When did Melania Knauss first enter the United States and under what immigration status?
Executive summary
Available reporting says Melania (born Melanija Knavs, later Melania Knauss) first came to the United States as a fashion model in the mid‑1990s and has said she emigrated in 1996; she later obtained an employment‑based EB‑1 ("extraordinary ability") immigrant visa that was approved in 2001 and became a U.S. citizen in 2006 [1] [2] [3]. Public timelines and some reporting note a period of paid modeling in the U.S. before formal work authorization, and news outlets have disagreed about exact dates and whether she worked prior to receiving a work visa [4] [5].
1. The basic timeline reporters use: arrival as a model in the 1990s
Journalistic profiles and Melania’s own statements indicate she left Slovenia to pursue modeling and began working internationally as a teenager; she moved into the U.S. modeling scene in the mid‑1990s and is commonly described as having emigrated for her fashion career in 1996 [1] [6]. Multiple outlets reference her New York modeling activity in the 1990s as the starting point of her U.S. presence [2] [1].
2. The immigration status most frequently reported: EB‑1 immigrant visa approved in 2001
Reporting from major outlets explains that Melania applied for and was approved for an EB‑1 immigrant visa — the category for aliens of “extraordinary ability” sometimes called the "Einstein visa" — with applications beginning around 2000 and approval in 2001; she then naturalized in 2006 [2] [3] [7]. News coverage has emphasized that the EB‑1 category is reserved for people with sustained national or international acclaim [2].
3. Disputed details: modeling jobs and work authorization before a visa
The Associated Press and PBS reporting found ledger entries and contracts showing paid modeling work in the U.S. during a roughly seven‑week window before she is said to have had legal permission to work, generating questions about whether some work predated formal authorization [4]. Her lawyer and a later review asserted she entered the U.S. in H‑1B status in October 1996 and that certain published allegations were impossible, but the lawyer’s statements did not produce all underlying records for independent verification [5].
4. What Melania’s representatives have said and what remains unpublished
Melania’s camp has provided lawyers’ letters asserting timelines and disputing specific photo‑shoot claims, and a lawyer said he had access to immigration files when preparing defenses; those public letters did not attach complete records, and reporters have repeatedly said full immigration files have not been released to the public for independent review [5] [4]. Thus, some factual assertions in defenses are based on statements rather than documentary publication [5].
5. How journalists and analysts interpret the EB‑1 approval
News analysis has noted that EB‑1 approvals span a wide range of professions and that applicants sometimes define a narrow field of “extraordinary ability” to qualify; commentators observed that EB‑1 approvals for a celebrity or model can attract scrutiny given the visa’s high standard [2]. Some critics and commentators have questioned whether the available public evidence fully explains how the EB‑1 criteria were met in this case [2] [5].
6. Competing perspectives and potential agendas in coverage
Proponents of Melania’s account — including her legal representatives — say she followed the legal process and eventually naturalized, while investigative reporting outlets point to ledger entries and timing questions that could suggest paid work before formal authorization [4] [5]. Coverage has at times been amplified in partisan contexts because immigration policy is a major political issue and because her husband’s public stances on immigration make her history politically salient, which can create incentives for both skeptical scrutiny and defensive framing [3] [8].
7. What available sources do not settle
Publicly available reporting in these sources does not provide a fully documented, day‑by‑day immigration file released in full for independent review; therefore precise dates for every entry, visa petition filing, and periods of authorized work are not exhaustively documented in the cited reporting [5] [4]. Available sources do not mention every specific document that would conclusively settle the disputed seven‑week window or show the complete EB‑1 petition package [5].
Conclusion — the evidentiary balance
Taken together, reporting consistently states she began modeling in the U.S. in the mid‑1990s, applied for and received an EB‑1 immigrant visa with approval in 2001, and naturalized in 2006 [1] [2] [3]. Disputes persist in public reporting about whether some paid modeling preceded formal work authorization; defenses have been offered by her lawyers but the underlying immigration file has not been published in full for independent confirmation [4] [5].