USCIS.loveA US work plan for EB-1A: what 8 CFR 204.5(h)(5) requires
EB-1A needs no job offer but must prove you intend to continue working in your field: letters of intent, contracts or a detailed plan. The structure of an approved plan and a template with placeholders.
Author: Alina Kanametova- updated
Key answer
An EB-1A self-petition requires no job offer - but it does require proof that you are coming to continue working in the very field where you earned recognition, and that this will benefit the United States. Applicants find this surprising: they collect evidence of the past and forget the future. Below: what the regulation says, what the plan from a petition approved in 2024 looked like, and a template to build your own.
Source: a community members' analysis (o1eb1.com) with the full exhibit of an approved petition. The exhibit appears here as an anonymised structure: names, companies, sums and titles replaced with placeholders. Not legal advice.
What the law requires
The three EB-1A conditions under INA 203(b)(1)(A): extraordinary ability, the intent to continue working in that field in the US, and substantial future benefit to the country. The Policy Manual unpacks the second and third:
A petition filed on behalf of a person with extraordinary ability does not need to be supported by a job offer; therefore, anyone can file the petition on behalf of the person
The person must still demonstrate, however, that he or she intends to continue work in the area of his or her extraordinary ability and that his or her work will substantially benefit the United States…
Competitive athletics and coaching rely on different sets of skills and in general are not in the same area of expertise.
Regulation 8 CFR 204.5(h)(5) names three kinds of evidence, any one of which suffices: letters from prospective employers, evidence of prearranged commitments (contracts), or a statement by the beneficiary detailing plans on how they intend to continue their work in the US. The community calls the last one a "work plan" or "business plan"; it is the one dissected below.
Letters of intent
A letter from a prospective employer, partner or client is the cheapest evidence and the most common. It has three mandatory elements:
- The details of the offer or of the planned cooperation: role, tasks, terms.
- How exactly you will apply your skills in the US.
- Why you are needed and what benefit you bring.
Such a letter creates no legal obligation, and officers know it. But its absence noticeably weakens the plan: only your own words remain. In the reviewed petition a letter of intent with a title, city and salary sat at the centre of the plan and was attached as a separate exhibit.
What the approved plan consisted of
The petition of an IT project executive with more than fifteen years of experience, approved in 2024. The plan was a first-person letter addressed to the officer, about 35,000 characters, in six blocks:
| Block | Share of text | Contents |
|---|---|---|
| Who I am | about 20% | profession and years of experience; the scale of past clients; partnerships; a book; judging on industry juries; prizes; the market share of own products - all in the same field where recognition is claimed |
| The future role | 1 paragraph | in what role the career continues and which adjacent industries are allowed |
| Commitments | 3-5 paragraphs | interviews completed; a letter of intent referenced to an exhibit; title, city, state, salary; tasks in the position tied to own products; a description of the receiving company |
| Integration | 1-2 paragraphs | contacts with other companies, mentoring in a professional association, adapting products to the US market |
| Three horizons | about 35% | year one: work in the role and named conferences with dates, cities and links; year two: wider responsibility, a fallback scenario with three real vacancies by link, a study programme with three universities, an English edition of the book; year three: own company, headcount, role, expected client effect in percentages |
| Demand for the profession | about 35% | Bureau of Labor Statistics and staffing-agency data, six reasons the profession matters to the US, STEM membership with a link to the official list, the expected contribution to the economy |
What made it convincing
- A direct link "past achievements → future work in the same field": exactly what the Policy Manual requires.
- A letter of intent with a specific title, location and salary, attached as a separate exhibit.
- Verifiability of every item: conferences, vacancies, universities and reports come with links and exhibit numbers.
- Scenarios: the main plan, a fallback ("if the goals prove unattainable") and a long-term horizon with an own company.
- External data instead of self-assessment: employment forecasts, agency reports, employer surveys, the official STEM position.
- Quantified benefit to the US: jobs, the effect for clients, training of specialists.
A template with placeholders
Dear Immigration Officer,
1. WHO I AM
My name is [NAME]. I am a [PROFESSION] with [N] years in [INDUSTRY].
I have worked at [TYPE OF ORGANISATIONS]; clients - [TYPE OF CLIENTS, SCALE].
Author of [PUBLICATION]. Judge at [TYPE OF JURY]. Laureate of [TYPE OF PRIZES].
My solutions are used by [REACH].
2. WHAT I WILL DO IN THE US
I will continue my career as [ROLE] in [INDUSTRY / ADJACENT INDUSTRIES].
3. COMMITMENTS
I have interviewed with [N] companies and received a letter of intent
from [COMPANY] (Exhibit [XX]): position [TITLE], [CITY, STATE],
salary [AMOUNT] per year. Tasks: [TASK 1], [TASK 2], [TASK 3].
