On January 9^th, 2020, we received another NIW (National Interest Waiver) approval for a Senior Simulation Engineer in the Field of Petroleum Engineering (Approval Notice).

General Field: Petroleum Engineering

Position at the Time of Case Filing: Senior Simulation Engineer

Country of Origin: Iran

State/Country of Residence at the Time of Filing: Canada

Approval Notice Date: January 9^th, 2020

Processing Time: 18 months, 4 days

Case Summary:

North America Immigration Law Group (NAILG) was hired by a senior simulation engineer from Iran to file his I-140 EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) petition. After waiting for about 18 months, the USCIS finally granted their approval. The reason it took so long for our client to attain the petition approval is because his NIW was issued a Request for Evidence (RFE). However, our stellar team prepared a strong response to it, which led to case approval. Not only did we convince the USCIS that our client’s credentials were legitimate, we also reiterated that he is an asset to the United States.

Putting together a personalized NIW petition:

Our goal was to highlight our client’s strengths and skills and convince the USCIS that he deserved the national interest waiver. We did so by presenting an array of his accomplishments such as the 158 times his 2 peer-reviewed journal articles (1 of them first-authored) and 2 peer-reviewed conference articles (1 of them first-authored) were cited. We also discussed his work on the modeling of pressing issues involved with the exploitation of unconventional resources such as shale gas. Based on the comprehensive data that we gathered, we concluded that our client’s research directly contributes to the nation because it provides vital new information in production from unconventional hydrocarbon resources, which makes him an asset to the country.

Besides preparing a customized NIW petition, we also gave our client comprehensive advice on a variety of issues related to the I-140. For instance, we helped him select suitable recommenders who could advocate for the approval of his petition. We urged our client to contact these recommenders and ask for letters of support. He returned with 4 signed letters, one of which contained strong statements like these: “[Client] has proven himself to be a supremely gifted researcher in that regard. His work has provided valuable information about the properties of unconventional oil and gas resources and how to accurately model their behavior. With this information, there is less uncertainty about how much oil can be extracted from a reservoir and how much time and energy will be required for the task. Unconventional oil and gas have previously been considered to be impractically expensive. [Client’s] work in developing improved simulations of unconventional resources makes their extraction much more practical.”

Thanks to our insight and experience into how the USCIS adjudicates petitions, we were able to help our client move one step closer to US permanent residency. We congratulate him on this win and wish him the best as he continues to advance the field with his impactful research.