In the EB-1B, can awards be regional?

Yes, in the EB-1B a regional award can count. The category targets professors and researchers with national or international recognition, but what matters is not the geographic scope of the award — it is the merit and prestige it represents in your field.

A well-regarded regional award, recognized by peers as a mark of excellence, can strengthen your petition. A little-known honor with weak selection criteria, on the other hand, tends to carry little weight even if it has an impressive name. The key is what that recognition signals about your standing in the field.

• The real prestige of the award and the rigor of the granting body.
• Whether peers recognize it as a mark of excellence.
• How it fits within the overall arc of your career.

For this reason, presenting a regional award alongside other complementary evidence — such as publications, participation in relevant conferences, patents, or leadership roles — is the stronger approach. The EB-1B is evaluated on the totality of the evidence, not on any single item in isolation.

Because each case is assessed individually, it is worth verifying current requirements with USCIS and building your evidence strategy with a specialist before filing.

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.