Immigration National Act (INA §203(b)(2)(A)) says:
Visas shall be made available to qualified immigrants who are members of the professions holding advanced degrees or their equivalent or who because of their exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business, will substantially benefit prospectively the national economy, cultural or educational interests, or welfare of the United States, and whose services in the sciences, arts, professions, or business are sought by an employer in the United States.
EB2 NIW applicant must meet Advanced Degree Professional OR Exceptional Ability requirement.
According to regulatory requirements (8 CFR 204.5(k)(2)) Exceptional Ability means a degree of expertise significantly above that ordinarily encountered in the sciences, arts, or business.
At least three of the following criteria must be satisfied (8 CFR 204.5(k)(3)(ii)):
- 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 of recommendation from employers documenting at least 10 years of full-time experience in your occupation. List of recommenders with their names, titles and organizations should be also included.
- 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, for example funding for research projects, grants etc.
- Membership in a professional association(s).
- Recognition for your achievements and significant contributions to your industry or field by your peers, government entities, professional or business organizations – publications, citations, comments on published works made by journal referees, invitations to conferences, abstracts etc.
- Other comparable evidence of eligibility is also acceptable.
From above description it is obvious, that Exceptional Ability criteria may be satisfied by wide variety of professions and it is not limited only to postdocs, scientists, researchers or PhD students (these people usually meet Advanced Degree criterion anyway). We have read also about approved NIW cases of engineers, entrepreneurs, movie directors, actors, painters, musicians, dancers, writers etc.
Remember, that this is just minimum statutory requirement, and it is not enough to qualify for National Interest Waiver.
In addition to meeting one of minimum requirements given by law (Exceptional Ability or Advanced Degree Professional) it must be shown that it is in national interest of USA to waive labor certification and approve green card – this is the key of successful NIW petition. This requirement is discussed in EB-2 National Interest Waiver criteria category posts.
Hello there,
I am just curious to know a little bit more about my options. I am searching for the sponsorship that will allow me to work and provide me a pathway to Green Card.
Then, I came across with this article and I am trying to figure out if I can launch self-petition. I have a master’s degree in accountancy and I am also a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Fraud Examiner.
Given the criteria, I meet at least 3 criteria listed above (degree, certification, and membership). What would you suggest me to do here (am I eligible to apply?), and is there a way I could apply for the waiver and self-petition my application.
Please kindly assist.
Thank you for your suggestion and advice in advance.
Hi, it is necessary to meet also 3 NIW requirements – ALL OF THEM! And it is more difficult to satisfy them than these criteria.
Hi,
Thanks for sharing this information, I have already bought the NIW DIY kit and am currently working on my application. I just noticed there are two distinct categories, namely, advanced degree and exceptional ability. My guess is that I would fall somewhere in between these two categories, so I have a couple questions regarding the process:
1. I have a PhD in Chemical Engineering, however I obtained it slightly over a year ago and therefore the amount of publications that I have is not vast. I worked a few years in academic research but not enough to have hundreds of publications, I’m 30 years old and have also worked in different fields. I have published however a book chapter and some other papers, and like most PhD students, I attended conferences and so on. On the other hand, after school I started a company that develops materials to control pollution from power plants, the technology is really close to being commercialized and it has a strong potential to benefit the coal-fired energy industry by reducing compliance costs, we have submitted the patent and also own the license of this technology. My company was awarded with a federal grant from NIH (small business innovation research grant) and a few state grants to develop the technology. Would you recommend the exceptional ability criteria in this case or the advanced degree? Or putting more strength into something in particular?
2. Do you need to include references in your own petition letter, when you describe for example your area of expertise, your merits, etc. I do not mean citations of your work by the way, I just mean, referencing the sources of certain pieces of information such as when you describe how an older technology works, etc. I noticed this was not the case in your example and I would much rather not do it as it is easier, but just wanted to know if it is required.
Thanks,
Rodolfo
Hi Rodolfo,
first of all, thank you very much that you bought our NIW DIY kit.
Regarding your questions – I am not a lawyer so I am not allowed to give you direct legal advice (what you should do). However I am alowed to describe what we did and you can make your own decision with the help of that information, it is up to you. So here are the answers:
1) My husband has also PhD degree and this was sufficient to meet Advanced degree criteria. Btw. remember that similar kind of achievements what you describe here in this point were used when we wanted to prove 3 National interest waiver requirements, especially the third one (look in the cover letter in your DIY kit in the file “I-140.pdf” – chapter 4, pages 11-35 of this cover letter).
2) I used some citations when I thought it would be beneficial for the case – as an example, see page 6 in the cover letter – there is a sentence ““Using digital imaging detectors instead of film further reduces radiation dose.”” and then reference. I wanted to show here why the field of my husband’s work is important and didn’t want just writing it. I wanted to have proof that some authoritative source is stating this fact, not just me. That is the reason why I used this.
Hope it helps a bit. Let me know in case of any other questions.
Veronika
EB2 NIW team
Hello,
I was wondering if you know if a national of exceptional ability who has never lived in the United States can apply for permanent residency under EB2 – NIW category.
I have a Ph.D in Aerospace Engineering from TU Berlin (Germany) and have been working for almost ten years in the aviation industry, however I’ve never been in the U.S. (other than for vacation) Would this category be suitable for me? Or is it required to have some work experience or studies in the U.S?
Thank you in advance for your time to consider my enquiry.
Hi Maelle,
there is no requirement that applicant must live in the USA before applying for NIW. I have several clients who successfully applied while living abroad, for example this client (Testimonial #3).
I wish you good luck!
Veronika
Does your kit cover the needs of music artists?
Hi Kate,
the kit shows my husband’s real case who is a scientist. However, I had clients who successfully used our kit, were approved and were from artist field. Check our testimonials, there is one. You will see how the whole case look like, what formulation to use, what evidence, how to fill all forms etc. Even though it is not your field I believe it is helpful.
Good luck! and let me know in case of any questions.
Veronika, Founder of EB2 NIW project
Hello,
I have a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering with 2 years of experience. I am currently working in the biotech industry, developing methods for COVID 19 vaccine and other mRNA-based technologies. Am I eligible for NIW?
Hi Annie,
it depends on many other things. I am not a lawyer so I am not allowed to do these evaluations. But I would recommend you to google “free niw evaluation” and you can submit your credentials to several lawyers. You will see. It is definitely good idea to start reading about NIW – you will know what kind of goals you need to reach to get the right evidence, testimonials etc.
Let me know in case of any other questions.
Good luck!
Hi Veronika,
A quick question. Or maybe I’m lazy to check it out. But could you tell me why it is required to submit Form ETA 9089 in duplicate (2 copies), as per your DIY kit. I could not find any reference which states to submit ETA 9089 in duplicates. Thank you and hope this is not a silly question. BTW your DIY is very helpful. Will update you once the case is approved.
Hi George,
not a silly question at all, I was thinking about it too. If I remember correctly, I did not find official info about this.
My guess is that this form is actually not from USCIS but DOL and we are sending everything to USCIS. So maybe both agencies keep one copy? Again, this is just my guess, could be far from truth. Sorry I don’t have better answer.
Good luck and please keep me posted, thank you!
Veronika