EB-1 Visa: Requirements, Petitions, and Process

For someone at the top of their field who wants to live and work permanently in the United States, the EB-1 visa is often the most direct route to a green card. It is the first preference, employment-based immigrant category, and unlike most employment-based green cards it does not require a labor certification from the Department of Labor. That single difference can make it faster than other categories, though how quickly a green card actually becomes available still depends on demand and country of birth.

The EB-1 category is reserved for priority workers: people with extraordinary ability, outstanding professors and researchers, and certain multinational managers and executives. By law, first preference receives 28.6% of the roughly 140,000 employment-based immigrant visas issued each year, which works out to about 40,000 visas annually, split across the three subcategories. The subcategory does not change how a petition is processed.

 

 

EB-1 Subcategories and Requirements

The EB-1 category has three subcategories, each with its own standard.

EB-1A: Extraordinary Ability

The EB-1A is for individuals with extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics. Qualifying generally means either a one-time achievement of major international recognition, such as a Pulitzer, an Oscar, or an Olympic medal, or meeting at least three of the criteria USCIS recognizes as evidence of sustained national or international acclaim.

EB-1A is the only EB-1 subcategory that allows self-petitioning, meaning the individual can file the petition on their own behalf. No job offer or employer sponsorship is required.

EB-1B: Outstanding Professors and Researchers

The EB-1B is for professors and researchers recognized internationally as outstanding in a specific academic field. An applicant must show at least three years of teaching or research experience in the field and must be entering the U.S. for a tenured position, a tenure-track position, or a comparable permanent research position.

Unlike EB-1A, the EB-1B does not allow self-petitioning. The prospective U.S. employer must file the petition as the sponsor.

EB-1C: Multinational Managers and Executives

The EB-1C is for certain multinational managers and executives. To qualify, the applicant must have worked for the employer abroad in a managerial or executive role for at least one year in the three years preceding the petition, and must be coming to the U.S. to work for a related employer, also in a managerial or executive capacity. As with the EB-1B, the employer must be the petitioner.

 

EB-1 Visa Processing: Form I-140

An EB-1 petition begins with Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, filed with USCIS. The form is what allows USCIS to classify a foreign national as eligible for an employment-based immigrant visa. For EB-1B and EB-1C, the employer files Form I-140 as the petitioner; for EB-1A, the individual may file it themselves.

The petition has to be supported by evidence that meets the standard for the relevant subcategory. For an employer-sponsored petition, that often includes detailed letters from current or former employers describing the applicant’s role and accomplishments, along with documentation of the achievements that establish eligibility. A few practical points can help avoid delays.

• File the current edition of the form
• Make sure the petitioner signs the form and includes all required information
• Submit the correct fee for each form
• File at the correct address for your filing type

Once the petition is filed, you can check your case status online. Processing time depends on the individual case and on demand within the category for the applicant’s country of birth.

 

Priority Date and Final Action Date

Two dates govern when a green card actually becomes available.

The priority date is the date USCIS receives the EB-1 petition. It is fixed and does not change. The final action date moves from month to month based on how many people have applied in the category and how the per-country limits fall, and it applies to EB-1 as a whole rather than to a specific subcategory.

The U.S. Department of State publishes both in its monthly visa bulletin. When demand in a category and country is below the annual limit, the final action date moves forward; when demand exceeds the limit, the date can stall or move backward, which is called retrogression. EB-1 has reached its annual limit before the end of recent fiscal years, and final action dates for high-demand countries such as India and China have retrogressed, so visa availability can vary considerably by country of birth.

 

Labor Certification

First preference workers do not need a Department of Labor (DOL) labor certification. A labor certification, also called PERM, is a labor-market test confirming there are not enough available, qualified, and willing U.S. workers for the position and that hiring a foreign worker will not harm the wages or conditions of U.S. workers in similar roles.

Among the employment-based categories, it is the second preference (EB-2) and third preference (EB-3) that generally require labor certification. An EB-2 applicant can sometimes avoid it through a national interest waiver (NIW). Because EB-1 skips this step entirely, it removes one of the longest stages in the employment-based process.

 

Application Costs and Timelines

The base filing fee for Form I-140 is $715. Employer-filed petitions also generally owe a separate Asylum Program Fee of up to $600, depending on the size and type of the organization. However, these fees can change; check the USCIS fee schedule for the most current information.

Where to file depends on whether Form I-140 is filed alone or with other forms, and processing times vary by the service center handling the petition. Standard processing commonly takes several months.

Premium processing is optional. By filing Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service, with an additional fee of $2,965 (as of June 2026), the petitioner receives an initial decision from USCIS within 15 business days for an EB-1 petition. That decision can be an approval, a denial, a request for evidence, or a notice of intent to deny.

 

 

Contact an Immigration Lawyer Today

An EB-1 petition is won on the quality of its evidence, and how that evidence is matched to the regulatory criteria often makes the difference between approval and a request for evidence. The employment-based immigration attorneys at Scott D. Pollock & Associates, P.C. have over three decades of experience in immigration and nationality law, including first preference petitions for individuals of extraordinary ability, researchers, and executives.

To discuss whether the EB-1 category fits your situation, call 312.444.1940 or fill out our online contact form to schedule a consultation.