"Original contribution" for Business / entrepreneurship: what counts
Key answer
What works in Business / entrepreneurship
- A new business model or approach was created that produced a measurable effect
- The contribution influenced the market, industry practices, or scalable processes
- There is a confirmed personal role in developing and implementing the solution
Traps that cost the criterion
- Ordinary job duties are described instead of an original contribution
- No evidence of novelty, scale, or measurable result
- Team success is cited without a clear personal contribution
What the officer has to find
It is not enough to show that the work was useful, complex, well paid, in demand in the market, or performed at a well-known organization. It must be shown that the petitioner's specific original contribution was recognized as significant in the professional field by independent sources and that the evidence allows the officer to reach a favorable merits finding within the overall case assessment.
- Taken as a whole, the evidence shows a level of achievement consistent with the claimed category: for EB-1/O-1, the contribution must support a finding of high level recognition or extraordinary ability in the field.
- The contribution is original, meaning created or substantially developed by the petitioner, rather than ordinary participation in someone else's project or performance of standard job duties.
Where it falls apart: There is no clear attribution: it is impossible to separate the applicant's personal contribution from collective work, standard procedures, management decisions, or the contributions of other participants.
The full methodology of the "Original contribution" criterion
How it is worded
His contribution is an original result created through independent technical and analytical work, not the standard performance of job duties.
Avoid: I simply helped with the project and completed the assigned tasks.
What else Business / entrepreneurship is asked for
- Letters from executives, investors, clients, and partners with specific impact metrics
- Financial results: revenue growth, margins, market share, investments raised
- The letters are too generic and do not show the applicant's personal contribution
- Business metrics are not directly tied to the applicant's actions
If the officer already objectedfrom 108 real cases
From community discussions
«The contribution has to be specifically to your own industry. If you made an app - show commercial success or success in another area and - you'll be able to close the critical role.»
community member · from public community chats
«To prove a contribution, talks alone won't be enough, but in general it goes there. Talks can also be referenced through the text of the recommendation letter in the second part where, besides the criteria, you need to prove that you've risen above the stars.»
community member · from public community chats
«But where I was invited to speak at conferences with a talk about my methodology (=contribution), I wrote a bit about this, mentioned it in recommendations, included the speaker diploma, and so on.»
Juliette · 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.