What Really Happens During an EB-1A Consultation

I've done hundreds of EB-1A consultations, and one of the biggest misconceptions people have is thinking the first 30 minutes ends with a clean yes or no.

Sometimes it does. More often, the answer is something else entirely.

If someone sends me their CV beforehand and it's clear they've been working at the intersection of something genuinely groundbreaking, documented achievements, major names, a track record that speaks for itself - I'm not spending our 30 minutes on "do you qualify." I'm spending it on how we build the strongest version of their case. What's the narrative? What does USCIS tend to challenge in cases like theirs? What should we lead with?

But for most consultations, we're in assessment mode. And that means going through the EB-1A criteria together, one by one, and really stress-testing what they have achieved.

A few things I'm always listening for:

1. Whether they have more than just 3 strong criteria. The law says you need to meet 3 out of 10. In practice, if you only have 3, you're one government objection away from a denial. I want enough that we have room to lose a couple and still win the case.

2. Whether they're actually ready to file now. This is the one that surprises people. Some of the best clients I've worked with needed more time in their field before filing. It's often the smartest way to win the case.

3. What other attorneys have told them. Not because I assume they're wrong, but because sometimes people have been given a false sense of confidence or a false sense of hopelessness that I need to recalibrate based on my experience handling these cases.

The goal of those first 30 minutes isn't to give someone a yes or no. It's to figure out where they are, where they need to get to, and how long it's realistically going to take.