Company description - Exhibit [XX].
4. YEAR ONE
Work at [COMPANY] as [TITLE]; conferences:
- [CONFERENCE 1], [DATES], [CITY] - [LINK]
- [CONFERENCE 2], [DATES], [CITY] - [LINK]
Purpose: [MARKET NEEDS / PRESENT THE METHOD / CONTACTS].
5. YEAR TWO
Wider responsibility up to [ROLE+]. Fallback scenario: positions
[TITLE A], [TITLE B] - sample vacancies: [LINK 1], [LINK 2].
Education: [PROGRAMME] at [UNIVERSITY] - why: [REASONING].
6. DEMAND FOR THE PROFESSION IN THE US
[SOURCE 1: employment forecast, link]
[SOURCE 2: agency report, link]
[NUMBER OF OPEN VACANCIES as of date, link]
Why the profession matters to the US: [REASON 1..N].
STEM membership: [LINK] + degree and evaluation, Exhibit [XX].
7. YEAR THREE
Founding a [LEGAL FORM] in [STATE], services - [SERVICES], team - [N].
Expected effect for clients: [METRIC 1 +X%], [METRIC 2 -X%].
Contribution to the economy: jobs, [INDUSTRY EFFECT], training of specialists.
Sincerely, [NAME], [SIGNATURE], [CONTACTS]What to avoid
- Changing profession between past achievements and the plan: a direct conflict with the requirement to continue in the field of recognition.
- Links to vacancies and conferences that are closed or over by the time of adjudication: some links in the exhibit itself are stale today, which is now a minus.
- Events without names, and dates "to be determined": the officer has nothing to verify.
- Bare figures without comparison or an explanation of what they mean.
- Promises of future achievement instead of proven ones: the plan rests on what is already done.
- Dependence of the whole plan on one employer: a fallback scenario is mandatory.
- Someone else's template copied verbatim: the plan must match your exhibits down to the details.
FAQ
Related
Letters of intent from an agent
What letters for an agent petition look like
Business plan basics
Structure and typical mistakes
EB-1A in detail
Criteria, timing, self-petition
O-1 for yourself
How an agent petition works
Official sources
- 8 CFR 204.5(h)(5) - no job offer, but evidence of continued work
- USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 6, Part F, Chapter 2 - continuing to work in the area of expertise
- INA 203(b)(1)(A), 8 U.S.C. 1153 - the three EB-1A conditions
Reference material, not legal advice: officers reach different decisions on identical evidence.
Related materials - Gather your evidence
- Recommendation letters for O-1, EB-1A, NIW: a strong set
- Strong recommendation letter: structure by section
- Why recommendation letters get rejected: 20 reasons from RFEs
- Document Translations for O-1, EB-1, and EB-2 NIW Petitions
- Translator Certificate for O-1/EB-1/EB-2 Petitions
- How to Prove a Journal or Publication Is Authoritative
- Journal authority: impact factor, quartile, indexing
- Major Media or Scholarly Journal: Required Metrics
- Business plan structure for a visa petition: sections
- EB-2 NIW business plan: what it includes and how it works
- Which boxes you are closing
- Is the case ready to file
From community discussions
«If we're talking about contribution that can be confirmed by a significant number of citations or a developed method or a patent. What specifically counts as a "contribution" to the endeavor isn't in the requirements. But right now, because there are a huge number of applications and the quota is limited, if a petitioner doesn't have this kind of clear contribution but is just a great specialist, then the chance the approval goes to someone who has all this is much higher. Keep in mind that right now every applicant has to compete with a large number of top-class professionals from all over the world, and just being a very good specialist in your field isn't enough.»
Yernar · from public community chats
«Quantity will also play a nasty trick on you when describing things: 1. more to translate 2. for each outlet you have to prove that the outlet is major or super professional. That's quite a lot of work. Don't forget about the most important EB1 criterion - sustained recognition. Your achievements have to be stretched out over time, and preferably with increasing momentum. For example, a critical role and salary 5 years ago, media once every year or two. A year ago you released a book with a method, a year ago and this year you judged competitions. This year you got a national-level award and 3 of the coolest media wrote about it. If you put it all in a single year, you won't manage to pass this criterion.»
community member · from public community chats
«When you go to flip the O1 into a green card, they'll most likely ask you for W2/paystubs for 3 months. And this will be at the adjustment-of-status stage, already after the petition is approved. So you'll have to pay yourself a salary-salary and run it through payroll, not as a 1099 contractor. And this salary has to equal the one you stated in the O1 petition.»
community member · from public community chats
Personal opinions of community members from public discussions, not legal advice.
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