On January 4^th, 2017, we received another EB-1A (Alien of Extraordinary Ability) approval for a Senior Scientist in the Field of Nanomaterials Science (Approval Notice).

General Field: Nanomaterials Science

Position at the Time of Case Filing: Senior Scientist

Country of Origin: China

Service Center: Nebraska Service Center (NSC)

State of Residence at the Time of Filing: California

Approval Notice Date: January 4^th, 2017

Processing Time: 7 Days (Premium Processing Requested)

Case Summary:

Just one week after North America Immigration Law Group (NAILG) filed an EB-1A (Alien of Extraordinary Ability) petition on behalf of a senior scientist from China, the USCIS approved his case. The reason why it only took a week is because our client opted to file his case using Premium Processing (PP), an add-on service offered by the USCIS. By paying an additional $1,225, our client trimmed down the overall processing timeline from 4-9 months to under 15 days.

Building a strong EB-1A petition:

To obtain EB1A petition approval, we had to provide the USCIS with an abundance of proof that our client’s continued presence in the US is important to the nation. We started off by collecting a wealth of information on our client’s achievements in the field of nanomaterials science. Our goal was to convince the USCIS that he possesses an extraordinary ability to produce impactful research results. We did this by focusing on the following points:

1. We noted our client’s citation count (584 citations at the time of filing) and proved that he had significantly contributed to the realm of science by providing other researchers with much-needed information to progress the field of nanomaterials science as a whole.
2. Our client’s peer review record was also detailed: 40 peer reviews conducted for a variety of high impact scientific journals. This number proved that our client’s opinions are highly respected by other members of the scientific community.
3. We also listed our client’s publication record, which stood at 10 published scientific articles by the time we filed his EB1A case. We showed the USCIS that these articles were published in well-known journals and made available to researchers around the world.

Another important aspect of our client’s EB-1A case had to do with the four recommendation letters which he collected form his peers. These letters advocated for the approval of his EB1A petition and contained statements such as this one: “[Client] is precisely the type of researcher the country needs right now, one who applies his immense talents to making foundational discoveries that accelerate the rate of progress in the field. Thus, it is crucial that he personally remain involved in this invaluable work.”

Securing a green card:
As we were able to convince the USCIS that our client’s work on understanding the optical and electronic behaviors and dynamics of various nanomaterials is important to the US, his EB1A petition was approved. A couple months after he received notification of case approval, we filed I-485 applications for him and his spouse. Once approved, they will become American permanent residents. We join them as they await positive news from the USCIS and in the meantime, we wish our client the best as he continues to address some of our nation’s most pressing issues in understanding how to build efficient energy harvesting devices and high-performance optoelectronics and sensors.