What counts as evidence for the O-1A Judging criterion?

Examples include peer-review invitations, editorial board membership, grant or funding-committee service, awards jury membership. The strongest cases combine several types of evidence, because no single document is enough on its own.

What are common mistakes with the O-1A Judging criterion?

Informal or unnamed judging, 'I reviewed a friend's paper' doesn't qualify. USCIS wants documented, named service. Judging within your own company, internal reviews of colleague work don't count; the venue needs to be external.

How many O-1A criteria do I need to meet?

A petition shows a major internationally recognized award, or at least three of the 8 O-1A criteria. USCIS then considers all the evidence in its totality, so the quality of each piece of evidence matters as much as the count.

How does Lando build the O-1A Judging criterion?

Lando works in 3 steps: compile every judging invitation, document the venue's standing, show pattern of service. Lando is not a law firm; petitions are prepared in coordination with licensed U.S. immigration attorneys.

O-1A Judging Criterion

How to prove you have been invited to judge the work of others in your field.

How USCIS states this criterion

Evidence of the beneficiary's participation on a panel, or individually, as a judge of the work of others in the same or in an allied field of specialization for which classification is sought.

This is criterion 4 of eight for the O-1A. A petition must meet at least three of the eight unless it rests on a major internationally recognized award. Source: Policy Manual, Chapter 4, checked September 21, 2026.

Quick answer. O-1A Judging Criterion is one of the 8 O-1A evidence criteria. A petition shows a major award or at least three criteria, and USCIS then weighs the whole record. USCIS wants to see that you have participated as a judge of the work of others in your field.

USCIS wants to see that you have participated as a judge of the work of others in your field. This is the easiest criterion to document when applicable and the least ambiguous: you either have judged or you haven't. What matters is the standing of the venue where you judged.

Types of evidence

Peer-review invitations

Formal invitations to review for peer-reviewed journals or conferences, with dates and journal/conference names.

Editorial board membership

Documentation of editorial-board or advisory-board membership at recognized journals or trade publications.

Grant or funding-committee service

Selection to review grant applications for NIH, NSF, ERC, private foundations, or corporate innovation grants.

Awards jury membership

Service as a juror or panellist for industry awards, competitions, or fellowship selection committees.

Hackathon / accelerator judging

Documented service as a judge at hackathons, accelerator demo days, or startup competitions with named organisers.

Documentation of the invitation

Screenshots of platforms (Manuscript Central, OpenReview), thank-you letters from organisers, or public announcements naming you as judge.

Evidence by profession

Startup founders

Judging at YC demo day, Techstars, accelerator programs, pitch competitions (Startup Battlefield, SXSW, LAUNCH). Investment-committee service also qualifies.

Researchers

Peer review for journals (Nature, Science, field-specific); program-committee service at recognized conferences (NeurIPS, ICML, ACL); NIH / NSF study-section membership.

Executives

Board or advisory-committee service; industry-award jury membership; management-education case-writing committees.

Engineers

Peer review at conferences (ICML, NeurIPS, ACL, SIGGRAPH, KubeCon); program-committee membership; open-source project maintainer / PR reviewer role.

Athletes

Coaching-panel selection judging, sport-specific judging at competitions, athlete-advisory-board membership. Common in judged sports (gymnastics, skating, boxing).

Consultants

Recognition-award jury service; industry standards-committee membership; case-competition judging at top MBA programs.

How we build this criterion

Compile every judging invitation

We collect email invitations, thank-you letters, platform screenshots, and public announcements listing you as judge or reviewer.

Document the venue's standing

For each judging engagement, we attach information about the conference, journal, competition, or award's history and significance.

Show pattern of service

We organize the exhibit chronologically so USCIS sees sustained, ongoing service, not a one-time judging engagement.

Common questions

What counts as evidence for the O-1A Judging criterion?: Examples include peer-review invitations, editorial board membership, grant or funding-committee service, awards jury membership. The strongest cases combine several types of evidence, because no single document is enough on its own.
What are common mistakes with the O-1A Judging criterion?: Informal or unnamed judging, 'I reviewed a friend's paper' doesn't qualify. USCIS wants documented, named service. Judging within your own company, internal reviews of colleague work don't count; the venue needs to be external.
How many O-1A criteria do I need to meet?: A petition shows a major internationally recognized award, or at least three of the 8 O-1A criteria. USCIS then considers all the evidence in its totality, so the quality of each piece of evidence matters as much as the count.
How does Lando build the O-1A Judging criterion?: Lando works in 3 steps: compile every judging invitation, document the venue's standing, show pattern of service. Lando is not a law firm; petitions are prepared in coordination with licensed U.S. immigration attorneys.