Professionals holding advanced degrees and with exceptional ability in the arts, sciences or business might be able to able to bypass the labor certification/PERM process and obtain a permanent residence through the Second Preference Employment-Based (EB2)Category if they can provide evidence that such an exemption would be in the national interest. Although this category requires an employer, a job offer and labor certification,however, the Attorney General may waive this requirement if the work by the alien is in the "national interest".
"National interest" is a vitally important concept, especially when it relates to the extraordinary ability provisions.
To an extent perhaps unparalleled in any other area of employment based immigration, identification of the national interest requires creativity and most importantly, the ability to consider a range of cross-disciplinary factors which would establish that the alien's professional capabilities, personal interest and overall employment opportunities will benefit US national interest.
National interest waiver means waiver of job offer requirement and hence no labor certification is necessary.
To qualify for national interest waiver, the individual's work must benefit the US in the national interest. The term "national interest" is not defined in the statute.
To qualify for NIW for professionals holding advanced degrees, the applicant must establish that his/her admission to the U.S. will be on national interest by showing that he/she can contribute to the U.S. in one or more of the following ways. (Applicants who are already in the U.S. on non-immigrant visa status like student visa (F visa), non-immigrant work visa (H visa) etc. can qualify under this category)
- Improving the U.S. economy
- Improving wages and working conditions of U.S. workers
- Improving education and training programs for U.S. children and under-qualified workers
- Improving health care
- Providing more affordable housing for younger and /or older, poorer U.S. residents
- Improving the environment of the United States and making more productive use of natural resources
- Improving international cultural understanding and /or
- A request from an interested U.S. agency
Advanced degree relating to the area of exceptional ability Letters of recommendation from current or former employers showing at least 10 years of experience Recognition for achievements and significant contributions to the industry, professional or business organization License to practice profession Applicant has commanded a salary or remuneration demonstrating exceptional ability Membership in professional association
Advantages:
No job offer is necessary. You are not bound by any employment throughout the course of the National interest application, and can skip the Labor Certification application process. Labor certification is required for most of the other employment based immigration application.
Who qualifies?
Our law firm can evaluate your qualifications and let you know what we think of your qualifications. You may very well be qualified to apply for a national interest waiver. There is no obligation to us of any kind for our evaluation. Please mention: NIW-evaluation in the subject field of teh e-mail.
A potential applicant may not consider one's strong chances to apply for a national interest waiver. Our law firm can help you to draft the legal memorandum to accompany the application to the CIS, can improve the quality of an application by careful drafting of the various supporting documents. We can provide you sample recommendation letters and testimonials to coordinate the necessary supporting evidence to strengthen your application. Our law firm has demonstrated extremely high approval rates and ability to serve professional clients.
Federal and state funding commitment to research including federal and state grants to universities and research projects establish two key considerations
That the alien's specific field of endeavor is a matter of national priority so as to merit federal/state funding commitments That the employing organization possesses a high scientific caliber, and is working in the area of national interest, since there are threshold determinations in making federal research grant allocations The national interest waiver provision has special relevance for young, up and coming researcher/scientists and for those individuals who have yet to publish widely or otherwise gain widespread recognition within their professional field.