The EB-1A Talent Visa is a subcategory of the employment-based Green Card and is awarded to individuals with exceptional abilities in the sciences, arts, education, business or athletics.
EB-1A Talent Visa is a type of visa that allows people who have excelled in the field to work and reside in the United States. This visa is preferred especially by academics from different disciplines who have been successful in the academic field. In addition, doctors, engineers, artists, and senior executives can also obtain a US work and residence permit with the EB-1A Talent Visa.
To apply for the EB-1A Talent Visa, you do not need to have received any job offers in the United States. In other words, the EB-1A Talent Visa is one of the few visa types you can apply to work in the United States without receiving a job offer. For this reason, it is a type of visa preferred by people who have been successful in their field.
Eligibility Criteria:
- The applicant should continue to work in the field of specialization after coming to the United States.
- The applicant must have evidence of outstanding achievement in the specialty. This is the Pulitzer, the Oscar award, the Olympic Medal, etc. can.
- If the applicant is not an internationally recognized achievement, they must meet at least three of the 10 criteria listed on the USCIS website:
- Receipt of lesser recognized national or international awards.
- Proof of the applicant’s membership in associations in their fields that demand outstanding achievement from their members.
- Content about the applicant published in professional or major trade publications or other major media outlets.
- Asking the applicant to evaluate the work of others individually or in a panel.
- The applicant’s original scientific, academic, artistic, athletic or commercial contributions of great importance to the area of expertise.
- Scientific article authorship by the applicant in professional or major commercial publications or other major media outlets.
- Involvement of the applicant’s work or works in artistic exhibitions or screenings.
- Applicant plays a leading or critical role in elite organizations.
- The applicant demands a higher salary or other financial compensation than other employees in the field.
- The applicant’s commercial achievements in the performing arts.
Family Members
Spouses and single children under the age of 21 may accompany the applicant. Spouses can enter the United States with E-14 immigrant status and children with E-15 immigrant status.
Services We Provide
The follow-up of all necessary procedures regarding the visa types we serve is carried out by the lawyers in our team.
The EB-1A Talent Visa is a very demanding and complex visa type due to its nature. In this visa application, it should be explained that the applicant has outstanding achievements in his field and is among the distinguished people in his field, supported by documents. In the EB-1A Talent Visa application, our team keeps in touch with you and performs the following actions:
- Filling Form I-140
- Writing a comprehensive application letter (usually 30-40 pages)
- Editing reference letters
- Assisting in the preparation of the Personal Statement
- Assisting in the preparation of the applicant’s business/action plan in America
- Helping to collect all necessary documents
The lawyers in our team inform you about the required documents and assist you in the process of collecting the documents. In addition, the comprehensive application petition required for the application is written by our lawyers in our team and it is ensured that the legal criteria are met. Our team assists in the preparation of reference letters, the writing of the letter of intent and the creation of your business and action plan in the USA.
Usually, EB-1A Talent Visa applications are between 150 and 200 pages.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Can I Apply for an EB-1A Talent Visa from Outside the United States?
Yes. You do not need to be in the United States to apply for an EB-1A Talent Visa. There is no obstacle for you to apply for an EB-1A Talent Visa from the country where you live outside the United States.
2. Do I Need a Sponsor or a Job Offer to Apply for an EB-1A Talent Visa?
No. You can apply for an EB-1A Talent Visa individually without a sponsor or a job offer. There is no obstacle for you to start the application process individually.
3. How Long does It Take to Get an EB-1A Talent Visa?
The EB-1A Talent Visa is generally Decisional between 3 and 12 months from the date of application. However, there is the possibility of expedited visa application (premium/expedited processing) for applicants who do not want to wait for a long time. Paying October an additional fee to apply for an expedited visa, your application will be decided within 15 working days.
4. What Does the Association Membership Required for the EB-1A Talent Visa Mean?
One of the criteria required for the EB-1A Talent Visa is that the applicant shows his membership in the associations in his field. Applicants can meet this criterion by becoming a member of associations and professional chambers in their field. Applicants can prove their membership with a membership certificate, membership card or official letter indicating their membership from the relevant associations.
5. Are Academic Publications Required for the EB-1A Talent Visa?
Academic publications are not a prerequisite for an application for an EB-1A Talent Visa. The applicant’s profession, contribution to the field and achievements in the field are evaluated as a whole. However, the availability of academic publications, especially for applicants who are academicians, is necessary for the visa application to be successful.
6. How Many Academic Publications Are Being Sought for the EB-1A Talent Visa?
For the EB-1A Talent Visa, the availability of scientific articles published in academic journals is of great importance for the visa application to be positive. However, there is no obligation to have published at least a certain number of articles among the criteria sought. Dec.
The EB-1A Talent Visa is a type of visa that is related to quality rather than quantity. Although it is an advantage for the applicant to have a large number of published academic articles, the journals in which these articles are published and the number of citations they receive are also important. In general, it is important for applicants who are academicians to have at least 8 to 10 academic publications in order for the EB-1A Talent Visa to be successful. Dec.
7. How Many Citations of My Academic Work Should I Have for the EB-1A Talent Visa?
As we mentioned above, having published an academic article or received a certain number of citations is not a mandatory element for the EB-1A Talent Visa. However, especially for applicants who are academicians, it is very important to have published and received a citation in order for the application to have a positive result.
The EB-1A Talent Visa does not require applicants to have received a certain number of citations. In other words, an applicant who has received a small number of citations may be successful with an EB-1A Talent Visa. Among the applicants we have served before, there are examples who have received a small number of citations, but their applications have been successful. Dec.
It should be underlined once again that the EB-1A Talent Visa is a round of visas that are evaluated in terms of quality rather than quantity. For this reason, even if it is a small number, each citation received by the applicant should be evaluated separately and the applicant’s contribution to his field should be underlined.
8. What Does It Mean to Evaluate the Work of Others Individually or in a Panel?
One of the criteria for the EB-1A Talent Visa is that the applicant has evaluated the work of others individually or on a panel to show that the applicant has made a significant contribution to his field. It is not necessary to evaluate the work of others in a certain way. That is, if the applicant has evaluated the work of other people in his field in some way, he can show this as one of the contributions he has made to his field for the EB-1A Talent Visa.
We are trying to determine whether the applicants we serve, especially graduate and doctoral students, meet this criterion by asking whether they are advising or not, whether they are editors or referees in journals in their field. In addition, being a member of the jury in the defense of doctoral or master’s thesis can be used to prove this criterion.
9. Do I Need to Get a Reference Letter for the EB-1A Talent Visa?
Yes. Reference letters for the EB-1A Talent Visa play a rather important role. The reference letters that we will attach to your application show that in addition to the contributions you have made to your field, these contributions have also been approved by other people in your field.
During the preparation of your visa application, our team will share sample reference letters with you and inform you about the content and scope of the reference letters. If you request, the lawyers in October will assist you in preparing the reference letters.
