BCS: membership for the O-1 / EB-1A visa

From the organisation's official site

What the organisation itself states on its site bcs.org. Paraphrased, checked Oct 2, 2026.

Organiser

BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT - a charity with a royal charter, registered in England and Wales and in Scotland.

Founded

The site says BCS has been working on its mission since 1957.

How admission works

Fellowship requires evidence against BCS criteria, a supporter (a Fellow of BCS or another professional body, or a colleague), a CV showing 5+ years of experience; then a written application and an interview with a BCS assessor, typically 16+ weeks.

Membership levels

Grades: Student (IT courses), Associate AMBCS (apprentices and trainees), Professional MBCS (working or teaching in tech), Fellow FBCS (IT leaders); there is also a free supporter status and Affiliate membership.

Fees

Annual subscription: Student 20-30 pounds, AMBCS 32 pounds, MBCS 187 pounds, FBCS 252 pounds; a discount applies for yearly Direct Debit.

Members

According to the site, BCS has over 70,000 members in 150 countries.

• Fellowship carries a one-off application fee of 560 pounds (plus 252 pounds a year); the fee is not refunded if the application is unsuccessful.
• Chartered IT Professional (CITP) is a separate registration, not a membership grade: a written application and an assessor review meeting; Professional or Fellow grade is required.
• In October 2026 the Fellowship page contained contradictory wording on the transition dates and prices (the paper-based route closed on 1 October 2026).

Source: the organisation's site bcs.org (pages /about-us, /membership-and-registrations/become-a-member, /membership-and-registrations/become-a-member/bcs-fellowship), checked Oct 2, 2026; the version on the site applies.

Facts from open sources

Founded

1957 [Wikidata P571]

Country

United Kingdom [Wikidata P17]

City

Swindon [Wikidata P159]

Membership terms

page on the site [own site]

The British Computer Society (BCS), branded BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT since 2009, is a professional body and a learned society that represents those working in information technology (IT), computing, software engineering, computer engineering, information engineering and computer science, both in the United Kingdom and internationally.

Collected automatically from the sources shown, checked 2026-09-09; not a USCIS assessment.