You must hold a Master’s degree or higher in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field, or its foreign equivalent. Alternatively, a Bachelor’s degree plus 5 years of progressive, post degree work experience counts. Note that if you rely on the Bachelor’s plus 5 years, we must prove your experience is "progressive", meaning increasing technical responsibility, and strictly post graduation.

This is the foundation of your entire case. You must define specifically what you will do in the U.S. Instead of simply stating you will work as a Senior Software Engineer, your endeavor should be specific, such as architecting zero-trust security frameworks for cloud-native financial systems. It must be forward looking and distinct from just being a generic employee writing code.

For developers, this is often demonstrated by showing your work on an industry significant software, proven by usage and well known logos.

You must prove you are the right person to execute this endeavor. Your advanced degree in Computer Science is the starting point. We strengthen this with evidence of your industry work, relevant professional certifications (like AWS Solutions Architect), and references to strengthen your case.

You will need concrete evidence around progress in your field of expertise. Adoption of your software libraries by other companies, invitations to speak at technical conferences (like KubeCon or AWS re:Invent), or paid customer adoption in your technical product are excellent examples of helpful evidence.

We look for a track record of innovation relevant to your field of proposed endeavor. You will need specific proof that your past code mattered, such as high-star open source repositories on GitHub, patents for software logic, or evidence that you built core systems that successfully scaled to support millions of users.

You must prove your work has a broader impact beyond just your employer or clients. We leverage specific government frameworks, such as the Critical and Emerging Technologies list, to prove your specific technical niches. Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, or High-Performance Computing are high priorities for the United States government to maintain global leadership.

You must argue why the U.S. benefits from you specifically, without testing the labor market via PERM. We argue that the United States faces a critical shortage of specialized engineering talent in your specific niche and that forcing you through a labor certification process would delay technical innovations that are urgent for U.S. competitiveness.