EB-1 approval rates split sharply by subcategory. Recent USCIS quarterly data puts EB-1A petitions for extraordinary ability at roughly 70 to 75 percent, EB-1B petitions for outstanding professors and researchers above 80 percent, and EB-1C petitions for multinational managers and executives in the mid-to-high 90s.1U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Immigration and Citizenship Data Those averages are a starting point, not a forecast for your case. A Request for Evidence, the officer’s read of your documentation, and country-based visa backlogs all shift the picture once you file.
Approval Rates by Subcategory
USCIS publishes Form I-140 petition data each quarter, broken down by preference category and case status. The three EB-1 subcategories draw different applicant pools and involve different degrees of subjective review, and that shows up in the numbers.
EB-1A, extraordinary ability. This is the lowest-approving subcategory. FY2024 quarterly approval rates ran between about 70 and 74 percent, and FY2025 Q1 tracked near 75 percent. EB-1A lets you self-petition without a job offer, which is why it attracts the widest and least filtered pool of applicants. It’s also the most subjective adjudication.
EB-1B, outstanding professors and researchers. Approval rates generally exceed 80 percent. The requirement of an employer sponsor and at least three years of teaching or research experience filters out borderline candidates before they reach adjudication.
EB-1C, multinational managers and executives. Recent quarterly data shows figures in the mid-to-high 90s. Corporate sponsors file with extensive organizational documentation, and the qualifying criteria are more concrete than the extraordinary-ability standard.
One caveat about any published rate: approval percentages can be calculated against total completions or against approvals plus denials alone. USCIS reports include pending cases, withdrawals, and revocations, so the exact figure you see depends on the methodology.
Why EB-1A Approvals Lag: The Two-Step Review
EB-1A is the only employment-based first-preference category that lets you file on your own behalf without an employer. That accessibility is also why it’s the hardest to win. USCIS officers apply a two-step review framework originally set out by a federal appeals court and now codified in the USCIS Policy Manual.2USCIS. Extraordinary Ability
Step 1 is a checklist. The officer decides whether your evidence satisfies at least three of ten regulatory criteria, covering things like nationally or internationally recognized awards, membership in selective associations, published material about you in major media, judging others’ work, original contributions of major significance, scholarly articles, artistic exhibitions, leading roles at distinguished organizations, high salary, and commercial success in the performing arts.3eCFR. 8 CFR 204.5 – Petitions for Employment-Based Immigrants A single major internationally recognized award like a Nobel Prize also qualifies, but that route is rare.
Step 2 is where most denials happen. The officer weighs all your evidence together to decide whether it shows the sustained national or international acclaim the statute requires. Meeting three criteria on paper does not guarantee you clear this final merits determination. An officer may conclude your awards are too minor, your press coverage too narrow, or your contributions not significant enough. This is where the subjectivity lives, and it’s why EB-1A approval rates trail the other two subcategories even though many petitioners technically check three boxes.
Why EB-1B Sits in the Middle
EB-1B requires three things: international recognition as outstanding in a specific academic area, at least three years of teaching or research experience, and a qualifying job offer from a university, an institution of higher education, or a private employer with a research department that employs at least three full-time researchers.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1153 – Allocation of Immigrant Visas The job offer must be tenured, tenure-track, or comparable.
You need to meet at least two of six evidentiary criteria: major prizes for outstanding achievement, membership in associations requiring outstanding achievements, published material by others about your work, participation as a judge of others’ work, original scientific or scholarly contributions, and authorship of scholarly books or articles in journals with international circulation.
The employer sponsorship requirement is what keeps approval rates relatively high. A university or research institution willing to petition has already vetted you, and the documentation is usually straightforward: publications, citation counts, peer review history, and letters from colleagues. One trap to know about: USCIS does not treat post-doctoral positions as permanent research positions, so the job offer needs to reflect continuing employment rather than a fixed-term postdoc.
Why EB-1C Approvals Sit at the Top
EB-1C is for people who have worked at least one year in a managerial or executive role at a company abroad and are transferring to a U.S. office of the same company, or its affiliate or subsidiary. That one year of employment must fall within the three years immediately before filing.
