Philadelphia EB-1 Visa Lawyers

Handling EB-1 Petitions for Philadelphia-Area Scientists, Artists, Educators, & Athletes

The EB-1 extraordinary ability visa offers a direct path to permanent residency with two key advantages over most employment-based categories: no employer sponsor required and no PERM labor certification. You file Form I-140 as your own petitioner, and because EB-1 sits in the first preference category, visa numbers are rarely backlogged. 

At Henry & Grogan, we meticulously build and file these petitions for individuals and work with employers filing on behalf of outstanding professors and researchers, all at affordable flat-rate fees. Learn how we can help you in a free consultation. 

If you’re evaluating whether you qualify for an EB-1 visa, contact us today to schedule your free consultation at (215) 568-1500.

What Are the Criteria for an EB-1 Visa?

The ten USCIS criteria for EB-1A extraordinary ability are:

• Receipt of nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards for excellence
• Membership in associations requiring outstanding achievement of their members
• Published material about the alien in professional or major trade publications or major media
• Participation as a judge of the work of others in the same or allied field
• Original scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic, or business-related contributions of major significance
• Authorship of scholarly articles in professional journals or major media
• Display of work at artistic exhibitions or showcases
• Performance in a leading or critical role for organizations with a distinguished reputation
• Command of a high salary or remuneration in relation to others in the field
• Commercial successes in the performing arts

Applicants whose profile doesn’t fit neatly into any of the ten criteria can also submit comparable evidence showing extraordinary ability by other means.

USCIS evaluates EB-1A petitions in two steps:

• The petitioner must show either a one-time major international award (such as a Nobel Prize or Olympic medal) or evidence satisfying at least three of the ten criteria listed below. 
• Then, USCIS conducts a final merits determination, weighing all the evidence together to decide whether it demonstrates sustained extraordinary ability at the top of the field. Meeting three criteria is a threshold, not a finish line.

An October 2024 USCIS policy update clarified several important points that competing analyses often miss: 

• Team awards now count under the nationally or internationally recognized prizes criterion
• Past memberships count alongside current ones, under the association membership criterion
• Published material about the petitioner no longer needs to explicitly articulate the value of their work

EB-1B: Outstanding Professors & Researchers

The EB-1B subcategory covers academics and researchers who have earned international recognition for outstanding achievements in their field. Unlike EB-1A, EB-1B can’t be self-petitioned: a U.S. employer (a university, research institution, or qualifying private employer) files Form I-140 on the applicant’s behalf. No PERM labor certification is required, which keeps the process considerably faster than most EB-2 or EB-3 employment-based paths.

To qualify, applicants need at least three years of teaching or research experience in the field. 

They must also satisfy at least two of the six USCIS criteria: 

• Receipt of major prizes or awards
• Membership in associations requiring outstanding achievement
• Published material by others about the applicant’s work
• Participation as a judge of others’ work
• Original scientific or scholarly research contributions in the field
• Authorship of scholarly books or articles in scholarly journals with international circulation. 

The standard is outstanding rather than extraordinary, but international recognition is still the baseline. Henry & Grogan works with both applicants and their sponsoring employers to build the evidence record and prepare the petition.

EB-1 Qualifications for Managers & Executives

To qualify for an EB-1 green card as a multinational manager or executive, an individual must have been employed in a managerial or executive capacity for at least one year by a firm or corporation outside of the U.S. The employment must have been with the same employer, an affiliate, or a subsidiary of the sponsoring employer and must have fallen within three years preceding the filing of the petition.

The employer must file Form I-140 (petition for an alien worker) with USCIS. The petitioner must be a U.S. employer that has conducted business in the U.S. for a minimum of one year. The managerial or executive employment-based permanent resident category is not self-petitioning. That is, it must be filed by a sponsoring employer on behalf of an individual executive.

Understanding Executive or Managerial Capacity

A job title alone is not sufficient to qualify an individual for an EB-1 green card. 

To qualify under “executive or managerial capacity,” USCIS regulations require petitioners to show one or more of the following:

• A majority of previous and future job responsibilities relate to operational policy management
• The petitioner actually engages in strategic planning or directing a company’s major activities
• An executive helps to establish comprehensive organizational objectives and policies
• A manager oversees other supervisory professional or managerial employees
• A manager has discretion over certain daily operations, has hiring and firing authority

In lieu of managing other professional or high-level employees, USCIS generally recognizes functional managers: those who oversee a department or function within a company, but it can be difficult to obtain EB-1 green cards for these positions. 

A first-line supervisor is not considered to be acting in a managerial capacity merely because he or she has supervisory duties. First-line or lower-level supervisors generally will not qualify in the EB-1 multinational executive or manager green card category.

Federal Court Depth Behind Every Petition

Most immigration firms describe their EB-1 process in terms of document checklists. What separates Henry & Grogan is how the firm addresses USCIS pushback.

Founding partner Michael S. Henry has successfully overturned state regulations through appellate advocacy, and his decisions continue to be cited in both state and federal courts. That kind of litigation record shapes how we approach petition strategy from the start: anticipate the objection, address it in the initial filing, and know exactly what remedies are available if the agency acts improperly. 

Partner Devin E. Grogan has obtained emergency injunctions in federal court to halt deportation. This remedy requires real federal litigation capability, not just familiarity with USCIS forms.

Everything that our partners have learned from representing clients in Philadelphia and throughout the U.S. is yours to leverage. 

Start Your EB-1 Petition with a Free Consultation

Whether you’re assessing your evidence profile for the first time or responding to an RFE on a pending petition, the right moment to get legal guidance is before the next submission deadline. At Henry & Grogan, first consultations are free, and we charge transparent, flat-rate fees.

Call (215) 568-1500 to schedule your free consultation.

Not sure where to start? Your first conversation with us costs nothing.

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