EB‑1A Approvals: Real Client Cases and What Helped Them

For the EB-1A success stories below, each client already had an extensive record of ability and accomplishments in their field. To these accomplished individuals, the hard part was mapping their portfolio in a way that would meet the extraordinary ability criteria outlined by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”).

Each case study below covers how the Manifest immigration attorney built the petition, and how the evidence was aligned with the EB-1A requirements.

Want to learn more about how the EB-1A works? Our full EB-1A guide breaks down the process, requirements, and how to know if you’re ready to apply.

Approved EB-1A examples from Manifest Law clients

These cases come from real Manifest Law clients approved for the EB-1A visa.

What does an approved EB-1A case look like for a startup founder?

• Field: Cryptocurrency and blockchain
• Attorney: Siel Timperman
• Outcome: EB-1A approved after a successful RFE response

This client founded several crypto and blockchain companies over more than a decade, and was already in the U.S. on an O-1 visa. In a field where fewer than 1% of founders raise money from institutions, Attorney Timperman framed this founder’s venture funding success across several companies as recognition to qualify for EB-1A.

Despite the strength of the initial evidence, USCIS still issued an RFE. But instead of panicking, our client and Attorney Timperman worked together to build an RFE response that used the officer’s own conclusions as leverage. For example, the RFE had already accepted the client’s founding role at those ventures, and the response argued that the funding they attracted could not be split off from the client’s high salary. Proving this element helped earn an EB-1A approval for this client.

What does an approved EB-1A case look like after a denial?

• Field: Product design for enterprise AI
• Attorney: David A. Santiago
• Outcome: EB-1A approved with no RFE

This client is a product designer and co-founder of a Y Combinator-backed enterprise AI company. Before the client came to Manifest, the client had tried to file an EB-1A Form I-140 with another law firm, and received a denial. That filing had thousands of pages and argued six criteria without naming a clear niche, which likely left the USCIS officer with too many doubts.

Our refile did the opposite of the client’s initial application. We reframed the field narrowly, dropped the weakest criterion and cut the vague evidence, including minor publications and thin reference letters. The reasoning? A strong argument for five criteria is harder to deny than a scattered argument for six. The result: a winning case.

What does an approved EB-1A case look like for a researcher?

• Field: Pharmaceutical statistical forecasting
• Attorney: Myron Morales
• Outcome: EB-1A approved after an RFE response, with only one criterion initially granted

This client, an H-1B nonimmigrant worker born in India, builds systems that help drug makers predict supply shortages so medicines don’t run out. The client self-filed an EB-1A Form I-140 arguing five criteria, including judging the work of others. USCIS issued an RFE accepting only one: high salary. The client hired Manifest Law for the RFE response alone.

In the RFE response, Attorney Morales and his client opened by explaining what the original petition never had: a clear definition of why the client’s role in pharmaceutical and statistical forecasting mattered and the role’s impact. In addition, the RFE response used GitHub forks and star counts from the repository where the client published their framework, which helped prove that others were building on their original contributions and qualify this client for EB-1A.

What does an approved EB-1A case look like for a corporate finance professional?

• Field: Corporate finance and advisory
• Attorney: Arielle Sheinfeld
• Outcome: EB-1A approved via Premium Processing in 15 business days with no RFE

This client, a senior corporate finance advisor in H-1B status, directed structuring and valuation for major transactions. Finance and corporate legal professionals face a common evidentiary hurdle under EB-1A rules because they rarely publish peer-reviewed papers or judge academic research. To build a defensible petition, Attorney Sheinfeld focused on filing for three criteria: critical role, high compensation, and published material about the applicant.

The primary challenge was press coverage. While national outlets reported on 10 transactions the client directed, corporate announcements rarely credit individual team members.

Sheinfeld resolved this by finding one major trade publication that cited the client by name. For the remaining nine deals, she paired the news reports with internal transaction logs and executive testimonial letters to establish the client’s personal leadership. Documenting this direct impact satisfied USCIS on both the regulatory criteria and the final merits determination, securing an EB-1A approval with no RFE.

How do you prove extraordinary ability for an EB-1A?

USCIS lists 10 criteria for EB-1A. To qualify, an individual must prove at least three of the elements. Following the evidentiary analysis, USCIS officers regularly conduct a final merits analysis to determine whether an individual has the requisite sustained national or international acclaim. Thus, meeting the minimum evidentiary requirements is not the same as building a strong case.

