CASE: I-485 (National Interest Waiver Category)
CLIENT: Korean
LOCATION: Raleigh, North Carolina
Our client contacted us in March 2012 regarding the possibility of doing a National Interest Waiver self-petition for him. He is a post-doctorate researcher and scientist in the field of Chemistry, and is currently working as a post-doctorate researcher in an academic institution in Raleigh, North Carolina.
His significant contributions have placed him at the pinnacle of the field of medicinal and organic chemistry. He is a leading scientist with an excellent reputation in the development of successful next generation cancer chemotherapeutics that are non-toxic under the action of magnetic waves which would eliminate many of the problematic toxicities that plague current cancer chemotherapeutics. Also, our client is currently developing nano-medicine platform technologies which are useful in addressing such intractable problems such as cancer, in a fundamentally new way.
Upon review of his credentials and qualifications, our office determined that he was qualified for the National Interest Waiver (NIW) category. Being qualified for NIW is beneficial since you would not need an employer nor family member to petition you for green card purposes. You’d be eligible for a self-petition and unless you are from China or India, in which case you’d still have to wait for priority dates to be current, you would be eligible to apply for adjustment of status (green card) immediately without any lag in priority dates.
As a primer, NIW applicants must have a master’s or higher degree. The landmark immigration case that discusses the standards for NIWs is Matter of New York State Department of Transportation, 22 I&N Dec. 215 (Comm.1998). This case held that the qualifying applicant must show the following elements in his or her I-140 NIW petition: First, it must be shown that the alien seeks employment in an area of substantial intrinsic merit. Next, it must be shown that the proposed benefit will be national in scope. Finally, the petitioner seeking the waiver must establish that the alien will serve the national interest to a substantially greater degree than would an available U. S. worker having the same minimum qualifications.
Our office prepared a 17-page brief for our client’s NIW filing. Our client also obtained 8 letters of recommendation from his colleagues and internationally-recognized scientists. Our office also included his publication record, presentation record, and conference materials in the NIW application. We demonstrated the intrinsic merit of our client’s research in the United States, the national scope of his research, and asserted that our client would serve the national interest to a substantially greater degree than would an available U.S. worker having the same minimum qualifications. His NIW application contained 32 exhibits.
Our office filed his I-140(NIW) petition to the USCIS Texas Service Center on July 31, 2012. However, on June 5, 2013, the USCIS issued a Request for Evidence for his I-140 petition. In response to the RFE request, our office prepared a brief which included notes from scientists in the field regarding updates of his work and the importance of his past work in cancer research and worldwide healthcare in general. We also emphasized our client’s past accomplishments and the benefits of his work. Our Response to RFE was filed on June 27, 2013. Eventually, on August 7, 2013, the USCIS Texas Service Center approved our client’s I-140 petition.
Once the I-140 petition was approved, our client retained our office again for his I-485 adjustment of status application. Our office filed an I-485 adjustment of status application for our client on September 5, 2013. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices and fingerprint appointment came on time.
Eventually, on November 21, 2013, the USCIS Texas Service Center approved our client’s adjustment of status application. Now, he finally is a green card holder.