I submitted my EB1 OR petition through Rajiv in Jan 04 at TSC. I just found out that it was approved last week (Oct 19). Though I thought that my case was not as strong as some of the forum members, it went through without any RFE within 9 months. I am just writing a few of the things that I found useful in preparing my application.
1. I spent about one year putting the application packet together. Even though I went through a very competent lawyer (thanks Rajiv ), I feel since every person knows their own case best, they should take an active part in the process.
2. Go through the six criteria and stress only on the ones that you feel you strongly qualify for. For example if you feel your CV is strong on just four, focus on them because they ask for you just to meet at least two criteria. Here are the criteria:
Receipt of major prizes or awards for outstanding achievement;
Membership in associations that require their members to demonstrate outstanding achievements;
Published material in professional publications written by others about the alien's work in the academic field;
Participation, either on a panel or individually, as a judge of the work of others in the same or allied academic field;
Original scientific or scholarly research contributions in the field;
Authorship of scholarly books or articles (in scholarly journals with international circulation) in the field.
3. Recommendation letters seem to play a pivotal role for borderline cases. I collected 20 letters from both locally and abroad. The major part of my process was spent in collecting the letters. It helps if the person writing the letter does not know you personally but knows your work.
4. Even if you have good evidence and letters proving that you qualify, I would suggest that you go through a trustworthy lawyer because they usually have a successful standardized skeleton they can use. I also bought several do-it-yourself kits mainly to familiarize myself with the process and to get ideas on how to collect and write strong letters of recommendation. You should also find a professional (my talented wife helped out in my case ) to help you compose the letter and proof read what is written. Don't get discouraged if someone says that they can't give you a letter.
5. Go through the AAO website http://uscis.gov/graphics/lawsregs/...c3/b3/index.htm
to familiarize yourself with previous decisions (even if they don't exactly apply to your case) and make sure you don't make the same mistakes.
6. There are many kind people on this board who have successfully gone through the same procedures and willing to jump in and help if you ask them.
7. I found that there is not much information to help physicians to apply through this category. But if you are at the level of an Assistant Professor even if it is a non-tenure post at a good university program, I would suggest that you should give this a shot.
8. Sometimes things seem to get overwhelming. But if you go through the process methodically while setting yourself goals and a time frame, you can definitely do it- I did.
Thank you all especially all the volunteers on the board.
I 140
RD 01/02/04
ND 01/05/04
AD 10/19/04
1. I spent about one year putting the application packet together. Even though I went through a very competent lawyer (thanks Rajiv ), I feel since every person knows their own case best, they should take an active part in the process.
2. Go through the six criteria and stress only on the ones that you feel you strongly qualify for. For example if you feel your CV is strong on just four, focus on them because they ask for you just to meet at least two criteria. Here are the criteria:
Receipt of major prizes or awards for outstanding achievement;
Membership in associations that require their members to demonstrate outstanding achievements;
Published material in professional publications written by others about the alien's work in the academic field;
Participation, either on a panel or individually, as a judge of the work of others in the same or allied academic field;
Original scientific or scholarly research contributions in the field;
Authorship of scholarly books or articles (in scholarly journals with international circulation) in the field.
3. Recommendation letters seem to play a pivotal role for borderline cases. I collected 20 letters from both locally and abroad. The major part of my process was spent in collecting the letters. It helps if the person writing the letter does not know you personally but knows your work.
4. Even if you have good evidence and letters proving that you qualify, I would suggest that you go through a trustworthy lawyer because they usually have a successful standardized skeleton they can use. I also bought several do-it-yourself kits mainly to familiarize myself with the process and to get ideas on how to collect and write strong letters of recommendation. You should also find a professional (my talented wife helped out in my case ) to help you compose the letter and proof read what is written. Don't get discouraged if someone says that they can't give you a letter.
5. Go through the AAO website http://uscis.gov/graphics/lawsregs/...c3/b3/index.htm
to familiarize yourself with previous decisions (even if they don't exactly apply to your case) and make sure you don't make the same mistakes.
6. There are many kind people on this board who have successfully gone through the same procedures and willing to jump in and help if you ask them.
7. I found that there is not much information to help physicians to apply through this category. But if you are at the level of an Assistant Professor even if it is a non-tenure post at a good university program, I would suggest that you should give this a shot.
8. Sometimes things seem to get overwhelming. But if you go through the process methodically while setting yourself goals and a time frame, you can definitely do it- I did.
Thank you all especially all the volunteers on the board.
I 140
RD 01/02/04
ND 01/05/04
AD 10/19/04