The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services agency has published Quarter 3 data for Fiscal Year 2024 in relation to employment-based green cards. Among all the data obtained from this official source, we analyzed the data for I-140 approvals in the EB-1A category. In this Extraordinary Ability green card category, approval rates remained close to 70% and demand for these visas is stable.
Official USCIS data
Before we start presenting the data analysis we have performed, it is important for you to know that all these numbers indirectly come from USCIS Statistic reports you can find on their official website. USCIS reports data for I-140 cases each quarter, and they now provide an Excel file for easy interpretation by the final user.
Approval rates for EB1A
As mentioned earlier, approval and denial rates for EB-1A remain quite stable. The approval rate is close to 70%, which has been the case for the past quarters: the approval rate has been between 70 and 75% since the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2023. Surprisingly, the approval rate is higher than for the lower EB-2 NIW category. This is surprising indeed, because EB-1A is a higher standard to meet, so it would be reasonable to think the denial rates should be higher in this category.
Demand remains high for EB-1A green cards
Since the end of Fiscal Year 2022 the popularity of this category has caused an increase in the number of cases filed. In fact, in the last four quarters, the number of I-140 filed has exceeded 4,000 in each quarter as can bee seen in the graph below:
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Top Countries in EB-1A
Another interesting outcome of the USCIS data is that we can analyze which country of birth originates more approvals. For the third quarter of Fiscal Year 2023, China and India were again leaders in this ranking.
China saw a decrease of approvals from 1,074 in Q2 to 953 in Q3. India received less approvals too, from 617 in Q2 to 560 in Q3. Between these two countries, they absorb more than half of the I-140 approved in the quarter in this category.
Nigeria moved up from 5th to 4th place with an increase of approvals from 93 in Q2 to 107 in Q3. You can use the table below to find the country you are curious about:
| Position | Country | # Approvals | % of total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CHINA | 953 | 32.88% |
| 2 | INDIA | 560 | 19.32% |
| 3 | BRAZIL | 138 | 4.76% |
| 4 | NIGERIA | 107 | 3.69% |
| 5 | RUSSIA | 95 | 3.28% |
| 6 | IRAN | 66 | 2.28% |
| 7 | KOREA, SOUTH | 62 | 2.14% |
| 8 | UNITED KINGDOM | 61 | 2.1% |
| 9 | CANADA | 56 | 1.93% |
| 10 | VENEZUELA | 47 | 1.62% |
| 11 | SOVIET UNION | 35 | 1.21% |
| 12 | UKRAINE | 34 | 1.17% |
| 13 | COLOMBIA | 33 | 1.14% |
| 14 | GERMANY | 30 | 1.04% |
| 15 | ITALY | 29 | 1.0% |
| 16 | ARGENTINA | 29 | 1.0% |
| 17 | KAZAKHSTAN | 27 | 0.93% |
| 18 | TURKEY | 26 | 0.9% |
| 19 | FRANCE | 26 | 0.9% |
| 20 | PAKISTAN | 25 | 0.86% |
| 21 | MEXICO | 22 | 0.76% |
| 22 | JAPAN | 19 | 0.66% |
