EB1-EA credential evaluation

[HelpingHand]

Veterans, please provide a critical comment on my chance of EB1-EA (My I-140 based on EB2-NIW is already approved)

Credentials

• Ph.D. (non-US) with 10 international journal papers, ~15 conference publications
• about 60+ citations (first author citations alone ~ 25), citations in 2 thesis, citations in couple of patents, my work has been cited in one of the web databases on work related to international security
• can get 8 letters
• have been in the Masters thesis defense committee of one student and PhD proposal committee of 1 student (US university)
• membership of SigmaXi (nominated- aren't all the SigmaXi always nominated ?) and other two paid memberships
• no reviewing work
• have done work (and published) in different fields (eg., Mathematics, Biology, Electronics)

Planning to claim following USCIS criteria

1. 
   
2. documentation of the alien's membership in associations in the field for which classification is sought, which require outstanding achievements of their members, as judged by recognized national or international experts in their disciplines or fields
3. 
   
4. evidence of the alien's participation, either individually or on a panel, as a judge of the work of others in the same or an allied field of specification for which classification is sought
5. evidence of the alien's original scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic, or business-related contributions of major significance in the field
6. evidence of the alien's authorship of scholarly articles in the field, in
   professional or major trade publications or other major media- Publications

From the above USCIS criteria, I am planning to claim

1. 
   
2. Sigma Xi (nominated), and two other paid memberships. I doubt this will fly- even if SigmaXi is nominated, I doubt it will count- because almost any one can get `nominated'. Also, paid memberships do not count, as I understand
3. 
   
4. Serving thesis committee. Shaky here- because, I had seen (in this forum) people receiving RFE asking `why serving thesis committee is `outside' your normal job duties'
5. Recommendation letters and citations
6. Journal publications

I know I can pretty well satisfy 5, and 6- but shaky on 2 and 4 as stated above:

Now my questions are:

1. What is your overall opinion on claiming the above criteria ?
2. Have any one successful with claiming SigmaXi membership ?
3. If, in your opinion, I will not be able to make a strong claim on 2 and 4, then can I some how use my credentials item number, vii, (worked in different fields) to show that I am `extraordinary able'- if so, which USCIS criteria that would fit in ? (eg., I can produce a bar chart showing how many people in my field venture in to other fields and have published in those fields)

Thanks,

--HH

 

[GC-Hopes]

1. Very tough sell. Like you say, you can claim authorship and original contribution. Do all 60+ citations come from unrelated authors?
2. I have seen RFEs and denials where SigmaXi was used as one of the fulfilling criteria. It could be used as a supportive evidence for having published in peer-reviewed journals but not as a self-standing evidence.
3. I don't recall seeing this "many-fields" criterion (could you please state this rule again?). I would think it would be counter-productive to claim that you have switched fields and have somehow managed to have risen to the top of both(?) fields.

Overall, I would recommend to get some reviewing experience. Since your NIW has been approved, I would think you are good but to prove that you are extraordinary, you should at least satisfy three or the ten requirements. That said, it all depends on how to present your case to the IO. If you can get supporting letters saying that your services as a judge of a student's thesis was invaluable and that you could be considered for serving in more thesis committees, it would be good.

Good luck!

 

[HelpingHand]

First of all, thank you GC-Hopes

1. Very tough sell. Like you say, you can claim authorship and original contribution. Do all 60+ citations come from unrelated authors?

Yes, those where all out of loop citations. If I include in-loop citations, it will easily be over 100

2. I have seen RFEs and denials where SigmaXi was used as one of the fulfilling criteria. It could be used as a supportive evidence for having published in peer-reviewed journals but not as a self-standing evidence.

So, basically Sigma-Xi is tough to sell

3. I don't recall seeing this "many-fields" criterion (could you please state this rule again?). I would think it would be counter-productive to claim that you have switched fields and have somehow managed to have risen to the top of both(?) fields.

No- it is not a criteria by USCIS. I was just asking whether this is something I could sell ?. I haven't really switched my main field- most of these are the works I did on the side [eg., when working in biology, developed an electronic instrument for probing some biological phenomena, this involves *mostly* electronics hardware design. So, published in a peer reviewed electronic journal, and is well cited by people in the electronics field]. I was able to sell this for my NIW, but for EB1-EA, as you pointed out, it could be counter-productive. Further I don't know which criteria I can put this in any way.

That said, it all depends on how to present your case to the IO.

That is why I am seeking the forums help

If you can get supporting letters saying that your services as a judge of a student's thesis was invaluable and that you could be considered for serving in more thesis committees, it would be good.

That is a very good point. Thanks, will do that.

Also, about reviewing. I have done reviews of two papers, but not from the journal directly. These papers were sent to the PI of the project (by journal editors) for reviewing, and was passed to me by the PI for reviewing. I did the whole reviewing work, passed the comments to the PI, which he passed to the journal editor. So, this is not a direct reviewing, and I don't have any proof (from the journal editors) to claim this. I can get a letter from PI for whom I reviewed the papers.

 

[GC-Hopes]

Also, about reviewing. I have done reviews of two papers, but not from the journal directly. These papers were sent to the PI of the project (by journal editors) for reviewing, and was passed to me by the PI for reviewing. I did the whole reviewing work, passed the comments to the PI, which he passed to the journal editor. So, this is not a direct reviewing, and I don't have any proof (from the journal editors) to claim this. I can get a letter from PI for whom I reviewed the papers.

