Melania Trump got green card through program for people with extraordinary ability: report
Source: The Hill
First lady Melania Trump reportedly got a green card through a program specifically for people with "extraordinary ability."
The first lady in 2001 was given a green card through the elite EB-1 program, The Washington Post reported.
The EB-1 program is reserved for people including academic researchers, multinational business executives and people who have shown "sustained national and international acclaim," the Post noted
We called it the Einstein visa, Bruce Morrison, a former Democratic congressman and chairman of the House subcommittee that wrote the Immigration Act of 1990 defining EB-1, told the newspaper.
Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/376207-melania-trump-got-us-visa-through-program-for-people-with
In 2000, Melania Knauss, a Slovenian model dating Donald Trump, began petitioning the government for the right to permanently reside in the United States under a program reserved for people with extraordinary ability.
Knausss credentials included runway shows in Europe, a Camel cigarette billboard ad in Times Square and in her biggest job at the time a spot in the swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated, which featured her on the beach in a string bikini, hugging a six-foot inflatable whale.
In March 2001, she was granted a green card in the elite EB-1 program, which was designed for renowned academic researchers, multinational business executives or those in other fields, such as Olympic athletes and Oscar-winning actors, who demonstrated sustained national and international acclaim.
We called it the Einstein visa, said Bruce Morrison, a former Democratic congressman and chairman of the House subcommittee that wrote the Immigration Act of 1990 defining EB-1.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/questions-linger-about-how-melania-trump-a-slovenian-model-scored-the-einstein-visa/2018/02/28/d307ddb2-1b35-11e8-ae5a-16e60e4605f3_story.html?utm_term=.fbd64ba6e542
ollie10
(2,091 posts)global1
(25,240 posts)the ability to put up with the likes of a Donald Trump.
NewJeffCT
(56,828 posts)That is a truly extraordinary ability.
lark
(23,083 posts)Oh, I forgot lying and plagiarizing and doing absolutely nothing at all as FLOTUS (must wash my fingers after typing that, yuck). All done just for the love of money since she can't stand, and with excellent reasons, the horrific serial philanderer and asshole.
iluvtennis
(19,844 posts)PearliePoo2
(7,768 posts)She's a total phony, besides being a "Birther" too.
She even had the balls to insist on seeing President Obama's college transcripts. That's especially rich considering she lied about her own university background.
fuck off Melania.
montanacowboy
(6,081 posts)Perfect answer
She is absolutely worthless
Farmer-Rick
(10,151 posts)You know that's equivalent to developing the special theory of relativity and the equivalence of matter and energy.
Only in a spoiled 10 year old boy's head. Someone born to such excess wealth they have lost all ability to read social cues and only know what they want and want it now.
hamsterjill
(15,220 posts)She is bought and paid for.
logosoco
(3,208 posts)and physics than I could ever be able to put up with trump!!!
forgotmylogin
(7,524 posts)jberryhill
(62,444 posts)mac56
(17,566 posts)mr_lebowski
(33,643 posts)Grin Grin Snap Snap Nudge Nudge Wink Wink?
OhNo-Really
(3,985 posts)Melania was a Trump model.
Trump fell for Melania, called his well-connected buddies in DC....
Exceptional Melania gets green card.
Favors were called in.
Stone orchestrated the Brooks Brothers raid on the Florida chad count, making Bush president.
Stone, Mannafort, and Trump go waaay back.
green917
(442 posts)Were also behind the racist "Willie Horton" ad in the '80s... snakes with a long history of dirty dealing.
OhNo-Really
(3,985 posts)stone and Paul are pure evil
SunSeeker
(51,550 posts)mpcamb
(2,870 posts)And who delivered it?
rainin
(3,010 posts)CanonRay
(14,097 posts)I'll leave it at that.
Firestorm49
(4,030 posts)Well, it just goes to show you, money talks and bullshit walks. This is too much. My guts are aching.
nocalflea
(1,387 posts)flamingdem
(39,313 posts)to figure out a tip was involved.
Way to go Einstein/s!
AJT
(5,240 posts)bunt homer
(88 posts)Bursting at the seams to say it, but I wanna be here tomorrow!
chwaliszewski
(1,514 posts)Normally, I wouldn't touch a gimme such as this. But I'll make an exception this time. Her extraordinary ability is probably selling her soul for a chance to sleep with Trump without puking.
rurallib
(62,406 posts)Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)Zoonart
(11,845 posts)and extraordinary ability with her country as First Lady? HUuuuuuuMMMMMMMM?
Eyeball_Kid
(7,430 posts)TwistOneUp
(1,020 posts)Even though the big guy has a thirty second attention span.
Now *that's* talent.
cloudbase
(5,513 posts)infullview
(978 posts)crazycatlady
(4,492 posts)FakeNoose
(32,620 posts)I don't, but I think I remember reading about this several years ago.
I believe that the EB-1 program is hard to qualify for because they put up many roadblocks and "special" qualifications. However if you know somebody who knows how to work the system, it's not all that tricky to get the EB-1 green card. They save it for celebrities who might have to wait on a long list of names under different qualifications (where the quotas are tighter.)
I'm wondering if maybe there's no quota for this EB-1 green card, perhaps they take none or as many as they feel like taking, but that's the part I'm not sure about. I've looked on the USCIS website and I can't find anything that tells how many EB-1 green cards are issued each year. I think that's because they don't want us to know.
https://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/permanent-workers/employment-based-immigration-first-preference-eb-1
There's a lot of info on the site concerning Citizenship and Immigration Services, but only one page is devoted to the EB-1 permit. Can someone enlighten me on this?
meadowlander
(4,394 posts)but a lot of other countries have an immigration category that includes self-employed "talented people" like writers/artists/actors/etc who wouldn't be able to get in under other categories that require them to have a permanent job offer from a regular employer. So models would probably technically fall into the category as well.
