EB1 Case Manager Training – Understanding PM-602-0005.1 – Judging
Judging
Judging the work of others is one of the most common accomplishments among our clients.
This is one of the more common categories that you will see. There are so many different types of judging that you will need to look through the evidence to determine how the pieces will fit in to the sections below. Some of the examples of judging you might see are: –
- Peer reviewer of scholarly articles
- Judging awards events or other competitions
- Participating on a selection committee
- Judging conference papers
- Serving in a capacity where expert feedback is provided
Home / Staff Pages / EB1 Case Manager / Understanding the PM
There are so many different options to satisfy this category so you must look at the evidence carefully. Remember, with each category we are trying to show how our client is set apart from everyone else and is the best at what they do, and the evidence should show that. With that in mind, then you should guide your clients away from using the following as examples of judging: –
- Leading a team within their own company
- Providing employee reviews
- Any activities that are part of the clients’ regular job duties
Below are the requirements laid out by USCIS.
(1) Determine whether the alien has acted as the judge of the work of others in the same or an allied field of specialization
(a) Evidence that the alien has been invited to judge the work of others
(b) Evidence that the alien actually participated in the judging of the work of others in the same or allied field of specialization
(c) Evidence that the work judged was in the same or allied field of specialization
(d) Information about the type of competition judged
(e) Entry criteria for event
The judging work of the client must be outside of their day-to-day job duties.
Ok, let’s look at what evidence is required for this category.
(1) Determine whether the alien has acted as the judge of the work of others in the same or an allied field of specialization
(a) Evidence that the alien has been invited to judge the work of others
This is the one section that is not explicitly required by the law, but we prefer to have it because it adds another layer to the evidence to show that the client was specifically sought after for the judging. This shows that client is someone of esteem with recognition in the field of endeavor because he or she is sought out because of their expertise.
(b) Evidence that the alien actually participated in the judging of the work of others in the same or allied field of specialization
This is one of the primarily pieces of evidence for the judging category. It is not enough that the client was invited to judge, but we have to unequivocally prove that the client actually participated in the judging. This evidence comes in many forms, and while we prefer to have evidence generated by the event such as a certificate of participation, an official thank you letter, photos of the competition or a combination of items.
There are times when we may need to develop a thank you letter. It is important that clients know we do need to get this documentary evidence even if it means going back to the organization to get the evidence in the form of a letter. Generally, the required evidence will be established by the Intake Specialist, but it will be your job to work with the client to develop and gather the appropriate evidence.
(c) Evidence that the work judged was in the same or allied field of specialization
The other primary section of the judging category is to show that the client judged an event in their field or an allied field of specialization. For example, we worked with a fashion photographer who judged an episode of Canada’s Next Top Model. The photographer was not actually judging photos, but rather the fashion models and well they did in the photo shoot. This is certainly an allied field of specialization because, arguably, a fashion photographer would have enough expertise to judge fashion models.
On the other side, we work with a number of oil and gas engineers who often judge conference paper contests or sit on committees to review and select conference speakers in the oil and gas industry. These are very straightforward because the judging is in the same field of expertise.
How do we prove this? Well, you will need to research the event or the judging instance to determine a number of things including the industry served by the event. Oftentimes this will include information about the event, who the participants are, who the other judges are and what the purpose of the event is.
(d) Information about the type of competition judged
The next two sections are designed to further outline that the judging done by the client is done in the client’s area of expertise.
We certainly need to ensure that are providing USCIS with a comprehensive outline of the type of competition or event that the client is judging. In most cases, there will be a website about the event and / or the organization that hosted the event. This will allow you to show US Immigration the industry that is being served and who generally participates.
(e) Entry criteria for event
More recently, US Immigration has looked closely at the judging evidence to determine who is being judged. We are trying to show that the client is one of the best in the field, so where possible, the client should certainly be judging other professionals. In the past, we have been able to show judging events where the client was judging college or graduate students for final projects, but if we are doing this, the school and event should have a high level of prestige.
We want to make sure that the participants are very much in the client’s field of specialization or an allied field as this will further show that the judging is within the right industry.
Videos on Evidence Work Up
Sample 1 – Judging Awards
Part 1a – Part 1b – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 – Part 5 – Part 6 – Part 7 – Part 8 – Part 9
Conclusion
As you can see, this is a fairly simple and straightforward category and you will work up this category for many of our clients. That being said, even the simplest categories must meet the basic criteria outlined by US Immigration. Remember to provide unequivocal evidence to establish that the client did judge the event, and that their judgment was of others in their field of endeavor or an allied field.
Practical Exercise – Print 3 Sample Arguments
As you print these, you should keep them on hand as a reference. Not only will you see the evidence that is provided, but you will see what your argument writer will be putting together on behalf of the client.
Print the following case(s):
Michael Goldberg
Natan Silva
Enes Yilmazer
You will need to study each argument and the evidence presented. These cases were selected deliberately to give you a cross section of the types of clients we work with, as well as the various ways we can present evidence to satisfy a category. Obviously an oil and gas engineer will vary significantly from a creative director, and it is important that you are able to develop evidence to ensure all types of cases are successful.
Next, we will look at the Innovation / Original Significant Contribution category.