Inspecting claim Melania Trump improperly came to US on EB-1 'Einstein' visa

In June 2025, U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a Democrat from Texas, expressed doubt that first lady Melania Trump had legitimately qualified for a so-called "Einstein visa" — as employment-based visas for people with extraordinary abilities are known — to become a permanent resident, and then a citizen, of the U.S.

"The math ain't mathin'," Crockett said during a June 25 congressional hearing as she explained that the first lady had arrived in the U.S. on such an EB-1 visa. Footage from the hearing was available on YouTube:

Starting around the 1:48 mark in the video, Crockett said:

Let me remind y'all that Melania the first lady, a model — and when I say model, I'm not talking about Tyra Banks, Cindy Crawford or Naomi Campbell-level — applied for and was given an EB-1 visa. And what that stands for is an Einstein visa. 

Now y'all that don't know, let me tell you how you receive an Einstein visa: You're supposed to have some sort of significant achievement like being awarded a Nobel Peace Prize or a Pulitzer, being an Olympic medalist or having other sustained extraordinary abilities and success in sciences, arts, education, business or athletics. Last time I checked, the first lady had none of those accolades under her belt. It doesn't take an Einstein to see that the math ain't mathin' here.

Several Facebook posts relayed Crockett's claim.

Indeed, in 2018, The Washington Post reported that Melania Trump, then Melania Knauss, had petitioned the government for a "green card" — permanent residency in the U.S. — under the highly coveted EB-1 visa in 2000. Knauss was then a model who had completed a few high-profile jobs, including a large advertisement for cigarettes in Times Square and a photograph of her in a bikini with an inflatable whale for Sports Illustrated. Her visa was approved and she was then able to sponsor her parents for permanent residency in the country, according to the Post. 

Snopes was not able to independently obtain confirmation that Trump had indeed obtained this visa or to secure information about the specific decision process behind her reportedly successful application for one. Therefore, we have left the claim unrated. We contacted her then-lawyer, Michael Wildes — who was mayor of Englewood, New Jersey, from 2004 to 2010 and was elected mayor again in 2018 — asking for confirmation that Trump immigrated on the EB-1 visa, and we will update this report should he respond.

The website for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services says that three categories of people are eligible for the EB-1 visa: people with extraordinary abilities, outstanding professors and researchers and certain multinational managers or executives. Trump belonged to neither of the latter two categories, so if she obtained an EB-1 visa, it was under the first category: people with extraordinary abilities.

In fact, models can qualify for this visa under certain conditions. The EB-1 immigrant visa is by no means the only visa a model or performer can apply for to work in the U.S. Others are the O-1A or O-1B visas, which are nonimmigrant visas valid for three years. For example, the comedian John Oliver came to the U.S. on an O-1 visa, which he had to renew several times before obtaining permanent residency. The former Playboy model Shera Bechard also obtained this temporary "genius" visa.

Both the EB-1 and the O-1 visas require the applicant to demonstrate extraordinary abilities.

The EB-1 does not require the applicant to receive a job offer, but the criteria are hard to meet and few such visas are granted each year. However, this does not preclude successful models from obtaining them. Models who enjoy a certain level of recognition and celebrity, with substantial incomes can qualify for this path to residency and possibly citizenship, according to several experts interviewed by The New York Times.

Ultimately, however, everything indicates that there is a degree of arbitrariness in the decision to approve EB-1 visas, and much rests on the immigration officer who makes that decision, which can result in lawsuits.

In sum, it is not improbable that a working model might have received the right to permanently reside in the U.S. based on her extraordinary abilities.

This is not the first rumor about Melania Trump that Snopes has investigated. For more, see our collection of 23 rumors about the first lady.