There are two parts to this criterion: (1) evidence you performed a leading or critical role; (2) evidence that the role you performed was for a distinguished organization.
Evidence that shows USCIS your role was leading or critical:
- Evidence of your leadership position and title
- Evidence regarding your job duties and responsibilities
- Newspaper, journal, or other publications written about your role or project at the organization
- Official company organization charts
- Awards you have received from your organization
- Internal company newsletters featuring you or your accomplishments
- Evidence of your high salary
- Emails discussing projects, accomplishments, etc.
- Presentations
- Reports
- Critical project evidence
- Client letters/testimonials (speaking about your role in forming a contract, your services, your participation, etc.)
- Signed letters from a qualified higher up (the higher the better, letters signed by CEOs, VPs, etc. are typically stronger than other letters)
- The letters should include the following if possible: a. Name of signatory b. Explanation of their role at the organization c. Explanation of why the applicant is in a leading or critical role d. Company letterhead (not necessary, but a lot more persuasive) e. Important projects you have completed f. Date and locations of projects g. Your role h. Internal projects you have worked on i. Your overall benefit to the organization
Evidence that shows USCIS that the organizations are distinguished:
- Organization’s website
- Press snippets talking about the organization
- Awards the organization has received
- Evidence of an organization's presence worldwide
- Stock listing
- Evidence regarding the number of employees
- Forbes ranking
- Crunchbase information
- Evidence of humanitarian accomplishments of the organization
Considerations:
- For multi-national companies such as Google, Amazon, Pepsi Tesla, etc. name recognition alone may be enough to establish that an organization is distinguished
- Describe your roles and projects as if you're explaining them to someone without knowledge of your field
- You don’t have to lead a team, be a senior member, etc. If you were charged with a task that added critical value to an organization then you may be able to make a successful argument for this criteria
Navigating the leading or critical roles criterion for EB1A requires comprehensive documentation and strategic planning. Tailor your evidence to meet the stringent standards set by USCIS adjudicators.
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