On EB-1A memberships

Here’s a post by immigration lawyer Amber Davis on EB-1A memberships:

When evaluating EB-1A memberships, USCIS asks that applicants show that the organizations they use as evidence of meeting the memberships criterion mention “outstanding achievement” as a membership requirement.

If you plan on arguing memberships and are thinking about whether to join a certain organization, consider:

- The profiles of other members and whether they are sought out experts in the field or fields related to the organization’s work.
- The overall prestige of the organization and how it’s perceived in the field or fields related to the organization’s work.
- Whether high profile individuals in the field or fields related to the organization’s work would view the organization as prestigious and well-respected.

Be careful with memberships as in recent years, there appears to have been an uptick in the number of organizations that have been formed specifically to meet this part of the EB-1A criteria. Even though USCIS loves to say that “outstanding achievement” must specifically be required by the bylaws, usually bylaws with this exact phrase are suspect for being formed in order to help people meet the EB-1A criteria. USCIS caused this, in my opinion, and it's a catch-22 situation for some people’s profiles.

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Interested in EB-1A, EB-2 NIW or O-1? Feel free to reach out at amber.davis@waypointimmigration.org or via LinkedIn messages and I’ll get back to you shortly!