On EB-1A, EB-2 NIW, O-1 reference letters
An example, a conversation with a lawyer, and the importance of reference letters.
About me:
My name is Jason and I work with top immigration lawyers on educational resources related EB-1A, EB-2 NIW, and O-1. Most of the profile-building insights I share in this newsletter come from my work with these lawyers.
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I spoke to a tech professional the other day about EB-1A profile-building.
During our conversation, he mentioned the criteria he felt he met.
He also casually mentioned that a Github repository he had worked on in his role at a former employer had gotten a total of 25 million downloads and was still averaging 100k+ downloads a month.
I expected him to then tell me that he had a strong claim for original contributions.
He made no mention of original contributions.
Nor did his company’s lawyers notice that he potentially had a strong argument for the criterion.
Which got me thinking.
If this was missed by a lawyer, would an officer not miss the significance of this achievement too?
Why was this missed?
A lack of context.
Not only did his resume only make a casual mention of his field-changing repo.
There was also no specific context around this achievement.
No mention that 25 million downloads was far above the number of downloads that Github repos typically get.
Only a brief overview of the commercial impact of this repo.
No mention of the impact he was still having on his field.
In short, there was very little for someone outside of the field to rely on in understanding the significance of this repo.
No context to help a layperson at least scratch the significance of his past work (which, to an experienced tech professional, would have been considered major and far-reaching).
Frames of reference
When thinking about references, you need to consider context not just for bringing out the significance of your work to a USCIS officer, but also to your lawyer as well.
That’s why references provided from different perspectives can be so helpful not just in getting an officer to see how you have risen to the top of your field but to a potential lawyer as well.
The key here is getting someone with no industry experience in your field to see how you have risen to the top few percent in your field.
So rely on frames of reference that someone without industry insight can understand. For example: