Who decides if my overseas role was managerial for EB-1C: the company or U.S. law?

In the EB-1C category, designed for managers and executives of multinational companies, the final say on whether your overseas role qualifies as managerial belongs to the USCIS, not the company. The employer can (and must) describe your duties, but it does not make the legal determination.

In practice, the employer supplies the raw material for the analysis, for example:

• Organizational charts showing your position within the corporate structure.
• Job descriptions and letters explaining your responsibilities.
• Evidence that you directed departments, made strategic decisions, and exercised meaningful control over operations or teams.

Based on that material, USCIS interprets whether your duties genuinely fit the legal concept of managerial or executive capacity as defined under U.S. law. In other words, even if the company states the role was managerial, what matters is how the described activities align with the applicable legal standards, evaluated case by case.

For that reason, invest in precise and consistent documentation and verify the current requirements on the official source (USCIS) or 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.