Do I need to have reached the highest position in my career to be eligible to apply in EB1A category?

Question:

I am currently getting ready for an NIW application because my attorney said that I won’t be able to apply for EB-1A as a postdoc. For EB1A, they told me that they need to substantiate that I reached the highest profession in my career. Is this 100% true? In your site, I did not see anything like that. Otherwise I have 5 first author publications, about 25 citations and 3 review invitations. Will this qualify me for EB1A? If I qualify, I want to do it by myself in EB1A.

Answer:

It is not necessary that you substantiate that you reached highest position in your career for EB1A application. You can read the USCIS requirements for this category. The credentials you mentioned are certainly good. However you will also need to convince the petition examiner that your achievements are exceptional. You can do this by explaining how important your work and results are to the field of research and also supporting these claims with very good recommendations.

It is possible to make a successful petition with good effort.