Melania acquired 5 H1-B visas between October 1996 and 2001. Then on March 19, 2001, she obtained a inexperienced card by way of the EB-1 program. This is named the “Einstein visa,” because it’s reserved for “people with extraordinary potential.”
For years, there’s been a lot debate about whether or not Melania — who was a working mannequin, however by no means a supermodel — actually certified. Texas Consultant Jasmine Crockett highlighted the First Girl’s less-than-exceptional achievements in June 2025 whereas criticizing her husband’s immigration insurance policies.
“You’re presupposed to have some form of important achievement, like being awarded a Nobel Peace Prize or a Pulitzer, being an Olympic medalist, or having different sustained extraordinary talents and success in sciences, arts, training, enterprise or athletics,” the Texas Democrat mentioned. “Final time I checked, the First Girl had none of these accolades beneath her belt. It doesn’t take an Einstein to see that the mathematics ain’t mathin’ right here.”
It’s uncommon to qualify for an “Einstein visa.” In 2018, the Washington Publish reported that “of the greater than 1 million inexperienced playing cards issued in 2001, simply 3,376 — or a fraction of 1 % — had been issued to immigrants” beneath the EB-1 program.
However across the similar time, the New York Occasions reported that regardless of the identify, “Einstein visas” don’t simply go to Olympians and Nobel Prize winners. Specialists mentioned loads of fashions with resumes just like Melania’s have acquired EB-1 visas, and the method is surprisingly subjective:
Petitioners for the EB-1, which was created as a part of the Immigration Act of 1990, face a two-part check. America Citizenship and Immigration Providers first should decide whether or not a candidate has offered proof to fulfill three out of 10 standards, equivalent to publishing materials in skilled publications or different main media, showing in creative exhibitions or commanding a excessive wage.
As soon as these are met, the choice comes right down to a obscure and undefined “ultimate deserves dedication” by the immigration company.
“That’s the thriller; no one is aware of what it’s,” mentioned Ms. Sostrin, the lawyer in Los Angeles, who not too long ago secured EB-1s for an award-winning stunt performer and a high-end occasions planner.
Did it assist that Melania was relationship Donald Trump when she started making use of for an “Einstein visa,” a minimum of insofar as giving her entry to a great immigration lawyer? Definitely. Melania really acknowledged this (albeit vaguely) in her memoir.
“My private expertise of traversing the challenges of the immigration course of opened my eyes to the cruel realities folks face … who attempt to grow to be U.S. residents,” she wrote. “After all, there are the nuances of understanding the US immigration legal guidelines, and the advanced authorized language contained therein. I used to be very devoted, however I actually was not an lawyer, and ultimately, it proved vital for me to retain counsel. I used to be lucky to take action, as in the end my journey was streamlined and introduced me over the end line as a naturalized citizen.”
Melania turned a U.S. citizen in July 2006, a number of months after Barron was born.
