EB-1A · Extraordinary Ability · Profession Guide
EB-1A for Software engineers: Kazarian Criteria & AAO Patterns
How software engineers 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 software engineers 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 for software engineers typically pass step 1 (the three-criteria check) but fail final merits: AAO finds the evidence reflects strong employment, not sustained national or international acclaim.
Most accessible Kazarian criteria for software engineers
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 software engineers, with profession-specific evidence patterns.
- 1
Original contributions of major significance
Granted patents, open-source projects with measurable downstream adoption (Linux kernel, kubernetes, popular npm/PyPI packages), or security findings (CVEs) that triggered industry-wide remediation.
- 2
Authorship of scholarly articles
Refereed conference papers (USENIX, IEEE S&P, OSDI, SIGCOMM, NeurIPS workshops) — not company engineering blogs. Acceptance rates and independent citation counts matter.
- 3
Service as a judge of others' work
Program-committee membership at refereed venues, technical reviewer roles for IEEE / ACM journals, NSF SBIR / DARPA proposal reviewer service.
- 4
Leading or critical role for distinguished organizations
Architect / tech-lead role at a FAANG-tier or DARPA-funded organization, with an organizational chart and a letter from a VP+ describing why your specific role is critical.
Final-merits framing under Kazarian step 2
Sustained acclaim is the harder half of Kazarian for software engineers — meeting 3 criteria is necessary but not sufficient. Surface citation counts, GitHub star trends, and independent press to demonstrate that recognition extends beyond your employer and continues over multiple years.
Why EB-1A petitions by software engineers fail at AAO
EB-1A denials for software engineers typically pass step 1 (the three-criteria check) but fail final merits: AAO finds the evidence reflects strong employment, not sustained national or international acclaim. Open-source projects with broad adoption and refereed publications are the cleanest counter-evidence.
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.