On June 17^th, 2016, we received another EB-1A (Alien of Extraordinary Ability) approval for a Research Associate in the Field of Cancer Research (Approval Notice).

General Field: Cancer Research

Position at the Time of Case Filing: Research Associate

Country of Origin: India

Service Center: Texas Service Center (TSC)

State of Residence at the Time of Filing: Texas

Approval Notice Date: June 17^th, 2016

Processing Time: 13 months, 12 days (Premium Processing Requested)

Case Summary:

A gifted research associate working in the field of cancer research approached North America Immigration Law Group (NAILG) for help when she decided that she wanted to become an American permanent resident. Our client, whose work is focused on designing and evaluating drugs used to treat advanced prostate cancer, knew that we would work diligently to help her accomplish her goal of getting one step closer to a green card.

Highlighting our client’s credentials:

EB-1A is upheld by a very high standard of law and we had to prove that our client had risen to the top of the field and that her investigations are essential to the United States. We detailed her M.S. in Biotechnology, 7 peer-reviewed scientific articles, 1 book chapter, and numerous conference presentations. Leaving no stone unturned, we also listed the 121 citations gathered from her work and the 8 times she assessed the work of her peers for a handful of scientific journals. We left no room for doubt that our client deserved to have her EB-1A petition approved.

To further strengthen the case, we urged our client to gather recommendation letters from several of her peers. We needed other experts in the field to confirm the value of our client’s research not just to cancer researchers in the US, but also to those based around the world. To our delight, our client returned with six signed letters, all of which contained statements such as these:

“Breast cancer and prostate cancer are enormously widespread and pose serious health issues around the world and in the United States. Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women, while prostate cancer is the second leading type in men. […] While drug treatment can be effective, it often fails due to drug resistance, so finding new method to counteract the growth and spread of cancer is essential to halting its progress and reducing its impact. [Client’s] research is providing the answers we need. She is at the forefront of researchers doing this type of work, and I look forward to watching her string of discoveries continue.”

“It is clear that the work ethic and spirit of innovation that enabled [Client] to develop superior methods for the tanning industry are now being put to use in her work as a cancer researcher.”

The long road to the finish line:

It was a long and winding road to the EB-1A finish line. The first hurdle we encountered involved raising a service request on our client’s behalf after her case was considered outside the normal processing time. Because of the long wait, our client opted to upgrade her case to PP (which would have allowed action to be taken on her case within 15 days). However, the USCIS issued a request for evidence (RFE) a little over two weeks after her case was upgraded to PP. We promptly put together a response to the RFE and 2 weeks after the USCIS received it, they approved our client’s EB-1A petition. We wish her the best as she embarks on the final leg of the green card journey: filing an I-485 application.