— Hello, Aleksey, congratulations on your approval! I congratulate you on behalf of Moovert! Alexey, where are you now? In Russia or have you already moved to the USA?
— Now in Russia, I came on a business trip to Moscow for a week, and I live in San Francisco. My wife and I finally moved in November 2021. We had a multi-stage move.
— Please tell us in plain language, what is your field of activity, in which area did you submit your case?
— I am a software developer. It's mostly mobile apps, and I filed in science. Computer science. In Russia, at one point I was defending my thesis in Theoretical Foundations of Computer Science.
- Why did you decide to follow the EB-1A professional immigration program?
- I had a choice - EB-1A or a visa for highly educated applicants under the second category (EB2-NIW). But as it happens, I missed the deadline, and EB2-NIW does not allow for expedited processing and required six months, which I did not have. There was also an idea of extending my work visa, but remembering the circles of hell I went through to get it the first time, so I canceled this plan even before the stage of serious consideration. In the end, I consulted a lawyer, found your project, studied all the available materials, and decided to go the way of Extraordinary Ability under your guidance.
— Tell us about your petition? Scope? Criteria? Evidence?
— Nothing really outstanding With your examples in hand, my evidence package looked kind of undercooked by comparison. I ended up with about a hundred pages, 30 of which were the petition itself. The rest were exhibits. I had five criteria stated: contribution to the industry, scholarly articles, judging, salary, and leading role for the organization.
— Can you tell us a little more about how you proved these criteria?
— As for scientific articles it was easy. I had about a dozen articles published since graduate school. There were a few more, which I re-formed and sent to two journals. The publication of these articles determined my deadline for working on the petition. If they had been published sooner, I would have sent the petition sooner. The second was the judging. I had two events. I was a member of the jury of the Hackathon for mobile app developers back in the early tens and I had reviews of articles from several magazines. The third was media publications - I think 5 articles in magazines and interviews on TV. I already did the latter remotely when I was in the United States. We contacted journalists live via video link. The critical role and high salary were not a problem either. Even by the standards of California, let alone Moscow, my salary was above average. The biggest challenge was proving my contribution to the industry. I had to sweat the small stuff here. In my specialty of mobile application development, nothing but code fit the role of a significant contribution. I collected a few letters of recommendation. Most of the recommenders were from major corporations and top positions. Through a patent attorney, we defined the boundaries and made a software patent. There was a lot of groundwork in the field, so it was implemented fairly quickly. I also enclosed letters and contracts from three big software companies, which were Big Tech contractors. All in all, everything was pretty much covered here. On top of that, I had a job offer from one of these companies, which I think gave me confidence in the outcome of my immigration case.
— When did you send your case?
— In February 2021.
— Where did you send it from and how did you pay the state duty?
— I sent it from the USA, so I had no problem with sending it or paying for it. I did an Adjustment of Status from a work visa.
— How did the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services review process go?
— It's a very "funny" story. After submitting my case, I actually received a rejection. I received an official letter directly by mail, where the reason for the rejection of my case was written in small text on six sheets.
— That is, there was no RFE, and you were immediately rejected?
— Yes, that's right. First of all, it was absolutely unexpected, since less than 10 days had passed. Secondly, after reading the letter three times, I was pretty sure that USCIS [U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services] had not even read my case. I absolutely did not agree with the reasoning of this decision. It was claimed that all five criteria were not proven for some far-fetched reasons. For example, they wrote about scientific articles that there was no evidence of publication in my area of expertise, although I provided links to the description of the journal on the website and additionally attached screenshots. There, in black and white, my specialization was indicated - computer science and computer engineering. Or about the contribution, they explained that there was no detailed information about the essence in the letters of recommendation, although there was a detailed description of the code and its wide distribution in software products from different manufacturers.
After receiving such a discouraging letter, I called you, we discussed the situation and in the end, I decided to submit the case again as it is. Without any refinements. First, I had almost no time left on my current visa, and its renewal seemed to me a very troublesome affair. Secondly, I simply had no additional arguments to include in the revised petition, and I was certain that the reviewer had not even looked at my case properly. For this reason, I actually reprinted the petition, making a few aesthetic changes, and sent it to the USCIS center in Texas.
