Ankur's EB-1A in 2 minutes

A brief summary of my profile and what I think worked for me.

Ankur's EB-1A in 2 minutes
Photo by Johannes Plenio / Unsplash
Ankur Agarwal - Plus | LinkedIn
Computer Vision, Machine Learning, and Deep Learning and their applications to… · Experience: Plus · Location: San Jose · 500+ connections on LinkedIn. View Ankur Agarwal’s profile on LinkedIn, a professional community of 1 billion members.

Field of Endeavour: Computer Vision, Deep Learning, Robotics, Autonomous Trucks

Education: MS EE, 2013 (Image Processing, Computer Vision, Robotics)

YoE: 9 years at the time of applying (in this specific FoE since 2017)

Previous priority date: December 2019, EB2

Immigration Attorney: Yes

  1. Initial Evidence of Extraordinary Ability: Applied for and satisfied these 3 criteria:
    • Leading and Critical Role: High-stakes tech leadership over several years
    • Judging: Various tech awards (Globee, Stevie)
    • Scholarly articles: Articles in a peer-reviewed magazine
  1. Final Merits Determination:
    • IMO, the leadership and critical role at the self-driving trucking company I work at (Plus Inc.) was the cornerstone of my case.
      • I was an early engineer here and have worked on several high-stakes projects in various aspects of our product.
      • Contributed to and led a team responsible for developing one of the most essential and critical components of our technology stack.
      • Represented the company at various workshops, exhibits, and conferences.
      • Demonstrated a strong track record of consistent performance as a systems and software engineer and leader. Supported with strong, specific, and emphatic referral letters from senior strategic leadership (SVPs and C-suite) from current and previous employer (NVIDIA).
      • Multiple patents in the field of endeavor
    • Built a strong case explaining the importance of the field, my current employer, and my work in the US. I supported this with specific examples of my contributions over a decade, and their impact on the product and the US economy.

Timeline:

  • Started working on my career story; gathering evidence: Dec 2022
  • I-140 Application: Oct 2023
  • RFE: Nov 2023 (Missing Google Scholar page 🤦)
  • Replied to RFE: Dec 2023
  • I-140 Approval: Dec 2023
  • GC Received: Aug 2024

My 2¢

  • The Initial Evidence of Extraordinary Ability is simply a qualification check. If you're an established professional with a strong track record, there's no need to overexert yourself at this stage. Focus on meeting the basic requirements and move forward – this is just a stepping stone, not the main focus of your application.
  • The real success lies in the Final Merits. Build a coherent and credible narrative of how you bring value to your field of endeavor and how that field brings value to the US.
  • Be very specific and provide real experience with actual, measured impact.