EB-1A: Your Role — Is It Leading, Critical, or Both?

When applying for an EB-1A visa, applicants must show that they meet at least three of the ten regulatory criteria outlined in section 203(b)(1)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. One of these criteria focuses on whether your role in your organization or field is leading, critical, or both. Understanding this distinction and providing clear, documented evidence of sustained impact and recognition over time can be a key factor in a successful petition. While establishing both leading and critical abilities might strengthen a case, many successful petitions only require one, as long as the evidence clearly indicates extraordinary ability.

What Does “Leading” Mean?

A leading role is a position where a person influences others or helps set direction for an organization, department, or initiative. It does not have to be a CEO or executive title. What matters is that the person’s work shapes decisions and results over time and is consistently recognized as having that impact.

USCIS evaluates a leading role by looking at whether the evidence shows that the person is or was a leader within the organization, a division, or a department. A title can help, but it must be backed up by proof that the person’s responsibilities and contributions show real leadership. For EB-1A purposes, it is especially strong when you can show the direct impact of your leadership on your organization and in your field. This could include guiding key strategies, driving major initiatives, improving organizational outcomes, or influencing practices that advance your field more broadly. Demonstrating these effects helps establish that your role meets the standard for extraordinary ability.

Examples of Leading Roles

• A software architect who designs the overall system that engineers must follow and whose design choices continue to influence multiple projects over several years

• A medical researcher directing a lab team, setting research priorities, and publishing findings that are cited by peers repeatedly

• Leading the launch of a product, service, or initiative that directly impacts the U.S. market, customers, or critical industries

• Influencing organizational strategy, such as creating policies, frameworks, or standards that guide company-wide or industry-wide practices

• Playing a central role in the hiring and firing process, shaping the composition and quality of the team

Providing documented proof is essential. 

Examples of Evidence for a Leading Role

• Official job descriptions and organizational charts showing your supervisory or decision-making authority

• Evidence that your strategies, policies, or frameworks were implemented across the company or by external partners

• Performance reviews that emphasize your influence over projects or teams

• Proof that you directed a project, product, or initiative that was launched to the U.S. market or adopted internationally

• HR documentation or attestations confirming your involvement in the hiring and firing process, or shaping the composition of a team

• Sustained recognition examples such as repeated mentions in internal newsletters, long-term team impact, or multiple leadership roles over time

Important Note: USCIS will not accept titles alone as proof of a leading role. Evidence should show that you actually exercised leadership responsibilities, such as signed offer letters, records of hiring committee participation, or supervisor testimony confirming your influence on staffing or organizational decisions.

What Does “Critical” Mean?

A critical role is a position where your contributions are truly essential to the success of your organization, department, or team. In other words, being critical can mean that you are irreplaceable, as your unique skills or knowledge are pivotal to achieving success.  It is not about your title or managing people. It is about the impact of your work. Being in a critical role means your skills, knowledge, and judgment are pivotal, and the organization relies on you to achieve key goals. Without your expertise, a project, product, or initiative could not succeed at the same level.

For example, you might be leading a project. That alone does not necessarily qualify you as being in a “leading” role for an organization. But if the project itself is crucial to the company, your role in making it happen can be considered critical. And it is not just about one project or moment in time. When your contributions continue to make a difference over time, it demonstrates sustained critical impact–the kind of ongoing importance that organizations and USCIS recognize and value.

Examples of Critical Roles

• An engineer who developed a unique algorithm powering a widely-used product for several releases

• A financial analyst whose models uncovered risks that saved the company millions over multiple fiscal years

• A cybersecurity specialist who identified and resolved vulnerabilities that protected government systems consistently over time

• Creating innovations, patents, or technical solutions that are relied upon internationally and directly cited as essential contributions

  
  

Again, providing documented proof is essential.

Examples of Evidence for a Critical Role

• Performance reviews or internal reports showing the necessity of your expertise for a project’s success

• Documentation of innovations, patents, or technical contributions credited to you and relied upon in the U.S. or globally

• Case studies or press coverage demonstrating how your contribution had an outsized impact

• Publications, technical documentation, or presentations citing your methods as essential to U.S. or international advancements

• Sustained critical contributions such as repeated use of your work over multiple projects or years, or recognition of your ongoing impact by supervisors, clients, or peers

Important Note: USCIS looks for proof of impact, not just statements of importance. Strong evidence ties your specific contributions to measurable outcomes, such as improved revenue, saved costs, enhanced security, or innovations adopted by the organization or industry, and demonstrates that the impact was sustained.

Can It Be Both?

Sometimes a role is both leading and critical, which can have a more measurable and direct impact on the United States, making your EB-1A case stronger.

Examples

• A cloud architect at a major technology company who both leads a team of engineers and designs the migration framework that allows Fortune 500 clients to move securely into the cloud, with repeated recognition across multiple client engagements

• A pharmaceutical scientist who leads a cross-functional research team and develops a novel drug compound that becomes a critical treatment option in the market, with ongoing recognition from peers and regulatory bodies

It is important to note that both are not required. Many successful EB-1A petitions demonstrate excellence in just one role type–leading or critical–as long as the evidence is detailed, documented, and shows sustained recognition over time.

Examples of Evidence for Both Leading and Critical

• Proof that you both directed a team and made irreplaceable technical contributions (e.g., leading a migration program while developing a key tool)

• Records showing that your leadership and subject-matter expertise directly shaped a U.S. government, healthcare, or industry-wide initiative

• Publications or white papers you authored that influenced both company direction and industry practice consistently over time

• Strategic planning documents you authored or led that shaped company or department direction while also relying on your unique technical or subject-matter expertise

• Project charters or milestone reports showing you were the decision-maker and your specialized contributions were essential to success

• Cross-functional team leadership evidence where your guidance ensured other experts’ work succeeded and your own expertise was pivotal

• Industry recognition of combined impact such as conference presentations, patents, or publications that highlight both your leadership role and unique technical contribution

• Evidence of oversight of high-impact projects where outcomes could not have been achieved without your involvement, showing both direction-setting and critical contribution

• Committee participation or governance roles where you influenced policies or major decisions while also contributing specialized knowledge or solutions

Why This Matters for EB-1A

The EB-1A is reserved for those at the very top of their field, and USCIS officers look for clear evidence that you are not just a participant, but a driving force behind important outcomes, recognized over time. While preparing for your petition, focus on whether your experience demonstrates a leading role, a critical role, or both. Establishing either can satisfy one of the required three out of ten criteria and lay a strong foundation for your case. Strong documentation should show the specific impact of your contributions to your organization and your field.

To make sure your achievements align with EB-1A eligibility, consider Booking a Consultation with one of our immigration attorneys, who can review your experience and guide you in presenting the strongest possible case.

This post is part 9 of a new 17-week series published every Wednesday. Each post is written by a different employee of Lisonbee Immigration Law about a immigration topic of their choosing. This post was written by legal writer Suzie McKeon.