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B-1A extraordinary ability and the EB-2 National Interest Waiver are the two employment-based classifications that permit a person to petition for permanent residence without an employer, a job offer, or a labor certification. EB-1A requires sustained national or international acclaim and a place among the small percentage at the very top of the field, established through at least three regulatory criteria and then a final merits determination on the record as a whole. The NIW requires EB-2 eligibility through an advanced degree or exceptional ability, followed by the three-prong test of Matter of Dhanasar: an endeavor of substantial merit and national importance, an applicant well positioned to advance it, and a showing that waiving the labor certification benefits the United States.

The two classifications ask different questions of the same record, and a strong applicant frequently qualifies for both. Filing EB-1A and EB-2 NIW concurrently produces two independent paths to approval, a single priority date preserved by whichever petition is approved, and access to the first preference category for applicants born in India or China. Kennedy Law recommends a concurrent filing where the record plausibly supports EB-1A and the NIW is the more certain route, and does not recommend it where the evidence clearly supports only one.