EB-1A · Extraordinary Ability · Profession Guide
EB-1A for Agricultural and food scientists: Kazarian Criteria & AAO Patterns
How agricultural and food scientists satisfy the Kazarian two-step analysis: which of the ten regulatory criteria are most accessible for this profession, and what final-merits evidence has cleared AAO scrutiny.
Based on 6,362 real USCIS AAO decisions · Last updated May 2026
Short answer
EB-1A requires agricultural and food scientists to meet at least 3 of the 10 Kazarian regulatory criteria and then clear a final-merits analysis that the petitioner has sustained national or international acclaim. EB-1A denials commonly fault thin adoption evidence — strong publication records without industrial or regulatory deployment.
Most accessible Kazarian criteria for agricultural and food scientists
The regulation requires that you meet at least 3 of 10 criteria from 8 CFR § 204.5(h)(3). Below are the criteria most commonly satisfied in EB-1A petitions by agricultural and food scientists, with profession-specific evidence patterns.
- 1
Original contributions of major significance
Released cultivars or breeding lines licensed for production, food-safety methods adopted into FDA / USDA-FSIS regulation, or post-harvest technologies with industry deployment.
- 2
Authorship of scholarly articles
Refereed publications in Plant Cell, Crop Science, Food Chemistry, or JAFC with independent citation evidence.
- 3
Service as a judge of others' work
NIFA / USDA grant-review panel service, journal peer review, AOAC / Codex committee participation.
- 4
Original contributions — alternate framing
Standards contributions to Codex Alimentarius, AOAC, or AACC methodology.
Final-merits framing under Kazarian step 2
Agricultural-science EB-1A tends to favor petitioners whose work has crossed from research into industry / regulatory adoption — licensed cultivars, FDA-recognized methods, or standards contributions. Pure publications without adoption evidence often fall short on final merits.
Why EB-1A petitions by agricultural and food scientists fail at AAO
EB-1A denials commonly fault thin adoption evidence — strong publication records without industrial or regulatory deployment. Licensed cultivars or standards-committee work close most gaps.
For context: across all professions, 5.9% of NIW appeals are approved at the AAO level. EB-1A appeals follow similar dynamics — most denials are at first-pass USCIS, and AAO data reveals which arguments fail at the highest scrutiny level.
Build your EB-1A petition with profession-specific framing
Our $99 EB-1A Petition Builder generates a Kazarian-framework petition letter section by section, with criterion-by-criterion evidence framing tailored to your profile and references to similar approved AAO cases in our 6,362-decision corpus.
One-time payment, no subscription. Greenway AI is a data + document-generation platform, not a law firm; nothing here is legal advice.