Unfortunately, this doesn't count! I'm guessing you already know this - i.e., review requests from the editors or the editorial office should directly be addressed to you. Nowadays, USCIS is requesting letters from the editors stating this fact and that the invitation is based on substantial expertise on the part of the reviewer and that this ensures high standards of the journal! If you haven't reviewed before, ask your advisor to forward (not accept and then send you the PDF to review) the review invitations to you. Sometimes, he can suggest your name to the editor himself so that the editor can then contact you to see if you are available.

Good luck!

 

[sulpha]

Veterans, please provide a critical comment on my chance of EB1-EA (My I-140 based on EB2-NIW is already approved)

Credentials

• Ph.D. (non-US) with 10 international journal papers, ~15 conference publications
• about 60+ citations (first author citations alone ~ 25), citations in 2 thesis, citations in couple of patents, my work has been cited in one of the web databases on work related to international security
• can get 8 letters
• have been in the Masters thesis defense committee of one student and PhD proposal committee of 1 student (US university)
• membership of SigmaXi (nominated- aren't all the SigmaXi always nominated ?) and other two paid memberships
• no reviewing work
• have done work (and published) in different fields (eg., Mathematics, Biology, Electronics)

Planning to claim following USCIS criteria

1. 
   
2. documentation of the alien's membership in associations in the field for which classification is sought, which require outstanding achievements of their members, as judged by recognized national or international experts in their disciplines or fields
3. 
   
4. evidence of the alien's participation, either individually or on a panel, as a judge of the work of others in the same or an allied field of specification for which classification is sought
5. evidence of the alien's original scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic, or business-related contributions of major significance in the field
6. evidence of the alien's authorship of scholarly articles in the field, in
   professional or major trade publications or other major media- Publications

From the above USCIS criteria, I am planning to claim

1. 
   
2. Sigma Xi (nominated), and two other paid memberships. I doubt this will fly- even if SigmaXi is nominated, I doubt it will count- because almost any one can get `nominated'. Also, paid memberships do not count, as I understand
3. 
   
4. Serving thesis committee. Shaky here- because, I had seen (in this forum) people receiving RFE asking `why serving thesis committee is `outside' your normal job duties'
5. Recommendation letters and citations
6. Journal publications

I know I can pretty well satisfy 5, and 6- but shaky on 2 and 4 as stated above:

Now my questions are:

1. What is your overall opinion on claiming the above criteria ?
2. Have any one successful with claiming SigmaXi membership ?
3. If, in your opinion, I will not be able to make a strong claim on 2 and 4, then can I some how use my credentials item number, vii, (worked in different fields) to show that I am `extraordinary able'- if so, which USCIS criteria that would fit in ? (eg., I can produce a bar chart showing how many people in my field venture in to other fields and have published in those fields)

Thanks,

--HH

Hi HH,
Which Service center. Looks like this plays a major role in EB1A cases these days. TSC is easy compared to NSC.
Papers, citations and reco letters are considered in one category - original contributions

Journal articles along with impact factors of journals etc can be considered in one category - Authorship of scholarly articles

Next time ask your PI to recommend you as a reviewer to the editor rather than you reviewing it through the PI. Typically, when journal editors ask someone to referee an article, they also ask them to suggest a reviewer if they decline to review the manuscript so that the editors can directly contact the recommended reviewer.

Sorry man, the EB1A cases have been clogged recently and they are tending to reject applications left and right. You know I applied in June and am still waiting for them to lay their hands on my file. no LUD or SLUD's so far on my 140. Anyway, try to eamil the editors along with your resume with a list of publications requesting them for possible consideration to be a reviewer in future.

As some one said above. Sigma-Xi was used successfully long time back as nominated awards. Too many ppl used it and now IO's know that it is not a big deal to get a membership. You cannot claim reviewer with being in student thesis committees (since they are students and considered under you in level). For judge of others work, you have to be a journal reviewer where you review work of other PhD's or someone in your level. Otherwise you should be in some grant review committee like NSF.

Just my 2cents and honest opinion. not to discourage you.

Sulpha

 

[HelpingHand]

Thanks Sulpha for your comments. I am at TSC. Yes, from the very start I know it is a shaky case. I can claim only 2 of the three criteria. I need real push (and luck) to get the third criteria satisfied. Another route for me is to try EB1-OR (my position is not a postdoc, but a research scientist). University is willing to file, provided I have to pay the lawyer fee, and the lawyer charges $5K+. Well, some time it is not good to be `penny wise and pound foolish'.

 

[sulpha]

Hi HH,
Some more questions.
Good to know that the University will help on this and your title is not post-doc. First thing is, how long can you stay in this position? If, say you have funding for the next 2 yrs for the project, hold on to 6-8 months and then apply for EB1-OR after that. Apply 140/485 everything at the same time. do PP if needed through your lawyer.
In the 6-8 months, aggressively publish, email all the journal editors where you have and have not published requesting to be a reviewer. send your resume along to the editor.
Try putting more posters/presentations at conferences. Ask your professor in networking for such things.
Try to be involved in all small and large committee's in the university. Ask you professor that you would like to be proactive in arranging conferences, like charing etc. Ask you professor on those lines to help. You can request other profs in the department too. Anyway, try your best to improve as many categories as possible.
Good Luck
Sulpha

 

[HelpingHand]

Sulpha

Isn't it interesting to note that we both advice each other on the same topic ?. Well, the world is round !. See your/my post here