Across the EB-1A approvals above, three things recur:

• Third-party validation. Strong recommendation letters, publications, citations, awards, media features, memberships, and leadership roles all showed that others in the field had recognized the individual’s extraordinary work.
• Demonstrated impact. The strongest cases identify what the individual’s work changed — whether a process, a product, an organization, or a field.
• A narrow field definition. Each petition defined the client’s specialty tightly enough that the officer compared them against the right peers.

Who qualifies for an EB-1A visa?

The EB-1A is one of the few Green Card options that requires no job offer or employer sponsorship. These are the kinds of professionals who often qualify:

• A medical researcher whose studies have been published in leading journals and cited around the world
• A founder who’s secured major funding rounds and built a startup with real market traction
• A professor with an international reputation, invited to speak, review, and collaborate with institutions worldwide
• A global executive who has directed operations and managed international teams for a major company
• A designer whose work has been featured in global exhibitions and shaped visual identities for top-tier brands
• A filmmaker or artist whose work has screened or exhibited at major international festivals and venues and drawn sustained critical attention
• An athlete who has competed at the highest level of their sport and earned national or international honors
• A scientist with patents being used in commercial or academic settings
• A public policy expert whose work has influenced legislation or shaped large-scale social initiatives
• A technologist whose innovations in AI, robotics, or biotech have earned industry awards and press coverage

Partner with a legal team that knows EB-1A

The clients in the case studies above already had risen to the highest levels of their field. What changed the outcome of their cases was the framing of the evidence: a field defined narrowly enough that the officer compared them to the right peers, five well-argued criteria instead of six scattered ones, or an RFE response built out of the officer’s own findings.

Whether you are filing an EB-1A for the first time, refiling after a denial, or sitting on an RFE that granted one criterion, a Manifest EB-1 visa lawyer can tell you which criteria your evidence genuinely supports and how best to frame your case.

Request a consultation to review your EB-1A case with a Manifest attorney.

FAQs about Manifest’s EB-1A success stories

Which EB-1A criteria are easiest to prove?

Four come up most often: original contributions of major significance, authorship of scholarly articles, judging the work of others, and critical or leading roles. Which ones are easiest depends on your background. A founder usually has the strongest case on critical roles, awards, and remuneration, while a researcher usually has it on authorship, judging, and citations. The difficulty level is less about the criterion itself than about how well the evidence behind it is documented.

What achievements support an EB-1A?

The best type of achievements to use in an EB-1A are those that peers in your field have already noticed. That covers awards and prizes, invited talks and peer review, patents in real use, publications with meaningful citation counts, press in outlets your industry reads, and pay well above the benchmark for your role. A single achievement rarely carries a case. A pattern of them, sustained over years, is what USCIS looks for.

How do you prepare evidence for an EB-1A petition?

Start by defining your field narrowly, then gather evidence that speaks to it. Every exhibit should answer two questions for a non-specialist officer. What did this person do? How do we know it mattered? That usually means adding context to raw evidence. Pair a publication with the journal’s impact factor, or a pay stub with industry salary data. Support letters work best when they name specific contributions instead of praising the applicant in general terms and when each letter touches on a different element of the case.

Can I get EB-1A without publications or awards?

Yes. Publications and awards are only two of the ten possible criteria. They are not required if an individual meets other elements from the 10. Founders, executives, and practitioners are often approved by proving the elements of critical roles, original contributions, high pay, selective memberships, and press coverage. Both the blockchain founder and the product designer cases described above were approved without a research publication record.

What happens if my EB-1A petition gets an RFE or a denial?

An RFE is a request for more evidence, not a rejection. A denial does not bar you from filing again or appealing the decision. Two of the four approvals above followed an RFE or denial. The best response to an RFE or denial is to answer the officer’s specific objections, not simply resubmitting a bigger version of the first petition.

Are these EB-1A cases real?

Yes, every case study reflects an actual approval won by Manifest Law attorneys, with names and identifying details changed to protect client privacy. You can verify our track record directly by viewing our redacted approval notices or reading complete filings in our case study library.

Can I see a sample EB-1A petition?

Manifest Law does not share full client petitions because they are protected by attorney-client privilege. You can review the case breakdowns above to see our filing strategies, or read our sample recommendation letters to see how supporting letters are built.

What are common reasons EB-1A petitions get rejected?

Many denials happen during the final merits determination. USCIS can agree you meet three criteria on paper but decide your overall record lacks sustained national acclaim. Petitions also fail when applicants submit disorganized documents that obscure an applicant’s impact, which can trigger an EB-1A RFE.

Disclaimer. This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading it, or contacting Manifest Law through this site, does not create an attorney-client relationship. Immigration law changes frequently, and the information here is current only as of the publication date. For advice on your specific situation, consult a licensed attorney. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. This communication is attorney advertising.