The petition must show that both the U.S. and foreign entities are actively doing business and share a qualifying corporate relationship. Organizational charts matter because the officer needs to see where your role sits relative to the employees or functions you manage. Direct supervision of professional staff makes the case straightforward. USCIS also recognizes function managers who manage an essential function without direct reports, but the employer must show the function is clearly defined, core to the organization, that you primarily manage rather than perform it, that you operate at a senior level, and that you exercise discretion over daily operations.
The high approval rate reflects the applicant pool. Large multinationals file these petitions with well-documented corporate structures, and when a global company transfers a regional vice president, the paperwork tends to speak for itself.
How an RFE or NOID Changes Your Odds
A Request for Evidence is not a denial, but it’s a warning. When an officer cannot approve or deny on what you submitted, USCIS sends an RFE asking for specific additional documentation. You get 84 days to respond, with no extensions. If USCIS mails the RFE, you get three additional days for delivery, bringing the effective deadline to 87 days.5USCIS. Chapter 6 – Evidence Miss it and USCIS can deny the petition as abandoned, deny it on the existing record, or both.
EB-1A petitions trigger RFEs more often than EB-1B or EB-1C filings, which fits the subjective nature of the extraordinary-ability standard. Approval rates after an RFE drop noticeably compared to petitions approved on initial review. Exact post-RFE numbers vary by fiscal year and subcategory, but the pattern holds: once an officer flags deficiencies, overcoming them is harder than getting through cleanly.
A Notice of Intent to Deny is more serious. Where an RFE signals the officer needs more information, a NOID signals the officer is leaning toward denial and is giving you a final chance to change the outcome. The response window is 30 days, far shorter than the 84-day RFE deadline. If you get a NOID, the officer has already identified specific reasons the petition fails, and your response has to address each one.
Approval Is Not a Green Card: Country Backlogs
Congress allocates 28.6 percent of employment-based immigrant visas to EB-1 each year. With the annual worldwide employment-based limit around 140,000, that works out to roughly 40,000 EB-1 visa numbers per year, plus any unused visas from the fourth and fifth preference categories.
An approved I-140 does not automatically produce a green card. Your priority date, the date USCIS accepts your I-140 for processing, sets your place in line.6U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Visa Availability and Priority Dates When demand for EB-1 visas exceeds supply in a given country, the State Department posts cutoff dates in its monthly Visa Bulletin, and you can only file for adjustment of status or apply for an immigrant visa abroad once your priority date is current.
As of the August 2025 Visa Bulletin, EB-1 is not current for applicants born in mainland China or India. The final action date for China-born applicants is November 15, 2022, and for India-born applicants it is February 15, 2022.7U.S. Department of State. Visa Bulletin for August 2025 A China-born applicant whose I-140 was approved with a January 2023 priority date is still waiting for a visa number. For applicants born in all other countries, EB-1 is generally current.
Your I-140 approval odds are the same regardless of country of birth; USCIS adjudicates on the merits. But the practical timeline from petition to green card can stretch years for Chinese and Indian nationals, even with a strong case.
What to Do After a Denial
A denied I-140 is not always the end. You have two options for challenging the decision, both filed on Form I-290B within 30 days of the unfavorable decision, or 33 days if USCIS mailed the notice.8U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. AAO Practice Manual – Motions to Reopen and Reconsider
A motion to reopen submits new evidence that was not part of the original record. Resubmitting what you already filed does not qualify. This works when you have documentation you did not have before, such as additional awards, publications, or expert letters that address the specific deficiency the officer identified.
A motion to reconsider argues that USCIS applied the law or policy incorrectly to the evidence already in the record. No new evidence is considered. You have to point to a specific legal standard, precedent decision, or USCIS policy the officer got wrong.
One procedural point: the beneficiary of an employer-sponsored petition generally does not have standing to file a motion. That right belongs to the petitioning employer. For EB-1A self-petitioners, you are both the petitioner and the beneficiary, so this does not come up. USCIS can excuse a late filing for a motion to reopen if the delay was reasonable and beyond your control, but late motions to reconsider are never excused.
You can also file a new I-140 at any time. Many denied applicants choose this over a motion, especially if they have accumulated stronger evidence since the original filing. A fresh petition gets a clean review by a different officer, without a prior denial sitting on the same record.