On March 4^th, 2016, and May 25^th, 2016, we received another EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) and EB-1A (Alien of Extraordinary Ability) approval for a Senior Software Engineer in the Field of Computer Science (Approval Notice).

General Field: Computer Science

Position at the Time of Case Filing: Senior Software Engineer

Country of Origin: China

Service Center: Texas Service Center (TSC)

State of Residence at the Time of Filing: Texas

Approval Notice Date: March 4^th, 2016 (NIW) and May 25^th, 2016 (EB-1A)

Processing Time: 10 months, 26 days (NIW) and 11 months, 16 days (EB-1A)

Case Summary:

A gifted senior software engineer from China employed North America Immigration Law Group (NAILG) to help him get one step closer to his green card. We thoroughly evaluated his credentials and filed two strong petitions on his behalf: EB-1A (Alien of Extraordinary Ability) and EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver). Filing two I-140 petitions is not uncommon as it increases one’s chances of obtaining petition approval. In this case, our client was fortunate to get both his petitions approved.

Our client’s well-worded EB-2 NIW and EB-1A petitions were comprised of a wealth of information on our client’s accomplishments. We noted his M.S. and Ph.D. in Computer Science, his 4 publications, and the 110 citations that his work had gathered when we filed the cases. We also listed the 27 instances he assessed the work of his peers through peer reviews. To further fortify our client’s two cases, we encouraged him to persuade experts in his field of computer science to provide us with recommendation letters. Our client managed to obtain five letters, all of which supported our argument that his work on low-power reliable computing and the study of scheduling algorithms for real-time and parallel and distributed systems is of great importance to the United States. Because both petitions were filed within the same year, we used the same set of letters to fortify both I-140 petitions. According to several of our client’s recommenders:

• “[Client’s] work as a computer scientist has been invaluable to our community because of his contributions in compiling novel algorithms for data system power management.”

• “For the United States, having a top-notch scientist such as [Client] in our arsenal allows us to expand our economic capabilities, and to maintain the international credibility we need. I highly recommend his case.”

• “I would be surprised if this is not the beginning of an extraordinary career for [Client], and I await his further contributions to the field in the coming years.”

RFE and Petition Approvals:

Despite our client’s solid credentials and our strong presentation, Texas Service Center issued a Request for Evidence (RFE) for his EB-2 NIW petition. Our legal team promptly responded to the RFE and several months later, the USCIS granted their approval. Nearly three months after our client’s NIW was approved, he received notification that his EB-1A had also been approved. An EB-1A approval is extremely significant for our client as he will be able to file his I-485 application (final step in the green card process) based on this petition. A major benefit in doing so is that he does not have to wait years for his priority date to become current and can apply for a green card when he is ready.

We congratulate our client for getting significantly closer to a green card and we wish him well as he embarks on the final leg of the green card journey: adjusting his status for permanent residence by filing an I-485 application.