EB1 approval. Programmer. Hi everyone. I want to share a success story. My agonies over the EB1 visa are over. I won’t say it was easy, but here’s how it went.
Attorney — Mr. Sh.
I started dreaming about moving to the US back in 2017. In 2024, already with a solid background, I started researching visas and set my sights on EB2-NIW — the visa seemed straightforward for me. At the end of 2024 I stumbled upon a YouTube lawyer and learned about EB1, and I understood how hard it would be to get either EB1 or EB2-NIW. Friends pushed me to get a consultation and check my chances instead of wasting time. I myself wasn’t planning to do anything yet, because I thought, where am I and where is the visa — it felt like a world away. Initially I planned to contact a lawyer only for a preliminary consultation in 2026 at the earliest.
And then came a point of no return. I thought, why not book a consultation — what do I have to lose? A week later I had the consultation, then another, and then I was signing the contract.
The lawyer rated my chances as above average. Not high, because there were gaps that couldn’t be closed quickly.
At first I was listed as a senior developer, but fortunately I started working as a lead and that also added weight to the case. At the start of evidence collection I had a critical role and an increased salary.
Most of the evidence was gathered by August, not without help from PR people. We closed 7 criteria: role, contribution, salary, awards, media, articles, associations. There was judging experience, but on the attorney’s recommendation we deliberately didn’t include it in the case. Stevies started triggering RFEs and denials.
The day came when we were supposed to file the petition, and the attorney’s team sent a message saying that due to the shutdown we should pause filing for 2–3 months. Also, because of frequent RFEs, they wanted to change the case structure. That’s what they worked on.
Until the end of November I was still collecting additional evidence that the team requested. We filed in December, and right before the New Year an RFE arrived. My mood was ruined for a month.
When I first read the RFE I thought it was the end and my petition was destroyed. They accepted 2 of 7 criteria. They didn’t even say anything about Final Merits, which meant I didn’t even get to that stage. But after reading the RFE a tenth time you start to notice flaws. The RFE had been copied and carelessly pasted from another case. You could nitpick every criterion and disagree with the officer.
In the RFE he demanded the very documents that were already in the original petition. The funniest part was that he wrote I “am not a good dentist.” Of course not — I’m a developer. It felt like he hadn’t read my case.
With the attorney team we decided to prepare a response to the RFE.
During that time I talked to an acquaintance from a community who recommended getting a consultation with Egor. I had, of course, many questions for the attorney team that I wasn’t allowed to ask them under the contract. Without exaggeration, Egor’s consultation probably made the most significant contribution to the RFE response. Without his help, I’m afraid we wouldn’t have beaten the RFE.
In two months we gathered the required additional evidence and at the end of March we submitted the response.
And then — literally a few days later — the long-awaited approval! I couldn’t believe it. A ton of effort and nerves were spent. Work on the case went on for more than a year. Despite the attorney’s claim of 20 hours (total) of work on the case when buying the maximum package, I was still involved and double-checked every page of evidence and suggested my own solutions. Fortunately the attorney’s team took my wishes into account and incorporated them into the case.
When I got the approval I didn’t even have the energy to celebrate. Only someone who worked persistently on a case will understand me. There was nothing but a smile. Some inner burnout.
But getting the approval is only half the battle. Next comes consulate preparation, and you need to know your case by heart like for an exam. Honestly, obtaining the approval doesn’t seem as hard as passing the consulate interview. Fortunately my country of citizenship is not on the list of 75 countries.
P.S. The case was assembled during 2025. All evidence is from 2025 as well. I’m still surprised they didn’t reject me on Final Merits.
In summary:
Start of work on the case — early 2025
Filing — end of November 2025, premium
~1000 pages of the case
RFE before the New Year
Key consultation with Egor, which influenced the approval
~200 pages of RFE response
Response — end of March 2026
Approval — mid-April 2026
I’m very grateful to Egor for his chat, community, and especially the knowledge base. Thanks to it, I could rely not only on the attorney team but also on myself. I didn’t blindly follow instructions; I corrected and clarified every nuance.
I wish everyone not to give up. I lived every day with the dream that I’d soon see the long-awaited approval. And if you think, “it was easy for you, you got approval, and I’m sitting with a denial” — remember why you started this case. Is an intermediate denial really enough to turn you away from your dream?