Month: January 2012

Ombudsman Raises Concerns and Makes Official Recommendations to the USCIS after the I-140 Memo Regarding EB-1A, EB-1B and EB-2

Posted by wegreened on in EB1 Green Card
by Victoria Chen, Esq., J.D.  01/20/2012 On December 22, 2010, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a statement that applies a Ninth Circuit decision, Poghos Kazarian v. US Citizenship and Immigration Services, to policy regarding certain employment-based petitions files for individuals with extraordinary ability, outstanding professors and researchers, and exceptional ability professionals. This I-140 policy memorandum provides for a two-part test to determine eligibility: 1. Read more [...]

February 2012 Visa Bulletin: Cut-off date for people born in India and China will Jump to Jan/2010

Posted by wegreened on in Uncategorized
Victoria Chen, J.D., Esq.   The January Visa Bulletin shows that the cut-off dates for the India and China Employment-Based, second preference (EB-2) category rapidly moved forward by “nearly 10 months, to January 1, 2009.  Now, Chen Immigration Law Associates wants to share the good news of a further advancement in the cut-off date.  The February 2012 Visa Bulletin reports that the cut-off date for those born in India and China applying under EB-2 is now January 1, 2010.   What Read more [...]

Case Study: Appeal Sustained and Petition Approved by AAO on a NIW petition which held that the number of citations, by itself, does not appear to be sufficient to establish eligibility, but the petition does not rest solely on those citations

Posted by wegreened on in Uncategorized
Background: The petitioner is a member of the professions holding an advanced degree. The petitioner is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UTSMC), Dallas. The petitioner asserts that an exemption from the requirement of a job offer, and thus of a labor certification, is in the national interest of the United States. The director found that the petitioner qualifies for classification as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree but that Read more [...]

Case Study: Appeal Sustained and Petition Approved by AAO on a NIW petition where the AAO has not designated any arbitrary number of independent citations as the cutoff point for waiver eligibility

Posted by wegreened on in Uncategorized
Background:  The petitioner was about to begin a postdoctoral research position at the University of Texas at Austin (UTA). The petitioner asserts that an exemption from the requirement of a job offer, and thus of a labor certification, is in the national interest of the United States. The director found that the petitioner qualifies for classification as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree but that the petitioner had not established that an exemption from the requirement Read more [...]

Case Study: Appeal Sustained and Petition Approved by AAO on a NIW petition for an Alien with little citations but high download number

Posted by wegreened on in Uncategorized0 Comment
Background: The petitioner seeks classification pursuant to section 203(b)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act), 8 U.S.C. s 1153(b)(2), as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree. At the time she filed the petition on March 30, 2007, the petitioner was a doctoral student and graduate research assistant at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston. The petitioner received her Ph.D. on August 15, 2007, and subsequently undertook postdoctoral training Read more [...]

Case Study: Appeal Sustained and Petition Approved by AAO on a NIW petition where a low number of citations is not necessarily or automatically fatal to a national interest waiver petition

Posted by wegreened on in Uncategorized0 Comment
Background: The petitioner seeks employment as a research fellow at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The petitioner asserts that an exemption from the requirement of a job offer, and thus of a labor certification, is in the national interest of the United States. The director found that the petitioner qualifies for classification as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree but that the petitioner had not established that Read more [...]

Case Study: Appeal Sustained and Petition Approved by AAO on a NIW petition where no rigid formula by which a certain number of citations and/or witness letters draws a sharp line between eligible and ineligible aliens

Posted by wegreened on in Uncategorized0 Comment
Background: The petitioner is a postdoctoral researcher at the Ohio State University (OSU). The petitioner asserts that an exemption from the requirement of a job offer, and thus of a labor certification, is in the national interest of the United States. The director found that the petitioner qualifies for classification as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree but that the petitioner had not established that an exemption from the requirement of a job offer would be in the national Read more [...]

Case Study: Appeal Sustained and Petition Approved by AAO on a NIW petition for an Alien Who had 12 independent citations

Posted by wegreened on in Uncategorized0 Comment
Background: The petitioner seeks employment as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Chicago. The petitioner asserts that an exemption from the requirement of a job offer, and thus of a labor certification, is in the national interest of the United States. The director found that the petitioner qualifies for classification as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree but that the petitioner had not established that an exemption from the requirement of a job offer would be in Read more [...]

Case Study: Appeal Sustained and Petition Approved by AAO on a NIW petition for an Alien Who had 25 independent citations

Posted by wegreened on in Uncategorized0 Comment
Background: The petitioner submitted printouts from the Science Citation Index, showing that two of his articles were cited three times each, and a third was cited seven times, for an aggregate total of thirteen citations (eight of which appear to have been self-citationsby the petitioner or his collaborators). The petitioner did not document any othercitations. Over 26 published papers, thirteen citations yields an average citation rate of .5, not 4.3. Therefore, the petitioner appears Read more [...]

Case Study: Appeal Sustained and Petition Approved by AAO on a NIW petition for an Alien Who had less than 30 independent citations

Posted by wegreened on in Uncategorized
Background: The petitioner seeks employment as a research associate at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center (NJMRC). The petitioner asserts that an exemption from the requirement of a job offer, and thus of a labor certification, is in the national interest of the United States. The director found that the petitioner qualifies for classification as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree but that the petitioner had not established that an exemption from the requirement Read more [...]