8 CFR § 204.5(h)(3) & § 214.2(o) Regulatory Diagnostic

EB-1A & O-1A Extraordinary Ability Scorer

Evaluate your profile against the 10 statutory criteria under federal immigration regulations. Audit your Kazarian two-step merits risk, identify RFE vulnerabilities, and generate a 1-click legal action filing memo.

Target Visa Classification

Field / Critical Domain

Total Scholarly Citations65+ Citations

High citations corroborate Criterion #5 (Original Contribution).

Independent Testimonial Letters4 Letters

Disinterested experts who have never worked with you.

The 10 Regulatory Evidentiary Criteria (8 CFR § 204.5(h)(3))

Claimed: 5/10 (Min 3 required)

Criterion #18 CFR § 204.5(h)(3)(i) / 8 CFR § 214.2(o)(3)(iii)(A)

Nationally or Internationally Recognized Prizes / Awards

Documentation of receipt of lesser nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards for excellence in the field of endeavor.

Qualifying Evidence Examples:

National innovation awards, Forbes 30 Under 30, IEEE Best Paper Awards
Major hackathon championships (e.g. ETHGlobal, TechCrunch Disrupt)
Government scientific grants or national fellowships given on competitive merit

Criterion #28 CFR § 204.5(h)(3)(ii) / 8 CFR § 214.2(o)(3)(iii)(B)

Membership in Associations Requiring Outstanding Achievements

Documentation of membership in associations in the field which require outstanding achievements of their members, as judged by recognized national or international experts.

Qualifying Evidence Examples:

IEEE Senior / Fellow membership, Sigma Xi full membership
Invitation-only tech councils or founder networks requiring strict peer review
National academies or specialized scholarly societies with selective admission

Criterion #38 CFR § 204.5(h)(3)(iii) / 8 CFR § 214.2(o)(3)(iii)(C)

Published Material About You in Major Media / Trade Publications

Published material about the alien in professional or major trade publications or other major media, relating to the alien's work in the field.

Qualifying Evidence Examples:

Features in TechCrunch, Wired, Forbes, Bloomberg, Reuters, or VentureBeat
In-depth interviews or profiles in specialized scientific journals or industry magazines
Articles citing your specific commercial product, algorithmic discovery, or research

Criterion #48 CFR § 204.5(h)(3)(iv) / 8 CFR § 214.2(o)(3)(iii)(D)

Judging the Work of Others in the Same or Allied Field

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.

Qualifying Evidence Examples:

Peer reviewer for prestigious journals (Nature, IEEE, ACM, Springer, Elsevier)
Program Committee (PC) member or reviewer for conferences (NeurIPS, ICML, CVPR)
Official judge for major venture pitch competitions or international hackathons

Criterion #58 CFR § 204.5(h)(3)(v) / 8 CFR § 214.2(o)(3)(iii)(E)

Original Scientific, Scholarly, or Business Contributions of Major Significance

Evidence of original scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic, or business-related contributions of major significance in the field.

Qualifying Evidence Examples:

Patents licensed to third parties or integrated into commercial market-leading products
Foundational algorithms or open-source software with massive adoption (e.g. 5,000+ GitHub stars, widely used ML libraries)
Independent expert recommendation letters demonstrating field-wide paradigm shifts

Criterion #68 CFR § 204.5(h)(3)(vi) / 8 CFR § 214.2(o)(3)(iii)(F)

Authorship of Scholarly Articles in Professional / Major Media

Evidence of the alien's authorship of scholarly articles in the field, in professional or major trade publications or other major media.

Qualifying Evidence Examples:

First-author or co-author papers in peer-reviewed journals (Impact factor > 3.0)
Top-tier conference proceedings papers (NeurIPS, ACL, IEEE, ACM)
Authoritative technical book chapters or whitepapers published by academic presses

Criterion #78 CFR § 204.5(h)(3)(vii) / 8 CFR § 214.2(o)(3)(iii)(G)

Display of Work at Artistic Exhibitions or Major Showcases

Evidence of the display of the alien's work in the field at artistic exhibitions or showcases (applicable to designers, artists, and comparable tech demos).

Qualifying Evidence Examples:

Keynote technological demos at major global conferences (CES, WWDC, Google I/O)
Design exhibitions, museum installations, or international UI/UX galleries
Public architecture or physical design installations of national scope

Criterion #88 CFR § 204.5(h)(3)(viii) / 8 CFR § 214.2(o)(3)(iii)(H)

Leading or Critical Role for Organizations with Distinguished Reputation

Evidence that the alien has performed in a leading or critical role for organizations or establishments that have a distinguished reputation.

Qualifying Evidence Examples:

Founder, CEO, CTO, or VP of Engineering at venture-funded startups ($2M+ raised)
Lead Principal Investigator or Chief Architect leading a core revenue-generating business unit at a Fortune 500 company
Key contributor whose technical leadership was essential to enterprise customer acquisition or core product launch

Criterion #98 CFR § 204.5(h)(3)(ix) / 8 CFR § 214.2(o)(3)(iii)(I)

High Salary or Significantly High Remuneration Relative to Peers

Evidence that the alien has commanded a high salary or other significantly high remuneration for services, in relation to others in the field.

Qualifying Evidence Examples:

Base salary + guaranteed bonus exceeding 90th percentile of DOL OEWS Level 4 wage data
Substantial equity grants, venture profit shares, or executive consulting fees documented by W-2 / 1099 or Form 1040 returns
Official Foreign/Domestic Tax Returns demonstrating earnings in the top 5% of regional professionals

Criterion #108 CFR § 204.5(h)(3)(x) / 8 CFR § 214.2(o)(3)(iii)(J)

Commercial Successes in the Performing Arts / Business Ventures

Evidence of commercial successes in the performing arts, box office receipts, or comparable evidence of major commercial sales and revenue.

Qualifying Evidence Examples:

Box office receipts, album sales, or streaming records (for arts)
B2B enterprise SaaS contract revenue exceeding $1M+ ARR directly driven by petitioner's proprietary software
App Store / Google Play top trending apps with multi-million active downloads

Statutory Readiness ScoreStep 1 Passed

98/ 100

Adjudication Assessment

Exceptional Profile — High Approval Probability (Top 5% of Field)

Step 1 Threshold (3 Prongs): Met (5/3)

Strong Prongs (Definite):3

Moderate Prongs (Needs Evidence):2

Independent Expert Letters:4 Letters

Citation Multiplier:65+

Adjudicated under official USCIS Policy Manual Chapter 6 (Extraordinary Ability) & 9th Cir. Kazarian precedents.