Write the career fact before the criterion label

My career was not organized as five EB-1A criteria.

It contained programs, events, community work, media coverage, judging, awards, and supporting letters.

The criterion labels came later.

That order matters when you describe a piece of evidence.

Start with the career fact:

• What happened?
• What was your role?
• When did it happen?
• Which source can verify it?

Then ask what job that fact may have in the petition.

If you start with the criterion label, the language can get ahead of the record.

An event becomes a "leading role" before responsibility is clear.

A project becomes an "original contribution" before the outcome is documented.

A publication becomes "major media evidence" before the article, outlet, date, and coverage are identified.

The opposite mistake is possible too.

A real achievement may be discarded because it does not resemble a criterion at first glance, even though a careful fact-and-source review could reveal a legitimate job for it.

The neutral fact gives you room to decide without inflating or erasing the work.

Try writing one evidence note in two stages:

**Fact:** one sourced sentence describing what happened and your role.

**Petition job:** one separate sentence explaining where that fact may help the reader evaluate the case.

If the second sentence changes, the first one should remain true.

A criterion is a way to organize evidence.

It should not be allowed to rewrite the career that produced it.