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Case Summary:

A research associate from India hired North America Immigration Law Group (NAILG) to help her file an O-1A (Individuals with Extraordinary Ability or Achievement) petition. With a Ph.D. in biochemistry and extensive experience in molecular biology, our client checked all the boxes when it came to qualifying for O1-A. These are the criteria she claimed:

• Original contributions: At the time of filing, our client had already been cited 340 times. This proved the value of her work not just to other researchers but to the field of molecular biology as a whole.
• Authorship: The many years that our client has dedicated to the field have resulted in 23 peer-reviewed scientific articles (14 of them first-authored and 1 of them co-first-authored), all of which were published in well-known scientific journals.
• Judge of others’ work: To highlight the fact that our client’s ideas and opinions are respected by other researchers in the field, we presented her peer review record- 5 reviews conducted by the time we filed her case.

Besides data on the three O1-A criteria mentioned above, our client’s petition packet contained a wealth of information related to her impactful research on clarifying how the molecular and biochemical mechanisms of cells and neurons influence disease development. Her research addresses some of our nation’s most pressing issues in the study and development of cutting-edge therapies for treating deadly conditions like cancer and liver disease. In a bid to further fortify our client’s O1-A petition, we also included 4 written advisory opinions contributed by experts from well-known institutions around the world. These letters advocated for the approval of our client’s O1-A petition and supported our argument that she is indeed an individual with extraordinary ability. One of these letters contained statements like “…[client’s] excellent work has significantly advanced scientific understanding and progress throughout the world. [Client’s] research accomplishments place her in the upper echelons of the field of cell and molecular biology today. Throughout her career, she has consistently illustrated her expertise and the beneficial applications of her work.”

Despite our meticulous presentation of our client’s strong credentials, the USCIS issued a Request for Evidence (RFE). According to the USCIS website, “A request for evidence is made when an application/petition is lacking required documentation/evidence (initial evidence) or the officer needs more documentation/evidence (additional evidence) to determine an applicant’s eligibility for the benefit sought.” As soon as we received the RFE, our legal team sprang into action. We promptly responded to the RFE and successfully dealt with all hesitations about our client’s qualifications. Thanks to premium processing (PP), our client received notification of case approval in just 1 month after we filed the personalized O1-A petition on her behalf. We thank her for choosing us for her O1-A petition and trusting us for her NIW and EB1B applications.