CASE: I-140 / National Interest Waiver
CLIENT: Korean
LOCATION: College Park, MD
Our client contacted us about the possibility of doing a National Interest Waiver self-petition. He is a researcher from South Korea and he is an exceptional scientist in the field of Condensed Matter Physics research.
Our client’s contributions have placed him at the pinnacle of his field. He is capable of many experimental measurement techniques such as electrical transport, thermal transport, low temperature physics, etc., and he is capable of device fabrication and computational simulations using finite element analysis. Because of his innovative research, our client’s work were highly evaluated by the reviewers of various journals, colleagues and experts in the field.
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 for 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 AAO set new standards for NIW cases in Matter of Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. 884 (AAO 2016). Under this standard, the petitioner must demonstrate that the foreign national’s proposed endeavor has both substantial merit and national importance. Next, it must be shown that he or she is well positioned to advance the proposed endeavor. Finally, the petitioner seeking the waiver needs to demonstrate that, on balance, it would be beneficial to the United States to waive the job offer and labor certification requirements. Id.
Our office prepared a 24-page brief for our client’s NIW filing. Our client also obtained 6 letters of recommendation from his colleagues and internationally-recognized researchers. Our office also included his publication record, presentation record, and conference materials in the NIW application. We demonstrated that our client is one of the few elite researchers who have made significant and substantial contributions to his field of endeavor, that he is well positioned to advance the proposed endeavor, and it would be beneficial to the United States to waive the requirements of a job offer and thus of a labor certification for our client.
Our office filed his I-140(NIW) petition to the USCIS Texas Service Center on October 5, 2021. On March 15, 2022, the USCIS approved his I-140 petition without any Request for Evidence. When we filed his I-140, he concurrently filed his I-485 adjustment of status application. His adjustment of status application will be approved soon as well.