DIY EB1A approved without RFE, industry profile, no citations

First of all, thanks to everyone in this community and to everyone making content about immigration online, I couldn't have done it without you. So I'm making this post as a way of giving back. Hopefully, this info helps some of you on your journey

Basic profile: Software Engineer, 6.5 YoE, Master's Degree, Tech Leader at my current company in the EU. I filed EB1A with Premium Processing and got an approval without RFE. Texas Service Center, filed from outside the US

I consulted many lawyers large and small before deciding to go DIY. The disparity of information from them and the high cost for non-researcher profiles pushed me to research the topic myself and do a DIY petition. Some lawyers told me I had zero chance of getting EB1A because of my young age alone, others said I had a 95% chance and were very optimistic about some of my achievements that I knew wouldn't be accepted by USCIS (like awards from my student days)

I ended up claiming 6 criteria:

  1. Critical and leading role. I am a Tech Leader at a well-known company in my country, within that company I also work in a Team Leader role on a project for a major financial institution in the EU
  2. Salary. Self-explanatory, I compared my salary to government data and private survey data like Glassdoor
  3. Media. A few media pieces (one in a huge news outlet) about the project I lead that don't mention me by name (but in his letter, my manager confirmed I was critical to the project's success), and a few pieces that quote me on several topics related to my work and profession
  4. Judge. I judged 2 hackathons (one in person, one online), both with substantial monetary prizes and sponsored by leading software companies everyone knows
  5. Published articles. A few technical articles in a top IT publication in my country (industry, not science), and one scientific article from my Master's program (good journal, but no citations)
  6. Membership in organizations. I am a Fellow of the British Computer Society

I had 2 letters of support from my current manager and the company executive to prove my role's leading and critical nature. No independent letters were included in my petition

The key takeaways for me are:

  • Think about the final merits in every criterion if you can, don't treat EB1A as a box-ticking exercise. Highlight what is special about your work, the competitions you judged, etc. Show that the opportunities you received signal that you are a top professional in your field
  • Have an anchor criteria, either original contributions or leading role. IMO, it's not worth filing the EB1A unless you have one of those
  • Make sure that your profile is cohesive and organic. All my media coverage and published articles were spread out across several years, so they show sustained acclaim and a clear progression in my career
  • Don't abuse ChatGPT. I didn't use AI at all, figured I should write the petition myself, considering it's probably the most important document I will ever put together. But if you do use AI, don't let it be the driver. Use it to improve the text you already have, correct mistakes, make it flow better, etc. I'm sure officers are annoyed when they see empty AI-generated petitions
  • Keep the cover letter concise, no one wants to read 40-50 pages of dense text. Mine was around 20 pages, which felt right for describing my profile and accolades without boring the officer

I would be happy to answer any questions you have