Keshav's Triumph: EB1-A Approval with Smart Green Card

Smart Green Card: How a Product Manager Successfully Navigated NOID and Achieved EB1A Success?

Keshav is the Head of Product at a leading tech startup in the US. He initially came to the US to pursue a master’s in engineering management and has since built a career in product management across various US companies.

Thanks to the Smart Green Card Team for guiding me on how to leverage my expertise for my EB1A application. Their support in developing the EB1A strategy and navigating the EB1A criteria was invaluable. I am grateful to them for my EB1A success.

Keshav - Product Manager

Keshav faced a long wait in the EB2 green card queue, where priority dates for India were moving very slowly in the monthly visa bulletins. When he experienced a layoff that threatened his H1B visa status, at that point he decided to explore the EB1A path.

Eventually, he joined the Smart Green Card program to gather the necessary evidence for his EB1A application to showcase his extraordinary ability in the field.

Explore his journey to see how the Smart Green Card program helped him successfully navigate from receiving a Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID), and converting it into a solid EB1A approval via a strong defense. Let’s begin!

Utilizing the Smart Green Card Strategy to Meet the EB1A Criteria:

Keshav targeted to meet Six EB1A criteria: Scholarly Articles, judging, Awards, Critical role, original contribution, and High salary.

Critical Role:

Keshav has worked on critical projects in the past as well as in his current role. With our guidance, he obtained recommendation letters from the right people, highlighting his contributions and their impact on the organization and the field.

Judging Criteria & Awards Criteria:

For judging criteria, he participated in diverse judging opportunities in his field, including the Coddy Awards, evaluating students at his university, and more. He discovered these opportunities through our strategies.

By using our methods, he identifies award opportunities in his field.

Scholarly Articles:

Before joining our program, Keshav had written several articles in trade journals. Our strategies helped him to demonstrate the significance of these articles to meet the EB1A scholarly articles criteria.

He showcased the popularity of the websites where his articles were published, including readership counts. Additionally, his articles were quoted by prominent researchers worldwide, establishing the impact of his work in the field.

Navigating the NOID for the EB1A petition:

Keshav enrolled in the Ultimate Pro plan, which includes a few personalized consultations.

Here are some of the issues stated in his NOID response and how we helped him in addressing them:

1. Scholarly Articles Criteria:

To meet the scholarly articles criteria, your articles should be published in major media/trade publications or professional journals. You can demonstrate the significance of these publications by showcasing metrics such as readership counts or the impact factor of the journals.

Keshav provided evidence of the monthly readership counts of the journals where he published his articles. Additionally, USCIS requires evidence demonstrating the significant reputation of these publications.

In his response to the Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID), he presented evidence showing that other top experts in his field also contributed articles to some of these journals.

2. High Salary Criteria:

Keshav, who works in a startup’s executive team, receives most of his compensation in equity. However, the USCIS officer mentioned in the NOID that equity isn’t counted in overall remuneration.

In his response to the NOID, Keshav referenced the USCIS policy manual, which states that equity can be considered if it’s standard in the industry. Additionally, he included business articles from reputable publications discussing how executives and leaders are often compensated with equity nowadays.

3. Original contribution:

Original Contribution: In the criteria for original contributions, Keshav argued that the technologies and methods he introduced revolutionized the field. However, USCIS believes this success isn’t solely due to his work but to the overall success of the company.

In his response to USCIS, he provided evidence showing that without his contributions, these technologies wouldn’t have been developed.

Finally, EB1A Success Achieved:

Without guidance, Keshav also emphasized his significant contributions and recognition in the final merits determination. Ultimately, he overturned the NOID and received EB1A approval, which is a rare feat.

Over the past years, we have assisted several clients like Keshav in the field of product management, along with many others in various diverse areas of work. You can find more such success stories in our case studies.

After a month, Rohit K realized he needed personalized EB1A support to prepare for his EB1A application. That’s when he upgraded to the Smart Green Card VIP Plan to pursue his EB1A journey with our assistance.

Read about Rohit K’s EB1A journey to see how the Smart Green Card VIP Plan helps professionals achieve EB1A success. Let’s begin.

Strategies for Navigating the EB1A Criteria

With Smart Green Card guidance, Rohit K targeted to meet six EB1A criteria: Membership, Awards, Judging, Media, Scholarly articles, and Critical role.

Judging Criteria

Rohit K has faced challenges in securing judging opportunities in his field, despite we identified a few for him.

Upon contacting us about this concern, we devised a strategy. This included advising him to send personalized pitches to journal editors, accompanied by his profile. We also recommended attending conferences in his field to expand his network. Additionally, we guided him to approach journals where he recently published papers.

These efforts resulted in Rohit K securing several judging opportunities in his field. This has allowed him to actively participate in various judging activities, such as peer reviews, evaluating conference papers, assessing awards, and reviewing books.

Scholarly Articles Criteria

Rohit K was an industry professional who had never written any papers before joining our program.

After joining the Smart Green Card program, we provided him with sample papers in his field, guidance on the flow and format of papers, and strategies for writing and choosing topics. With our support, he wrote a dozen of impactful papers in his field.

Additionally, we helped him write and publish a book in his field.

Media & Awards Criteria

Rohit K has made significant achievements in his field. Therefore, our in-house press team crafted his story and pitched it to over 1000 journalists using our extensive network. While we cannot influence the journalists’ decisions, a few media persons showed interest in featuring his story.

As a result of our efforts, Rohit K secured five press coverages organically, highlighting his significant work.

Additionally, we helped him identify award opportunities in his field of expertise.

High Salary Criteria

Upon enrollment in the Smart Green Card VIP plan, we conduct a salary analysis to assess whether individuals meet the EB1A high salary standards. As Rohit K. is a member of our VIP plan, we conducted this analysis on his profile and found that his salary surpasses that of others in his field.

Consequently, we assisted him in compiling the necessary evidence to demonstrate his high salary, emphasizing his extraordinary ability in his field.

Final Merits Determination

We ensured that each piece of evidence he collected clearly demonstrated his extraordinary ability in the field and helped him remove weaker evidence. This approach aided him in navigating the final merits determination phase requirements.

Additionally, we assisted him in adding extra evidence that showcases his extraordinary ability, even if it doesn’t strictly align with EB1A criteria.

EB1A Success Achieved

Rohit K’s EB1A journey was not an overnight success; it involved consistent assistance and hard work from him. Finally, our support, along with his efforts, led to his EB1A approval without any Request for Evidence (RFE).

Over the past years, we have assisted several clients like Rohit K. in the software industry, along with many others in various diverse areas of work. You can find more such success stories in our case studies.

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