EB-1A Guide · Last reviewed 2026-06-19
EB-1A approval rate in 2026
USCIS approves roughly three out of four EB-1A petitions. The long-run average across recent fiscal years sits at about 76%, with year-to-year variation between 73% (FY2022 trough) and 79% (FY2020 peak). Roughly one in four petitions receives a Request for Evidence; most of those RFEs convert to approval after a substantive response.
The numbers
Data above reflects USCIS-reported outcomes on Form I-140 petitions filed under the EB-1A extraordinary ability category, by fiscal year. Note that USCIS counts RFE and denial in the same year a petition is decided, not the year it was filed. The trough in FY2022 reflects post-pandemic backlog plus tighter scrutiny under contemporaneous policy memoranda. The trend since FY2023 has been gradual improvement.
What the trend tells you
The approval rate moves slowly because EB-1A adjudication is driven by long-form policy, adjudicator training, and AAO precedent — not by political news cycles. The FY2022 trough was real and lasted about 18 months. By FY2024 the rate had stabilized in the mid-70s and the trajectory was upward.
For a petitioner deciding whether to file in 2026, the headline is: your individual case strength matters more than the year. The 73-79% range across the last six fiscal years is narrower than the spread between a STRONG case and a BORDERLINE case. Get your evidence in shape; the calendar barely moves the dial.
RFE rates by criterion
USCIS-published data does not break RFE rates down by criterion, but AILA practitioner reports and AAO appeal patterns provide a consistent rank order:
| Criterion | Typical RFE risk | Why |
|---|---|---|
| C5 — Original contributions | Highest | Most subjective; adjudicator must judge “major significance” |
| C8 — Critical / essential role | High | Requires demonstrating org distinction AND personal indispensability |
| C4 — Judging others | Medium | Common; adjudicators look for senior-tier vs entry-tier judging |
| C2 — Selective memberships | Medium | Must prove the membership requires “outstanding achievement” |
| C3 — Published material about you | Medium | Articles must be ABOUT you, not BY you; outlet quality matters |
| C6 — Scholarly authorship | Low-Medium | Citation impact often weak alone; needs supporting context |
| C7 — Exhibitions | Low (niche) | Mostly artists; well-defined when claimed |
| C10 — Performing arts success | Low (niche) | Box office / chart data is concrete |
| C1 — Awards | Lowest | Certificate + selectivity proof is documentary; less judgment required |
| C9 — High salary | Lowest | Salary statements + official comparators are concrete |
The practical lesson: anchor your case in low-RFE criteria (C1, C9, C6) and use the high-RFE criteria (C5, C8) as supporting argument, not as your primary claim. See the full 10 EB-1A criteria explained for what each criterion demands.
What an RFE means for your timeline
An RFE is a single letter from USCIS saying “we need more proof on criterion X.” You have 87 calendar days to respond. Most RFE responses are 10-25 pages of additional evidence plus a fresh argument anchored in regulatory language.
- Timeline impact: 4-9 additional months on top of base I-140 processing.
- RFE-to-approval rate: roughly 60-70% of EB-1A RFE responses convert to approval. The other 30-40% receive a denial that can sometimes be appealed to the AAO.
- RFE response quality matters more than RFE response volume. A 25-page response with three new exhibits often beats an 80-page response with 30 weak exhibits.
- Retain an attorney for the RFE response if you self-filed the original petition. RFE responses are where attorney-level argument changes outcomes most dramatically.
Approval rate by service center
USCIS routes EB-1A petitions to either the Texas Service Center or the Nebraska Service Center based on the petitioner's state of residence. USCIS does not publish approval rates by service center, but practitioner data consistently shows the Nebraska center adjudicating slightly faster, with comparable approval rates within 1-2 percentage points of each other. You do not get to pick the center.
What moves YOUR approval probability
The 73-79% range is the average across all filers, all fields, all evidence strengths. Your individual case sits somewhere on a distribution. Things that move you toward the high end:
- Four or five criteria satisfied, not the bare minimum of three. AAO precedent shows higher approval rates when petitioners exceed the floor.
- Independent recommender letters. Letters from people who do NOT work with you weigh more than letters from former bosses.
- Outlet quality on Criterion 3. A Bloomberg or Nature article weighs dramatically more than a niche blog post.
- Sustained timeline. Evidence spread across 5+ years beats a single-year burst.
- Final-merits framing. A brief that explicitly addresses Kazarian step two (sustained acclaim) outperforms one that stops at step one (criteria checklist).
Things that move you toward the low end:
- Press releases mislabeled as published material. Auto-RFE.
- Self-authored articles counted under Criterion 3. Auto-RFE; goes under Criterion 6 instead.
- Missing Wayback Machine archives. USCIS treats stale URLs as missing evidence.
- Generic recommender letters. If multiple letters use identical phrasing, USCIS notices.
- Bare-minimum exhibits. If you cite five evidence pieces per criterion, USCIS asks why so little.
Score your case against the approval-rate distribution
Lana reads your CV and tells you, criterion by criterion, where your evidence sits — STRONG, BORDERLINE, WEAK, NOT_READY. STRONG cases approve at well above the 76% average. BORDERLINE cases approve close to the average but draw RFEs more often. Knowing where you stand before you file is the single biggest lever on your outcome.
Sources
USCIS aggregate Form I-140 data is published in the USCIS Reports and Studies — Immigration and Citizenship Data quarterly data series. EB-1A adjudication policy is at USCIS Policy Manual Volume 6, Part F, Chapter 2. Controlling judicial precedent on the two-step framework is Kazarian v. USCIS, 596 F.3d 1115 (9th Cir. 2010). Regulation: 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(h)(3).