CASE: I-485 (National Interest Waiver)
CLIENT: Korean
LOCATION: Santa Clara, California
Our client contacted us in June 2013 about the possibility of doing a National Interest Waiver application for him. He is a post-doctorate researcher and scientist in the field of Aerospace Engineering and Science, and was working as a research fellow for NASA at the time of his filing.
Our client is an extraordinary researcher and engineer in the field of Aerospace Engineering Research; specifically, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and flow control.
His significant contributions have placed him at the pinnacle of the field of Aerospace engineering. Our client’s expertise is in the development of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) which meets the contemporary requirements for not only conventional development but also revolutionary aircraft design. He has been helping a U.S. aircraft company investigate the feasibility of their designs under consideration by performing very complex CFD analysis and suggesting alternative optimal new configurations.
Upon review of his credentials and qualifications, our office determined that he was qualified for the National Interest Waiver (NIW) category. Being qualified for the 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 19-page brief for our client’s NIW filing. Our client also obtained 9 letters of recommendation from his colleagues and internationally-recognized scientists. Our office also included his publication records, presentation records, 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 45 exhibits. Our office filed his I-140(NIW) petition at the USCIS Nebraska Service Center on July 29, 2013 along with his I-485 adjustment of status application.
However, on September 16, 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 physics-based turbulence model and computational fluid dynamics research. We also emphasized our client’s past accomplishments and the benefits of his work. Our Response to RFE was filed on November 13, 2013. Eventually, on December 6, 2013, the USCIS Nebraska Service Center approved our client’s I-140 petition.
When we filed our client’s I-140 (NIW) application, we concurrently filed an I-485 adjustment of status application for our client. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices and fingerprint appointment came on time. While our client was waiting for the adjudication of his I-140, our client received his work permit and travel permit from the USCIS.
Eventually, on March 13, 2014, the USCIS Nebraska Service Center approved our client’s adjustment of status application. He is now a green card holder.