To be eligible for this category, a person must:

• have extraordinary ability in sciences, arts, education, business, or athletic which has been demonstrated by sustained national or international acclaim and whose achievements have been recognized in the field through extensive documentation;

• seek to enter the U.S. to continue to work in the area of extraordinary ability;

• must show his or her entry is of substantial prospective benefit to the U.S.

To qualify for EB-11 classification, the applicant must show at least three of the following:

• Receipt of lesser nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards;

• Membership in a professional associations which require outstanding achievement of their members;

• Published material about the alien in professional or major trade publications or other major media;

• Evidence that the alien has judged the work of others, either individually or on a panel;

• Evidence of the alien's original scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic, or business-related contributions of major significance to the field;

• Evidence of the alien's authorship of scholarly articles in professional or major trade publications or other major media;

• Evidence that the alien's work has been displayed at artistic exhibitions or showcases;

• Performance of a leading or critical role in distinguished organizations;

• Evidence that the alien commands a high salary or other significantly high remuneration in relation to others in the field;

• Evidence of commercial successes in the performing arts.

back to top

To be eligible for this category, a person:

•  Must be internationally recognized in a specific academic field;

•  Must have at least three years of experience in teaching or research in that field;

•  Must be offered either a tenured (or tenure-track) teaching position in a university, or a comparable position to conduct research in a university or for a private employer. If the employer is a private company rather that a university or educational institution, the department, division, or institute of the private employer must employ at least three persons full time in research activities and have achieved documented accomplishments in an academic field.

Evidence that the professor or researcher is recognized as outstanding in the academic field must include documentation of at least two of the following:

• Receipt of major prizes or awards for outstanding achievement;

• Membership in associations that require their members to demonstrate outstanding achievements;

• Published material in professional publications written by others about the alien's work in the academic field;

• Participation, either on a panel or individually, as a judge of the work of others in the same or allied academic field;

• Original scientific or scholarly research contributions in the field;

• Authorship of scholarly books or articles (in scholarly journals with international circulation) in the field.

back to top

This category requires that the petitioning employer or an affiliate or subsidiary have employed the person for at least one year in the three years preceding the petition. The future employment in the U.S. must be in a managerial or executive position.

• manage the organization, or a department, subdivision, function, or component of the organization;

• supervise and control the work of other supervisory, professional, or managerial employees, or manage an essential function;

• have the authority to execute personnel actions or function at a senior level and

• exercise discretion over day-to-day operations of the activity or function.

To be in an executive capacity, a person must:

• direct the management of the organization or a major component or function of the organization;

• establish the goals and policies of the organization, component, or function;

• exercise wide latitude in discretionary decision-making;

• receive only general supervision or direction from higher level executives, the board of directors, or stockholders of the organization.

The petitioner must be a U.S. employer, doing business for at least one year, that is an affiliate, a subsidiary, or the same employer as the firm, corporation or other legal entity that employed the foreign national abroad.

back to top