Someone asked how to get a salary expert letter for EB-1A. My first question would be: what would the analyst compare?
The EB-1A high-salary criterion asks whether your salary or other remuneration is high in relation to others in your field. An expert letter is not a required document under that criterion. It can explain a comparison, but it cannot make mismatched pay figures comparable by putting them in a polished report.
Suppose your employer reports base salary, a cash bonus, and stock awards as one total compensation figure. Your analyst chooses a Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) percentile. The comparison may look favorable, but what does that OEWS number contain?
BLS’s OEWS pay definitions include base pay and certain incentive payments. They exclude stock bonuses and year-end bonuses. A report that places your full compensation, including stock, beside an OEWS wage percentile without explaining the difference leaves a question unanswered.
Before commissioning a report, ask the analyst to put these on one page:
Your pay amount, its components and year, backed by your records.
The peer occupation, geography, year, percentile and exact source table.
A plain explanation of whether both figures include the same kinds of pay and whether the occupation fits your actual work.
If the definitions differ, ask for a like-for-like wage comparison and a separate explanation of other remuneration. Also ask what the analyst will do if the available benchmark is too broad for your role. “No defensible percentile from this source” is more useful than a precise number with a weak peer group.
Take the proposed scope to your immigration lawyer before paying for the analysis. The lawyer can say whether a compensation report addresses a real evidence gap and how it should fit the petition. Keep your pay records, the analyst’s source tables, and the calculation together so someone reviewing the case can follow the comparison.
The one-page scope checklist lists the questions to send an analyst before you pay.
Educational information, not legal advice. ChatEB1 is not a law firm and does not prepare salary expert reports. A qualified immigration lawyer should assess the evidence and petition strategy for your circumstances.