used as comparison for your client, particularly if the survey is accompanied by an explanation of the statistical fine-points of the methodology. Although O*NET and other easily-available surveys can be convenient starting points their lack of detail (no breakdown into percentiles, for example) mean they will be of little help in showing that your client is at the very top of the salary scheme.
Do not overlook the regulations’ invitation to “submit comparable evidence” if the regulations listed “do not readily apply to the beneficiary’s occupation.”15 This can be one of the most fruitful areas for a lawyer with some creativity, for a prospective EB-1-1 in business will not have “evidence of commercial successes in the performing arts”16 but may be able to show great commercial success for the business or portion of a business he led. His work will not have been displayed “at artistic exhibitions or showcases,” but perhaps his business was used as a (favorable!) case study by a local business school. Ask your client such questions as: Was his company invited to take part in a display of the country’s businesses organized by the trade authorities?
Although the United Nations has proclaimed 2005 to be “International Year of Physics”17 , we practitioners of US immigration law should make it the year we prove to ourselves and our clients that it is not just rocket scientists, or Nobel Prize winners, who can qualify for the EB-1-1 and thereby obtain permanent residence in the United States.
1 An earlier version of this article first appeared in the April 12, 2005 issue of Immigration Daily at http://www.ilw.com/lawyers/articles/2005,0412-mcfadden.shtm.
3 The first preference also includes outstanding professors or researchers, and multinational executives or managers.
4 US Citizenship and Immigration Services, 2003 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, Table 5. Available at http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/yearbook/2003/2003Yearbook.pdf .
5 Immigration Act of 1990, Pub. L. No. 101-649, §121. It was effective October 1, 1991 (§161), far too late for Einstein, Fermi and Hess.
6 INA § 203(b), 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b).
7 Section 302(b)(2) of the Miscellaneous and Technical Immigration and Naturalization Amendments of 1991, Pub. L. No. 102-232.
8 The statute refers to aliens ‘with’ extraordinary ability, but the language of the body of the regulations (as opposed to the headings of same) speak of aliens ‘of’ extraordinary ability.
9 INA § 203(b)(1)(A)(i), 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(1)(A)(i).
10 INA § 203(b)(1)(A)(ii) and (iii), 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(1)(A)(ii) and (iii).
11 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(h)(2).
12 Production of evidence of three of the 10 types however does not guarantee that the alien will be found eligible for the EB-1-1. See Notes of California Service Center/American Immigration Lawyers Association Liaison Meeting, May 2001, available on AILA InfoNet Doc. No. 01052403. Cf. Letter from Edward H. Skerrett to Nathan A. Waxman, June 15, 1995, posted on AILA InfoNet June 29, 1995 (EB-2 outstanding professor or researcher classification).
15 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(h)(4).
16 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(h)(3)(x).

References: § 204
 §121
 § 203
 § 1153
 § 203
 § 1153
 § 203
 § 1153
 § 204
 § 204
 § 204