Guide to Assembling Award-Winning EB-1A Evidence

An extraordinary career can be undone by ordinary presentation. The most common mistake applicants make is treating evidence assembly as an afterthought—dumping a digital shoebox of documents on the USCIS officer. This guide shows you how to transform that shoebox into a professional, indexed, persuasive portfolio.

The golden rule: the adjudicator is your only audience

Your goal is to make the adjudicator's job as easy as possible. Every decision about organizing your evidence should answer one question: “Does this make my case clearer and easier to approve?” A confused or frustrated officer is not your friend. Clarity, organization, and professionalism are your most powerful tools.

Step 1: Create your Master Exhibit List

Before scanning a single document, create your Master Exhibit List. This table becomes part of your petition letter and serves as a table of contents. Each piece of evidence gets a letter (A, B, C...) and a clear description.

Example exhibit entry
Exhibit G: Evidence of Published Material About the Petitioner's Work
G-1: Article in Tech Innovators Monthly titled “The Algorithm That Changed Everything”
G-2: Interview on the Future Forward podcast

Step 2: The art of the exhibit cover sheet

Never submit a raw document. Every exhibit needs its own cover sheet with:

• Exhibit number: e.g., “Exhibit G-1”
• Criterion it proves: e.g., “Published Material About You”
• Brief description: e.g., “Article from a major trade publication discussing the significance of my work.”

This instantly makes your petition easier to navigate.

Step 3: Quality over quantity—strong vs. weak evidence

Not all evidence is created equal. Focus on impact, prestige, and recognition outside your employer.

• Prizes: A nationally recognized award from the IEEE is strong. A “Top Performer of the Month” at your company is weak.
• Authorship: A first-author article in a top-tier, peer-reviewed journal is strong. A personal blog or LinkedIn post is weak.

Step 4: The digital assembly line

1. Scan every document to high-quality PDF.
2. Combine each cover sheet + document into a single PDF.
3. Name files to match the exhibit list (e.g., Exhibit-A-Prizes.pdf).
4. Combine all exhibits into one master PDF in order.

Conclusion: presentation is everything

Your evidence is the physical proof of the story you tell in your petition letter. Assemble it with care and professionalism to remove ambiguity and present a case that is not just strong, but undeniable.