Getting started with EB1-A journey
Looking for guidance on building an EB-1A profile from an industry background
I’m currently a software engineer at a Fortune 500 company, working in the consumer electronics space. I have close to 10 years of industry experience across several technical domains, including about 5 years with my current area.
Most of my accomplishments so far have been within my employers, including a few high-impact internal projects. However, I currently have no publications/citations, patents, peer-review or judging experience, open-source contributions, or significant external recognition.
I realize that my current profile is not strong/eligible for EB-1A, and I’m not looking to file anytime soon or manufacture credentials just to satisfy the criteria. I’m willing to spend the sometime organically building a stronger profile.
I’d particularly appreciate advice from people who started from a similar industry-only background and eventually built a successful EB-1A profile:
What did you focus on first?
Which activities actually helped your case versus things that turned out to be a waste of time?
How did you build external recognition when most of your work was internal/proprietary?
Did you work with an attorney or legitimate profile-building/mentoring service while building your profile? If so, who did you use, and would you recommend them?
Roughly how long did it take before you felt your profile was genuinely ready to file?
I’m especially interested in firsthand experiences from industry engineers, including people who started without a research/publication background.
TIA!