I wanted to share my journey going from an F-1 student visa to an EB-1A green card—approved in one shot with no RFE and no employer sponsor. I’m a software engineer (no PhD) who started as an international student at Drexel, worked at Oracle, and co-founded a startup. Figured this might help anyone eyeing EB-1A or similar paths.
I wrote up the full breakdown—criteria, evidence checklist, lessons learned in this Medium post. Not here to spam, just thought it might spark some ideas. EB-1A felt daunting at first (self-doubt was real!), but consistent impact beat needing fame or a Nobel Prize.
Anyone else gone the self-petition route? What was your biggest hurdle? Happy to swap tips or answer questions!
I wanted to share my journey going from an F-1 student visa to an EB-1A green card—approved in one shot with no RFE and no employer sponsor. I’m a software engineer (no PhD) who started as an international student at Drexel, worked at Oracle, and co-founded a startup. Figured this might help anyone eyeing EB-1A or similar paths.
I wrote up the full breakdown—criteria, evidence checklist, lessons learned in this Medium post. Not here to spam, just thought it might spark some ideas. EB-1A felt daunting at first (self-doubt was real!), but consistent impact beat needing fame or a Nobel Prize.
Anyone else gone the self-petition route? What was your biggest hurdle? Happy to swap tips or answer questions!