— Your decision was on the edge.
— Yes, I agree, it was a desperate act, but the result proved that apparently I was right and my petition was looked at inattentively. Within a couple of weeks, I received a positive decision without any requests for additional evidence.
— This just confirms once again that the decision on the petition is made by a person who may be mistaken or act subjectively. It's very good that everything ended well.
— Yes, but we are the ones who have to pay for it.
— So, how long did it take you from the time you started preparing your documents, to the time you received a positive decision from USCIS?
— It was exactly four months. Almost to the day.
— One last, traditional question. If you had the opportunity to travel back in time to November 2020, what would you advise yourself who is just starting on the EB-1A path and all the applicants who are at the beginning of the process?
— It is necessary to tell them not to be afraid and that everything will end well. Even if it seems that the situation is hopeless, do not give up. If you fight to the end and don't give up, you will win. And, of course, don't wait too long to petition. I lived in the U.S. for two years, and I didn't think about getting a Green Card until very late in my term. Like a bad student. I was putting it off and finding lots of excuses to start doing it tomorrow. If I had done everything in advance, I would have avoided a lot of trouble and saved my nerves.
— Thank you very much for the answers. Once again, we congratulate you on the successful completion of the process.
— Thank you and your entire team for your help. For a wonderful project. Without your participation, I would definitely not have coped. The lawyers told me six months just to write the petition, without collecting evidence, which would have taken a year, along with the processing and status. With you, I got it done in a little over five months, and I could have completed it sooner. A wonderful project, real professionals. Thorough and individual approach to each circumstance of the case. It's rare for this to happen in the immigration services market. I wish you prosperity and more clients.
Case:
Immigration program: EB-1A (extraordinary ability green card)
Specialization: Science - Computer Science.
5 criteria: Media, Scientific articles, Contribution to the industry, High salary, Critical role in the company + job offer in the USA = 108 pages.
Premium processing.
Start of work on the case: November 2020
Sending a petition to USCIS: February 12, 2021
Rejection: February 21, 2021
Sending a petition to USCIS: February 28, 2021
USCIS Petition Approval: March 19, 2021
TOTAL: 22 weeks
— Now in Russia, I came on a business trip to Moscow for a week, and I live in San Francisco. My wife and I finally moved in November 2021. We had a multi-stage move.
— Please tell us in plain language, what is your field of activity, in which area did you submit your case?
— I am a software developer. It's mostly mobile apps, and I filed in science. Computer science. In Russia, at one point I was defending my thesis in Theoretical Foundations of Computer Science.
- Why did you decide to follow the EB-1A professional immigration program?
- I had a choice - EB-1A or a visa for highly educated applicants under the second category (EB2-NIW). But as it happens, I missed the deadline, and EB2-NIW does not allow for expedited processing and required six months, which I did not have. There was also an idea of extending my work visa, but remembering the circles of hell I went through to get it the first time, so I canceled this plan even before the stage of serious consideration. In the end, I consulted a lawyer, found your project, studied all the available materials, and decided to go the way of Extraordinary Ability under your guidance.
— Tell us about your petition? Scope? Criteria? Evidence?
— Nothing really outstanding With your examples in hand, my evidence package looked kind of undercooked by comparison. I ended up with about a hundred pages, 30 of which were the petition itself. The rest were exhibits. I had five criteria stated: contribution to the industry, scholarly articles, judging, salary, and leading role for the organization.
— Can you tell us a little more about how you proved these criteria?
— As for scientific articles it was easy. I had about a dozen articles published since graduate school. There were a few more, which I re-formed and sent to two journals. The publication of these articles determined my deadline for working on the petition. If they had been published sooner, I would have sent the petition sooner. The second was the judging. I had two events. I was a member of the jury of the Hackathon for mobile app developers back in the early tens and I had reviews of articles from several magazines. The third was media publications - I think 5 articles in magazines and interviews on TV. I already did the latter remotely when I was in the United States. We contacted journalists live via video link. The critical role and high salary were not a problem either. Even by the standards of California, let alone Moscow, my salary was above average. The biggest challenge was proving my contribution to the industry. I had to sweat the small stuff here. In my specialty of mobile application development, nothing but code fit the role of a significant contribution. I collected a few letters of recommendation. Most of the recommenders were from major corporations and top positions. Through a patent attorney, we defined the boundaries and made a software patent. There was a lot of groundwork in the field, so it was implemented fairly quickly. I also enclosed letters and contracts from three big software companies, which were Big Tech contractors. All in all, everything was pretty much covered here. On top of that, I had a job offer from one of these companies, which I think gave me confidence in the outcome of my immigration case.
