EB-1 Visa, Persons of Extraordinary Ability, Permanent Residency (Green Card) in Charleston, SC

This is a first-preference immigrant visa category. We love winners, and America loves to welcome the smartest and most accomplished immigrants to our shores. It strengthens our workforce, is good for business, and is good for defense. This employment category does just that. No waiting, no labor certification, just prove you have either "extraordinary ability" in the sciences, arts, business, education, or athletics; are an "outstanding" professor or researcher; or are a multinational executive or manager, and your employer can petition for you. But remember, "With immigration nothing is as simple as it first appears." ℠

To qualify for one of the 40,000 annual visas, you have to demonstrate the following:

Extraordinary Ability 
You are the truly gifted, the world's best, geniuses, superstars, and the like in athletics, business, education & sciences. Won the Nobel Prize, World Cup, The Masters, an Olympic Medal, a Westinghouse, an Academy Award, or a Pulitzer; found a cure for cancer or ran the foreign equivalent of Facebook? Then, this is your ticket into the U.S. Or just be the top in your field with the highest level of expertise in an approved area with adequate documentation. Specialized knowledge is not acceptable to satisfy these positions. Evidence of this highest level of expertise can be in the form of the following:

• Receipt of national or internationally recognized awards,
• Membership in associations of like-minded and accomplished individuals,
• Citations in professional publications,
• Acting as a judge of your peers,
• Author of scholarly articles in trade journals,
• Prior employment in similar positions,
• Display of work at artistic exhibitions in more than 1 country,
• Prior extraordinarily high salaries for services rendered.

Outstanding Professor and Researcher 
Alright, no Nobel Prize in science or a Westinghouse Award. Then just be a top professor or researcher in your field. Outstanding among your peers by:

• Receiving some top awards,
• Authorship of scholarly books and articles,
• Mention of your outstanding accomplishments in your peers' publications,
• Membership in elite professional organizations.
• Recognized as a judge of your peers' work

Multinational Executive 
You must oversee the daily operations or a significant portion of them for a company and have done so for 1 year of the previous 3 years and are being transferred to do so in the U.S. The size of the business is relevant to USCIS. These daily operations include:

• A position where the employee receives direction from a board of directors,
• Directs management of the organization,
• Establishing goals and policies,
• Having a wide latitude in decision-making,

Multinational Manager 
You must manage the daily operations or a significant portion of them for a company and have done so for 1 year of the previous 3 years and are being transferred to do so in the U.S. The size of the business is relevant to USCIS. This management includes:

• Supervision over upper-level managing and supervising employees,
• The authority to make personnel decisions,
• Discretion over day-to-day activities and functions,
• Control over organization of departments and subdivisions.

Submission Process for the EB-1 Visa

Those with extraordinary ability do not need an employer. If you are a professor or researcher, you need to work for a university, and if you are an executive or a manager, then you need an employer and a job offer letter for full-time employment, outlining job functions, dates, and locations, which should be easy to secure. The job offer letter must contain numerous and detailed facts to be considered acceptable by the USCIS. Submission is made by a USCIS Form I-140 petition, all accompanying documentation, and all required filing fees. Premium processing service is available for an additional fee of $1,225. Upon approval, the alien can adjust status in the U.S. and obtain permanent residency (green card). Spouses and children under 21 can work and attend school and will also be able to adjust status. If the applicant is outside the U.S., consular processing will be necessary.