The National Interest Wavier (NIW) is a waiver of the job offer requirement for individuals who wish to immigrate to the United States in the second preference category (EB-2) who are members of the professions holding advanced degrees or individuals of exceptional ability in the arts, sciences, or business. An "advanced degree" means any U.S. academic or professional degree or a foreign equivalent degree above that of baccalaureate. "Exceptional ability" means a degree of expertise significantly above that ordinarily encountered in the sciences, arts, or business.
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| The legal criteria for a national interest waiver were promulgated in the landmark decision In re New York State Department of Transportation ("NYSDOT"). In this decision, the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) of the former INS established a three-prong test to determine whether an alien meets the national interest waiver requirements. These requirements are as follows: |
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- It must be shown that the alien seeks employment in an area that has substantial intrinsic merit;
- It must be shown that the proposed benefit will be national in scope; and
- The petitioner seeking the waiver must persuasively demonstrate that the national interest would be adversely affected if labor certification were required for the alien.
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To satisfy the third prong of the test, it must be shown that the applicant would serve the national interest to a substantially greater degree than an available U.S. worker having the same minimal qualifications, and that the applicant has a record of achievements with some degree of influence on the field as a whole, as demonstrated by a history of valuable contribution and a critical role in ongoing work in the field.
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Evidence in support of the NIW petition includes the following:
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- Letters of recommendation;
- Peer-reviewed journal papers;
- Conference proceedings/abstracts/presentations;
- Documentation of professional membership (if the organization is prestigious, include information on membership requirements and selection criteria);
- Awards and honor (if an award or honor is distinctive, document its background, selection criteria and applicant pool);
- Media report about petitioner’s work;
- Documentation on petitioner being a reviewer for journals, organizer/committee member/session chair for conferences;
- Documentation on the influence of the petitioner’s work including: citations of petitioner’s work, use/application of petitioner’s work by others, requests for the petitioner’s papers and/or professional advice, etc.;
- Pending or approved patent;
- Reviewers’ comment on petitioner’s papers;
- Funding source and petitioner’s key role in the project (e.g. principal investigator or co-principal investigator).
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Want to find out whether you are qualified for NIW? Please send your resume to us for a free evaluation.
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