On June 16^th, 2017, we received another EB-1A (Alien of Extraordinary Ability) approval for a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Field of Neurophysiology (Approval Notice).

General Field: Neurophysiology

Position at the Time of Case Filing: Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Country of Origin: China

Service Center: Texas Service Center (TSC)

State of Residence at the Time of Filing: Oklahoma

Approval Notice Date: June 16^th, 2017

Processing Time: 4 months, 3 days (Premium Processing Requested)

Case Summary:

The field of neurophysiology in the United States will continue to see much progress thanks to our client, a highly acclaimed Chinese postdoctoral research fellow whose EB-1A (Alien of Extraordinary Ability) petition was recently approved.

When our client approached us to help her with the first step of the green card process, the team at North America Immigration Law Group (NAILG) double checked if her credentials made her a suitable candidate for EB1A, a stringent visa category. Once we determined that we could help her obtain petition approval, we countersigned the retainer agreement and started building a watertight case for her. Some of the information highlighted in the EB1A dossier included:

– Our client is a doctoral degree holder and has made substantial contributions to the field of neurophysiology. Her research specialty includes neural mechanisms of flavor, which is an important regulator of ingestive behaviors. Our client’s research provides deep insights into understanding dietary issues by uncovering hidden neurobiological functions in different brain regions. Her impactful research helps the American scientific community frame new public health policies and preventative strategies for devastating health conditions like diabetes and cardiovascular disease. We left no stone unturned in gathering data regarding the benefits of allowing our client to remain in the United States.

– We shed light on our client’s multiple scholarly achievements: 17 peer-reviewed scientific articles published in high impact journals which had accrued 107 citations at the time of filing.

– Our client’s indisputable expertise in the field of neurophysiology was evident in the 32 peer reviews she had conducted for top-tier journals. This is a laudable achievement which affirmed her position as a scientist of the highest caliber.

– As part of our winning legal strategy, we urged our client to collect recommendation letters from other experts who are familiar with her scientific contributions. According to one of these recommenders, a well-known professor of surgery:

“[Client’s] original projects comprise some of the most current important work taking place in neurophysiology, as they illuminate the biological mechanisms that regulate flavor perception in human taste. […] [Client] has very few scientific equals in her field and has achieved a deserved reputation in the scientific community as a highly valuable contributor to this area.”

Such statements contained in the recommendation letters supported our argument that our client deserved EB1A approval.

When it was ready, we filed the EB1A petition and upgraded it to Premium Processing (PP) 10 days later. PP is a paid option offered by the USCIS whereby the adjudication timeline can be sliced down to 15 days instead of 4-9 months. Although our client was issued a Request for Evidence (RFE), our team handled it in an effective manner, paving the way for case approval. We are happy at this positive outcome and wish our client the very best as she continues to progress the field of neurophysiology.