On February 24^th, 2017, we received another EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) approval for a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Field of Molecular Biology (Approval Notice).

General Field: Molecular Biology

Position at the Time of Case Filing: Postdoctoral Fellow

Country of Origin: India

Service Center: Nebraska Service Center (NSC)

State of Residence at the Time of Filing: Washington

Approval Notice Date: February 24^th, 2017

Processing Time: 10 months, 11 days

Case Summary:

An EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) petition approval was granted to an Indian postdoctoral fellow specializing in molecular biology. Before initiating an attorney-client relationship, North American Immigration Law Group (NAILG) evaluated our client’s credentials to ascertain NIW success. Once we confirmed that we could help him obtain the national interest waiver, we put together a petition that focused on the following:

1. Publication Record and Citation Count

Our client had amassed 60 citations to the 5 peer-reviewed journal articles he had published up till the time of filing. This indicated the significance and impact of our client’s research to the field of molecular biology.

2. Research Specifics

Our client is dedicated to investigating and clarifying hormone signaling in colorectal cancer and characterizing the effects of anti-addiction drugs on maternal-fetal health. These are matters of importance to the United States’ physicians, health care sector, and citizens. Our goal was to highlight the various benefits the United States stands to gain through the continued and unhindered research of our client. Our client’s extensive background in genetics, molecular biology, biotechnology, physiology, chemistry and pharmaceutics further set him apart as a versatile and multifaceted candidate worthy of the national interest waiver.

3. Recommendation Letters

Another winning strategy in filing NIW cases is to utilize the strength of recommendation letters contributed by academic experts working in the same field. In this case, our client collected 2 dependent and 4 independent recommendation letters from his peers. Here is a statement excerpted from one of these letters:

“It is evident from the impact of his work that [Client] is a very impactful researcher, with a wide range of expertise in developmental biology, cancer biology, and pharmaceutics. He has made incomparable progress toward improving cancer diagnostic tools, developing more effective treatment methods, and detailing the pathophysiology of CRC. These accomplishments clearly set him apart from his peers and support his position as a leader in biology and pharmaceutical research.”

Such acknowledgement of our client’s research expertise further established the innate merit of allowing him to continue his work uninterrupted in the United States.

We compiled a very structured and comprehensive NIW petition and filed it on behalf of our client, who then secured petition approval in 10.5 months. In spite of the lengthened adjudication timeline, we are happy about the approval and thank our client for working with us. We also recently filed an EB-1A (Alien of Extraordinary Ability) petition on his behalf, and assuming everything goes according to plan and he secures an approval notice, he will be able to file an I-485 application (final step in the green card process) without waiting for his priority date to become current. We join him as he eagerly waits for the USCIS to take action on his second I-140 petition.