| 23 | ARMENIA | 18 | 0.62% |
| 24 | UZBEKISTAN | 17 | 0.59% |
| 25 | TAIWAN | 17 | 0.59% |
| 26 | EGYPT | 17 | 0.59% |
| 27 | SPAIN | 16 | 0.55% |
| 28 | NEPAL | 15 | 0.52% |
| 29 | BANGLADESH | 15 | 0.52% |
| 30 | AUSTRALIA | 12 | 0.41% |
| 31 | ISRAEL | 11 | 0.38% |
| 32 | KYRGYZSTAN | 11 | 0.38% |
| 33 | PHILIPPINES | 10 | 0.35% |
| 34 | GHANA | 9 | 0.31% |
| 35 | GEORGIA | 9 | 0.31% |
| 36 | SWEDEN | 9 | 0.31% |
| 37 | AUSTRIA | 8 | 0.28% |
| 38 | POLAND | 8 | 0.28% |
| 39 | DOMINICAN REPUBLIC | 8 | 0.28% |
| 40 | CHILE | 7 | 0.24% |
| 41 | BELARUS | 7 | 0.24% |
| 42 | SAUDI ARABIA | 6 | 0.21% |
| 43 | LEBANON | 6 | 0.21% |
| 44 | SERBIA | 6 | 0.21% |
| 45 | SOUTH AFRICA | 6 | 0.21% |
| 46 | MONGOLIA | 5 | 0.17% |
| 47 | GREECE | 5 | 0.17% |
| 48 | BELGIUM | 5 | 0.17% |
| 49 | HONDURAS | 5 | 0.17% |
| 50 | MOLDOVA | 5 | 0.17% |
| 51 | VIETNAM | 5 | 0.17% |
| 52 | PERU | 5 | 0.17% |
| 53 | INDONESIA | 4 | 0.14% |
| 54 | AFGHANISTAN | 4 | 0.14% |
| 55 | UNKNOWN | 4 | 0.14% |
| 56 | KENYA | 4 | 0.14% |
| 57 | LATVIA | 4 | 0.14% |
| 58 | ALBANIA | 4 | 0.14% |
| 59 | TAJIKISTAN | 4 | 0.14% |
| 60 | IRELAND | 4 | 0.14% |
| 61 | UNITED ARAB EMIRATES | 4 | 0.14% |
| 62 | NEW ZEALAND | 3 | 0.1% |
| 63 | SWITZERLAND | 3 | 0.1% |
| 64 | PORTUGAL | 3 | 0.1% |
| 65 | AZERBAIJAN | 3 | 0.1% |
| 66 | HUNGARY | 3 | 0.1% |
| 67 | BULGARIA | 3 | 0.1% |
| 68 | FINLAND | 3 | 0.1% |
| 69 | DENMARK | 3 | 0.1% |
| 70 | ROMANIA | 3 | 0.1% |
| 71 | SYRIA | 3 | 0.1% |
| 72 | THAILAND | 3 | 0.1% |
| 73 | SINGAPORE | 3 | 0.1% |
| 74 | HONG KONG | 3 | 0.1% |
| 75 | ECUADOR | 3 | 0.1% |
| 76 | ETHIOPIA | 3 | 0.1% |
| 77 | CAMEROON | 2 | 0.07% |
| 78 | JAMAICA | 2 | 0.07% |
| 79 | LITHUANIA | 2 | 0.07% |
| 80 | ESTONIA | 2 | 0.07% |
| 81 | NORWAY | 2 | 0.07% |
| 82 | TURKMENISTAN | 2 | 0.07% |
| 83 | SRI LANKA | 2 | 0.07% |
| 84 | MALAYSIA | 2 | 0.07% |
| 85 | SUDAN | 2 | 0.07% |
| 86 | ZIMBABWE | 2 | 0.07% |
| 87 | ZAMBIA | 2 | 0.07% |
| 88 | COSTA RICA | 2 | 0.07% |
| 89 | GUATEMALA | 2 | 0.07% |
| 90 | KOSOVO | 2 | 0.07% |
| 91 | NETHERLANDS | 2 | 0.07% |
| 92 | ALGERIA | 1 | 0.03% |
| 93 | GABON | 1 | 0.03% |
| 94 | GUINEA-BISSAU | 1 | 0.03% |
| 95 | BENIN | 1 | 0.03% |
| 96 | FRENCH GUIANA | 1 | 0.03% |
| 97 | CZECHOSLOVAKIA | 1 | 0.03% |
| 98 | ANGOLA | 1 | 0.03% |
| 99 | GAMBIA, THE | 1 | 0.03% |
| 100 | TANZANIA | 1 | 0.03% |
Approvals by country over time (top 25)
You may also be curious about how the leading countries behaved in previous quarters, so you can see the trends in I-140 approvals in EB1A. The graph below allows you to select or de-select the nations you want:
What do these numbers mean for you?
Remember these are just global statistics posted by USCIS and even if they are fun to look at they do NOT represent your actual chances. Your likelihood for success really depends on specific factors such as:
- Your qualifications in your specific field of Extraordinary Ability
- The quality of your petition package and petition cover letter
- External factors, such as who reviews your case at USCIS