CASE: Immigrant Visa / Consular Professing based on Approved I-140 / National Interest Waiver
CLIENT: Korean
LOCATION: Seoul, South Korea
Our client contacted us about the possibility of doing a National Interest Waiver self-petition. He is a researcher in South Korea and he is an exceptional researcher and scientist in the field of Radio Frequency (RF) / microwave engineering and mobile and wireless communication networks.
Our client’s significant contributions have placed him at the pinnacle of his field. Throughout his career, our client has demonstrated his exceptional ability as a researcher and has contributed significantly to the general progress of the efforts in the secured and special purposed network analysis and applications. Specifically, our client’s outstanding work has strong contributions for multiple application spaces including the Fifth-Generation (5G) based smart city communication applications, smart factor infrastructure design and implementation, and military data communication application. Because of his innovative research, our client’s research works were highly evaluated by the reviewers of various journals and by colleagues and experts in the field.
Upon review of his credentials, 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. While we prepared his case, the AAO set the new standards for NIW cases in Matter of Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. 884 (AAO 2016). Under the new 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 21-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 records, presentation records, 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 Nebraska Service Center on April 15, 2019. Eventually, on December 19, 2019, the USCIS approved his I-140 petition without any Request for Evidence.
Once his I-140 was approved, our client retained our office again for his and his family members’ immigrant visa processing. Once we were retained, our office filed the immigrant visa packets to the National Visa Center on March 5, 2020, who in turn 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 in Seoul. On September 27, 2021, our client, his wife, and his daughter appeared at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea The interview went well, and on the same day, the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea approved and issued his and his family members’ immigrant visas.
With the approved Immigrant visas, our client and his family members can come to the United States immediately, and they will get their green cards within two months of entry.