FakeNoose
(32,620 posts)She was already dating Trump and she had at least temporary employment. I'm wondering if he had some of his "best" lawyers look into it and find some way to get her in.
On the other hand, anyone in Melania's situation trying to do it on their own, probably wouldn't get past Square One. That's what I meant by the roadblocks they seem to put up to discourage people.
If you're lucky enough to know Bill Gates or Donald Trump, it's a different story. I wouldn't call this the "Einstein Pass" it's more like the "Privileged Rich Pass." But I could be wrong about this, I'm hoping somebody on DU knows more than I do.
WilmywoodNCparalegal
(2,654 posts)I also have intimate knowledge of the case. That's as far as I'll disclose. There are essentially two paths to a green card (permanent residence/lawful permanent resident status). One is through family (family based/FB). The other through employment (employment based/EB). That's what EB means. Within the EB queue there are priorities (since there's only an allotted number of 'green cards' per fiscal year).
EB-1 is for those who possess 'extraordinary ability' as set out by USCIS regulations. EB-2 are multinational managers/executives, outstanding researchers, etc. (EB-2s get to avoid the preliminary step of obtaining a PERM labor certification through the DOL). EB-3s are professionals (they have to first get a PERM labor certification through the DOL. The PERM is its own hell which I'm not going to get into - too long). EB-4s are unskilled workers and EB-5s are the infamous investors.
'Extraordinary ability' as defined by USCIS is fairly objective for disciplines in the hard sciences and business, but far less so for the arts. How do you define 'extraordinary ability' for a model? Simply stated, that would mean appearing in publications of international reputation and circulation, being photographed by world-famous photographers, being featured in advertisements by prestigious brands, making a lot of money per assignment (as evidenced by contracts, invoices, etc.), having well-known people in the industry write letters on your behalf, etc.
I've done EB-1 I-140 petitions (the I-140 is the Immigrant Worker Petition step prior to filing the I-485 adjustment of status to permanent resident) for designers, athletes, architects, hairstylists, photographers, makeup artists, tattoo artists, surgeons, writers, directors, actors, musicians and yes, even adult movie stars. In the case of Melania, nothing out of the ordinary was done that isn't done for other models (not all of whom are supermodels). I can assure you there was no pressure by anyone and I can also assure you that everyone involved despises Trump with a passion.
FakeNoose
(32,620 posts)Thanks for your reply with so much useful info.
pandr32
(11,574 posts)The only pictures I can find are from her in her own clothes at sixteen and some rather campy ones much later. She claims she went on to work at the big fashion houses in Milan and Paris on the catwalks for their shows, but I cannot find a single picture which is odd--especially since she is now famous. Those shows are well photographed. During this missing period, she was able to afford breast implants and plastic surgery. She met Zampolli, a friend of Trump's who was scouting for girls to bring to the US and he brought her in. She met Trump at a party in New York put on by Zampolli.
Bayard
(22,048 posts)Life has not changed much for Melania, has it?
Rollo
(2,559 posts)Historic NY
(37,449 posts)mopinko
(70,074 posts)and then brought in her parents through the dreaded "chain migration".
SunSeeker
(51,550 posts)There are pretty draconian punishments for lying on your immigration papers.
Richard D
(8,752 posts). . . having sex with drumpf could be classified as an extraordinary ability . . .
a la izquierda
(11,791 posts)Im trying to get a visa to work in europe. I have a PhD and speak three languages, and I face so much red tape.
Pepsidog
(6,254 posts)If the visa was issued based on material misrepresentions then revoke it or her citizenship and send her to immigration detention camp and send her back to shithole Slovenia. Although I have come to like her simply because she distains the Prick in Chief.
TomCADem
(17,387 posts)I got nothing. Being a white immigrant?
Angry Dragon
(36,693 posts)jayschool2013
(2,312 posts)catbyte
(34,367 posts)a kennedy
(29,644 posts)redstatebluegirl
(12,265 posts)George II
(67,782 posts)mn9driver
(4,423 posts)Its pretty obvious what happened. The paper trail and the timing and beneficiaries of Trump political donations would be very interesting to see.
duforsure
(11,885 posts)FakeNoose
(32,620 posts)Most "work" Visas are only good for 6 months, and that's probably what she got. The question is how did she get a permanent-status EB-1 green card, when so many other people don't get them? Clearly Trump and his lawyers had something to do with it, because she wouldn't have gotten it on her own.
She's not an Einstein and she hasn't won a Nobel Prize (or any other prize) so she doesn't fit the criteria on the description of the EB-1 Green Card. But even so she got permanent status anyway and now she's managed to get her parents in also. I'm speculating that Trump's lawyers found out how to work this EB-1 angle where there's no quota limit and the requirements are a little loose. Had she applied for EB-2 or HB-2 or any other permanent status she would have waited a long time or else been rejected outright.
I'm not an immigration expert so I could be way off base on this.
dalton99a
(81,433 posts)onetexan
(13,035 posts)whose actually hundreds of millions in debt, lies like its nobody's business, is a sexual predator, and the biggest conman in the world.
marble falls
(57,063 posts)Calista241
(5,586 posts)Though i cannot today predict if its going to be a tragedy or a comedy.