The Eb1A “Goldilocks” Equation
Today’s topic is very specific and focused on a question I see asked a lot: what’s the correct page count for an I-140 Eb1A petition? Now if you are already here reading this, I don’t have to spend anytime going into the basics of an Eb1A petition, other than to say it’s one of the hardest cases for USCIS officers to work and for petitioners to “get right.” One of the reasons for this is because the eligibility requirements for an approval specifically require “extensive documentation” while at the same time asking officers to shift through this voluminous evidence to find the pieces that together, showcase the extraordinary ability of the petitioner.
First, let’s get one thing out of the way: quality is always, always better than quantity when talking about evidence the agency likes to see. This goes for all forms and benefit types, not just Eb1A petitions. In fact, the agency’s own training documents cautions officers multiple times about merely accepting a filing’s quantity of evidence as proof of meeting any specific criteria, let alone showing the requisite extraordinary ability needed during the final merits determination.
So where is the “goldilocks” standard for this petition? You must have enough evidence to not only meet three of the ten listed regulatory criterion (if applying like the majority of petitioners do), but there must be “extensive documentation” to show the petitioner has extraordinary abilities in their field. This is where a lot of petitioners and indeed, attorneys, can trip themselves up. The extensive documentation does not refer to the amount of evidence you include in your filing. It refers to the QUALITY of the evidence you submit and whether or not it is relevant, credible, and probative to establish the petitioner is considered a person at the very top of their field. Carefully selecting what evidence to showcase this requires thoughtful selection with an eye towards your intended audience: a USCIS officer who may not be familiar with the technical aspects of the petitioner’s field.
This is where understanding what an adjudication is and is not, can be very helpful in deciding what evidence and how much to submit. Some petitioners can clearly establish their eligibility for a single criterion with 5-10 pages of documentation, and that evidence can also be very helpful in giving positive weight towards the final merits determination. But, what if the petitioner doesn’t think this is enough and thinks an officer needs to see more? Don’t! Officers do not appreciate additional pages of evidence that do not add value to the adjudication. This goes back to eyeing the evidence you are submitting and asking is it probative, does it help prove the fact? If the additional evidence you are providing is not as strong as what you should have just included by itself, the officer could very easily start to discount the strength of all of it. And if the whole petition is like this, you can see how an officer can easily get mired down in evidence that starts to look weaker as a whole, especially at the final merits determination stage.
So what’s my recommendation on the page count for a good filing for a majority of cases. 300-500 pages total. Anything less, you risk not being able to meet the “extensive documentation” requirement, while anything more can dilute the quality of your evidence in an adjudicator’s eye.
