Do regional awards, repeated across different employers, count for EB-1?

They can. In the EB-1, regional awards received repeatedly help demonstrate consistent recognition in your field, and that consistency carries weight. The key consideration is that this category tends to give more importance to distinctions with broader reach, so local awards rarely sustain a case on their own.

For these awards to carry weight, it is worth evaluating the quality of each one, not just the quantity:

• Were the selection criteria rigorous and tied to genuine merit?
• Is the institution or panel that granted the award recognized in the industry?
• Does the award reflect a meaningful achievement, rather than just internal company recognition?

When these elements are present, the awards strengthen the overall narrative. Even so, the safest approach is to combine them with other robust evidence, such as publications, participation in prominent events, patents, or significant contributions to the field, building a body of evidence that demonstrates excellence on a broader scale.

Since each case is evaluated individually, it is worth confirming the current requirements with USCIS and assessing how your profile fits with an immigration professional.

About the author

Victoria Harper

Editor-in-Chief

Meet the author

As a journalist and lead editor at Visto n’ Visa, Victoria helps ensure that immigration topics are covered in a clear, trustworthy, and easy-to-understand way. Her focus is on delivering useful, human, and relevant content for people exploring new paths abroad.