CASE: Immigrant Visa / National Interest Waiver
CLIENT: Korean
LOCATION: Seoul, South Korea
Our client contacted us about the possibility of doing a National Interest Waiver self-petition. She is a clinical psychologist in South Korea and did her Ph.D. in Psychology in the United States. While she was in the U.S., she pursued career paths to become a culturally sensitive psychologist, focusing on working with underserved and/or marginalized diverse populations, while developing specialties in trauma-focused clinical intervention.
Our office concluded that our client’s research is of substantial merit, has already aided, and will continue to aid the underserved diverse population in the United States. Additionally, her trauma-focused clinical care will be beneficial to treat populations who have struggled with shock trauma, and co-occurring conditions.
Our office prepared a 25-page brief for our client’s NIW filing. Our client also obtained 10 letters of recommendation from her colleagues, psychologists, and known researchers. Our office also included all other needed materials in the NIW application. We demonstrated that our client is one of the few clinical psychologists who have made significant contributions to her field and that she is well-positioned to advance the proposed endeavor. It would be beneficial to the United States to waive the requirements of a job offer and of a labor certification for our client.
Our office filed her I-140 petition to the USCIS Texas Service Center on July 17, 2020. However, on September 27, 2021, the USCIS issued the Request for Evidence and requested our client to provide more evidence to demonstrate that her work is nationally important and she is well positioned to advance the proposed endeavor.
Our office prepared the RFE Response brief and explained our client’s psychology field, especially concerning the uniqueness of her skills with cross-culture, with its growing importance nationwide. Considering the rising problems of mental health, her presence in the U.S. is a benefit nationwide. We filed our RFE response brief on December 15, 2021. On January 11, 2021, the USCIS approved her I-140 petition.
Once her I-140 was approved, our client retained our office again for her family members’ immigrant visa processing. Our office filed the immigrant visa packets to the National Visa Center on December 9, 2022, which forwarded the client’s materials to the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea. An interview notice was set for the client at the U.S. Embassy. On November 16, 2023, our client and her children appeared at the U.S. Embassy. The interview went well, and on the same day, the U.S. Embassy approved and issued her family members’ immigrant visas.