Wei Chen

EB1A Extraordinary Ability - My Approval Story and Tips

Replied to: F1 PhD Student - Planning for Post-Graduation Immigration

For EB1A from PhD: Publication count isn't everything. Quality matters more. 10 high-impact papers with 500+ citations total is better than 30 papers with 100 citations. Focus on: - Tier 1 conferences (NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR for ML) - High-impact journals - Citations - quality and quantity - Peer review work (join conference program committees) - Press coverage of your research 45 publications isn't required. I've seen EB1A approvals with 15-20 strong papers. Focus on impact.

Oct 15, 2025, 2:00 PM

Replied to: EB1A Extraordinary Ability - My Approval Story and Tips

@david_f1_phd I've been in academia for 12 years (5 years PhD + 7 years postdoc/professor). Publications add up over time. Focus on quality first - a few high-impact papers matter more than many low-tier ones. Collaborate with others, that helps too.

Aug 21, 2025, 2:00 PM

Replied to: EB1A Extraordinary Ability - My Approval Story and Tips

@liwei_eb1b_research I used an attorney who specializes in EB1A cases. Cost was about $6,000 for legal fees plus $700 filing fee and $2,805 premium processing. Total around $9,500. Worth it for the peace of mind.

Aug 21, 2025, 10:30 AM