CASE: I-140 / National Interest Waiver
CLIENT: Korean
LOCATION: Delaware
Our client contacted us in March 2015 about the possibility of doing a National Interest Waiver I-140 Self-Petition. He is a visiting professor from South Korea and he is an extraordinary researcher and scientist in the field of photovoltaic science, thin film photovoltaic materials and processing, and design of semiconductor processing techniques.
His significant contributions have placed him at the pinnacle of the field of photovoltaic research. He is a leading researcher and engineer in the field and has made tremendous contribution in the thin-film semiconductor photovoltaic field for last 15 years. Moreover, our client’s research results have been essential to the understanding of certain solar cell absorber synthesis processing and development of cost-effective commercial production process. Over the years, his work have been highly evaluated by reviewers of various journals and by 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 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 26-page brief for our client’s NIW filing. Our client also obtained 7 letters of recommendation from his colleagues and internationally-recognized scientists. Our office also included his publication record, patents, 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 81 exhibits (Exhibit A to CCCC).
Our office filed his I-140(NIW) petition to the USCIS Texas Service Center on November 2, 2015. Eventually, on March 3, 2016, the USCIS approved his I-140 petition without any Requests 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.