"High remuneration" for Business / entrepreneurship: what counts
Key answer
What works in Business / entrepreneurship
- Stable high profit, not just revenue
- Repeat sales and a growing customer base
- Positive cash flow after all expenses
Traps that cost the criterion
- Confusing turnover with personal income
- Failing to account for taxes, debts, and seasonality
- Depend on a single client or sales channel
What the officer has to find
It is sufficient to show, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the petitioner has received or should receive remuneration noticeably higher than the relevant market, and that the comparison sources allow the officer to objectively determine that the pay is above the ordinary level for similarly situated professionals.
- in the final merits assessment, high remuneration is considered together with other evidence and by itself does not replace the required level of recognition or qualification
- the applicant's compensation is substantially higher than the normal level of pay for comparable professionals in the same field, role, region, and time period
Where it falls apart: the evidence shows a good or competitive income, but does not demonstrate that it is high relative to recognized standards in the field
How it is worded
The applicant's compensation should be evaluated not in absolute terms, but in comparison with the compensation of professionals performing comparable functions in the same professional field, industry, and region.
Avoid: The applicant earns a high income, so he is an outstanding professional.
What else Business / entrepreneurship is asked for
- Comparison of salary, bonuses, equity, or consulting rates with market data
- Letters from executives, investors, clients, and partners with specific impact metrics
- The evidence describes the company's success, not the applicant's outstanding achievements
- The letters are too generic and do not show the applicant's personal contribution
If the officer already objectedfrom 70 real cases
From community discussions
«You're confusing commercial success and high salary. Commercial success reads like this: Commercial successes in the performing arts, as shown by box office receipts or record, cassette, compact disk, or video sales.»
community member · from public community chats
«On 2 projects where I'm the founder, we ran crowdfunding campaigns (Kickstarter + Indiegogo), with decent amounts raised. Which item is it better to put this in - Salary or other high remuneration or Commercial success? Does it even make sense to put anything in commercial success, given the recent clarifications that essentially limit it to success in creative professions?»
Philip · from public community chats
«This is commercial success, not salary. And you should compare your revenues with those on Amazon in similar markets.»
community member · from public community chats
Personal opinions of community members from public discussions, not legal advice.
The same criterion in other fields
Reference information and community experience, not legal advice. The AAO figures are lessons from appeals, not approval odds; fees and timelines change - verify on uscis.gov.