— When did you send your case?
— In February 2021.
— Where did you send it from and how did you pay the state duty?
— I sent it from the USA, so I had no problem with sending it or paying for it. I did an Adjustment of Status from a work visa.
— How did the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services review process go?
— It's a very "funny" story. After submitting my case, I actually received a rejection. I received an official letter directly by mail, where the reason for the rejection of my case was written in small text on six sheets.
— That is, there was no RFE, and you were immediately rejected?
— Yes, that's right. First of all, it was absolutely unexpected, since less than 10 days had passed. Secondly, after reading the letter three times, I was pretty sure that USCIS [U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services] had not even read my case. I absolutely did not agree with the reasoning of this decision. It was claimed that all five criteria were not proven for some far-fetched reasons. For example, they wrote about scientific articles that there was no evidence of publication in my area of expertise, although I provided links to the description of the journal on the website and additionally attached screenshots. There, in black and white, my specialization was indicated - computer science and computer engineering. Or about the contribution, they explained that there was no detailed information about the essence in the letters of recommendation, although there was a detailed description of the code and its wide distribution in software products from different manufacturers.
After receiving such a discouraging letter, I called you, we discussed the situation and in the end, I decided to submit the case again as it is. Without any refinements. First, I had almost no time left on my current visa, and its renewal seemed to me a very troublesome affair. Secondly, I simply had no additional arguments to include in the revised petition, and I was certain that the reviewer had not even looked at my case properly. For this reason, I actually reprinted the petition, making a few aesthetic changes, and sent it to the USCIS center in Texas.
— Your decision was on the edge.
— Yes, I agree, it was a desperate act, but the result proved that apparently I was right and my petition was looked at inattentively. Within a couple of weeks, I received a positive decision without any requests for additional evidence.
— This just confirms once again that the decision on the petition is made by a person who may be mistaken or act subjectively. It's very good that everything ended well.
— Yes, but we are the ones who have to pay for it.
— So, how long did it take you from the time you started preparing your documents, to the time you received a positive decision from USCIS?
— It was exactly four months. Almost to the day.
— One last, traditional question. If you had the opportunity to travel back in time to November 2020, what would you advise yourself who is just starting on the EB-1A path and all the applicants who are at the beginning of the process?
— It is necessary to tell them not to be afraid and that everything will end well. Even if it seems that the situation is hopeless, do not give up. If you fight to the end and don't give up, you will win. And, of course, don't wait too long to petition. I lived in the U.S. for two years, and I didn't think about getting a Green Card until very late in my term. Like a bad student. I was putting it off and finding lots of excuses to start doing it tomorrow. If I had done everything in advance, I would have avoided a lot of trouble and saved my nerves.
— Thank you very much for the answers. Once again, we congratulate you on the successful completion of the process.
— Thank you and your entire team for your help. For a wonderful project. Without your participation, I would definitely not have coped. The lawyers told me six months just to write the petition, without collecting evidence, which would have taken a year, along with the processing and status. With you, I got it done in a little over five months, and I could have completed it sooner. A wonderful project, real professionals. Thorough and individual approach to each circumstance of the case. It's rare for this to happen in the immigration services market. I wish you prosperity and more clients.
Case:
Immigration program: EB-1A (extraordinary ability green card)
Specialization: Science - Computer Science.
5 criteria: Media, Scientific articles, Contribution to the industry, High salary, Critical role in the company + job offer in the USA = 108 pages.
Premium processing.
Start of work on the case: November 2020
Sending a petition to USCIS: February 12, 2021
Rejection: February 21, 2021
Sending a petition to USCIS: February 28, 2021
USCIS Petition Approval: March 19, 2021
TOTAL: 22 weeks