What Expert Testimonials Will Help an EB1-B Case?

As a general rule, submit an expert letter for an outstanding professor or researcher only if it supports the argument that the alien is internationally recognized as outstanding. Evidence of mere competence, or that fails to set the alien apart from others in the field, should be omitted: it carries little weight and may be used to deny the petition.

An expert testimonial must also describe the expert, and the letter should introduce the employer if a job has been offered. Where the writer works in the field of the foreign person's endeavor, the letter should state the writer's qualifications to judge the applicant's work.

Letters from independent, outside sources also carry more weight because they prove the petitioner's accomplishments. If the petitioner's contributions are not praised widely beyond current and former acquaintances, international recognition cannot be concluded. USCIS therefore gives less weight to letters from the petitioner's immediate colleagues offered to support the criterion of original contributions of major significance in the field.

Objectivity is another factor USCIS considers. Letters from other employees of the petitioner, or of the organization that employs or seeks to employ the alien, may be rejected as lacking objectivity.