Questions raised over how Melania Trump, former Slovenian model, was granted US 'Einstein visa'

By now we’re probably all pretty knowledgeable about US President Donald Trump’s views on immigration. Bad. Terribly bad. The worst, terrible thing ever.

That’s why people are now questioning how Melania Trump, the amateur-in-chief’s wife and First Lady, managed to earn a special visa reserved for immigrants with ‘extraordinary ability’.

In 2000 Melania Knauss, as she was formerly known, was dating Trump, modelling in the New York fashion industry, and applying for the EB-1 visa, also known as the ‘Einstein visa’, The Washington Post reported.

The special visa is usually reserved for academics, researchers, professors, executives and people who demonstrate ‘extraordinary ability’, proven through documentation, US Citizenship and Immigration Services states.

Not to discredit a fellow hard-working sister, but FLOTUS only worked as a model in runway shows and magazines before her marriage to Trump, and she never reached ‘supermodel’ status. Arguably her biggest job at the time was being featured in the swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated.

Melania was granted her green cards in 2001, among just over one per cent of immigrants with ‘extraordinary ability’ who were granted green cards. She was also one of just five from Slovenia to get a green card through the scheme.

However, Michael Wildes, a lawyer for the Trumps, told the Washington Post that she was ‘more than amply qualified and solidly eligible’, without actually expanding on what those qualities might be.

The First Lady tweeted out about her immigration status in 2016 following questions over the legality of her status during her husband’s presidential campaign. She stressed that she has ‘at all times been in full compliance with immigration laws of this country’.