American Green Card for Persons of Extraordinary Ability
The American Government allows a certain small percentage of the population to obtain a permanent residency, or green card without having to go through the labor certification process. These are persons of extraordinary ability, who have risen to the top of their fields. There are ten different criteria, through which you may know if you qualify for this kind of green card.
Firstly, the immigrant must produce documentation of lesser nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards. Next, the green card applicant must produce membership in the field for which he has received acclaim, as judged by recognized by national or international experts in the pertinent fields. Thirdly, the immigrant must supply the government with published material about himself in major trade publications or any other pertinent media. With the publication the alien must also provide the title, date and author of the material, as well as a translation, if need.
Next, the alien must produce evidence of his activity, either alone or on a panel, as judge of the work of others in allied fields of work. The fifth criterion is the immigrant's original scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic or business related contributions to the field. In order to obtain a green card for persons of extraordinary ability, the immigrant can also produce evidence of his or her authorship of articles in the field, whether in trade or scientific publications. If the immigrant is an artist, then he can bring evidence to the effect that his works were exhibited in a gallery or showcase.
Immigrants, who have been active politically or socially, may bring evidence that they have performed a critical role in the founding and building, or work in organization or establishments that have a distinguished reputation. The immigrant can also show that he has commanded a high salary in the field in which he was occupied, or that he has had successes in the performing arts, as shown by box office receipts, or record sales.
Please note that you do not have to fulfill all the criteria presented here. Depending on your field, one or two may be enough. Remember that the green card for persons of Extraordinary Ability is a priority application meant to bring leaders of a variety of fields into the United States. Because of the high standard of evidence of eligibility, the O-1 status is used infrequently.
Written by Jamie Kohn, Immigration Advisor, 16.01.06
