EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW)
The second-preference employment category (EB-2) allows individuals of exceptional ability and individuals who are members of the professions holding advanced degrees to get a Green Card (permanent residence).
For EB-2s, a job offer and a labor certification are generally required. This requirement can be waived if the petitioner demonstrates that granting the EB-2 petition would be in the national interest of the United States. There are two different sub-categories under EB-2 NIW: Advanced Degree and Exceptional Ability. You need to be qualified under at least one of the categories to be qualified under EB-2 NIW.
I. Advanced Degree
The job you apply for or already received an offer for must require an advanced degree, such as Master’s or Doctoral degree and you must possess such a degree or its equivalent. This means that alternatively, you can have a U. S Bachelro’s degree or its foreign equivalent degree plus 5 years of post-bachelor’s degree, progressive work experience in your field of expertise to be qualify under advanced degree category. Documentation that you can provide to prove your qualification includes an official academic record showing that you have a U.S. advanced degree or a foreign equivalent degree, or an official academic record showing that you have a U.S. Bachelor’s degree or a foreign equivalent degree, and letters from current or former employers showing that you have at least 5 years of progressive post-bachelors work experience in your field specialty. If a doctoral degree is customarily required for a job position, you must have a United States doctorate or foreign equivalent degree.
II. Exceptional Ability
If your qualifications did not satisfy the requirements for Advanced Degree category, you must be able to show Exceptional Ability in the sciences, arts, or business. According to the USCIS, exceptional ability means a degree of expertise significantly above that ordinarily encountered in the sciences, arts, or business. If you meet at least three criteria below, your qualifications satisfy the requirements for the Exceptional Ability category.
- Official academic record showing that you have a degree, diploma, certificate, or similar award from a college, university, school, or other institution of learning relating to your area of exceptional ability
- Letters from current or former employers documenting at least 10 years of full-time experience in your occupation
- A license to practice your profession or certification for your profession or occupation
- Evidence that you have commanded a salary or other remuneration for services that demonstrates your exceptional ability
- Membership in a professional association(s) related to your field of expertise
- Recognition for your achievements and significant contributions to your industry or field by your peers, government entities, professional or business organizations
- Other comparable evidence of eligibility is also acceptable.
Three Factors to consider for NIW cases
Once you are placed in one of the categories above, the USCIS considers the following three factors to consider your case for a National Interest Waiver:
- The proposed endeavor has both substantial merit and national importance.
- You are well-positioned to advance the proposed endeavor.
- On balance, it would be beneficial to the United States to waive the requirements of a job offer, and thus the labor certification.
The first prong, substantial merit and national importance, focuses on the specific endeavor you propose to undertake in the U. S. In determining whether your proposed endeavor has national importance, the USCIS considers the potential prospective impact of your proposed endeavor. For example, if you conduct research and publish papers as part of your proposed endeavor in the field of Biology. You should be able to successfully argue this prong since researchers around the U. S. will have access to your work, and your work has national implications. Therefore, this validates the national impact of your work.
The second prong focuses on your knowledge, record of success and progress towards achieving the proposed endeavor. Documents such as employment and recommendation letters should be able to establish that you are well-positioned to advance your proposed endeavor.
The third prong requires you to demonstrate that, on balance, it would be beneficial to the U. S. to waive the requirements of a job offer and thus of a labor certification. In performing this analysis, the USCIS may evaluate the totality of submitted evidence to determine whether the U.S. would benefit from your contributions. With well-presented evidence, we should be able to show that you present a significant benefit to the U.S. through your proposed endeavor, your prospective work would serve an urgent national interest, and you offer contributions of such value that, on balance, it would be beneficial to the U.S to waive the requirements of a job offer and thus of a labor certification.