File EB1-Extraordinary Ability and National Interest Waiver at the Same Time

Question: I am a medical research scientist and I have several U.S. patents. I want to file EB1-Extraordinary Ability (EB-1A) and National Interest Waiver applications (NIW) at the same time with the help of your DIY packages. If one of my Form I-140 application gets approved, what would happen with the other pending form I-140 petition? do I have to withdraw the pending I-140 application? Answer: If one of your form I-140 application has been approved, you do not need to withdraw the other pending Form I-140 application. You should keep your EB-1A and NIW application intact, until you receive a Green Card after you file adjustment of status application by using Form I-485. The approved I-140 petition cannot be transferred to other, and the I-485 application approval will take one immigrant visa number form the immigrant quota. For more information, please see EB1-Extraordinary Ability - File EB1-Extraordinary Ability and National Interest Waiver at the Same Time

I-485 Application - Adjusting to United States Permanent Resident

I-485 Application - Adjusting to United States Permanent Resident After your I-140 petition approval, the Form I-485 is used to apply to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to adjust your status to U.S. permanent resident.You may apply to adjust your status if an immigrant visa number is immediately available to you, based on an approved I-140 Form. An adjustment of status application is filed by a beneficiary of an approved immigrant visa petition. The adjustment application is filed after the receipt of an immigrant visa approval notice from the USCIS. When an immigrant visa number becomes available, you can file an I-485 Adjustment of Status application to adjust your status from non-immigrant status to U.S. permanent resident. You need to provide personal information and your dependent information to the USCIS, and USCIS will use the information to determine if there is any reason why permanent residence should not be granted. When you send your I-485 application to USCIS, you may also submit the I-765 form for Employment Authorization Document (EAD) application, if you and your spouse want to work in the United States while your I-485 application is in process. If you have applied for adjustment of status and want to travel abroad while the I-485 application is pending, you may need permission to return to the United States after traveling abroad. If you do not apply for Advance Parole before you leave the U.S. and your current status in U.S. is not H or L, you may be abandoning your I-485 application with the USCIS, and upon your return, you may be refused admission to the United States. For more information, please see Form I-485 Application - Adjusting to United States Permanent Resident

The Requirements for Multinational Executives and Managers Under the EB1 Immigrant Category

The Requirements for Multinational Executives and Managers Under the EB1 Immigrant Category To qualify for a Green Card as an EB1 Multinational Executive or Manager, the foreign worker must show that he or she was employed by a company affiliated with the current U.S. employer as an executive or manager outside the U.S. for at least one year out of the three years before the transfer to the United States. The requirements for multinational executives and managers under the immigration first preference are similar to those for executives and managers under the L-1A non-immigrant subcategory. A non-immigrant worker under L-1A status may generally qualify under the immigration first preference category. However, there is no such equivalent of immigration first preference category for the specialized knowledge L-1B workers. The basic requirements for multinational executives and managers under the EB1 first preference are as follows: a) the alien must have been employed outside the United States in a managerial or executive capacity for at least one year in the three years prior to the filing of the petition; b) if the worker is currently in the U.S. working for the same prospective U.S. employer, the three year period is the time preceding his or her entry to the U.S. as a non-immigrant; c) the foreign employer must have been the same employer, an affiliate or a subsidiary of the prospective U.S. employer; d) the alien must be coming to the U.S. to work in an executive or managerial capacity; and e) the prospective U.S. employer must have been doing business for at least one year. This means that a multinational executive or manager is the one who has been employed outside the U.S. in a managerial or executive capacity for at least one of the three years immediately preceding the filing of the petition. The U.S. employer must file the petition for the manager or executive. The petition must be accompanied by a statement from the U.S. employer affirming all of the pertinent requirements, including a description of the job duties to be performed by the foreign executive/manager in the United States, the job duties performed by the foreign executive/manager abroad, and the periods of employment by the foreign executive/manager abroad. For more information, please see EB1 Multinational Executives and Managers - The Requirements for Multinational Executives and Managers Under the EB1 Immigrant Category

The Outstanding Researchers and Professors EB-1 Subcategory

The Outstanding Researchers and Professors EB-1 Subcategory If a foreign national has an international reputation for being outstanding in a particular academic field, that person may, with an offer of work from a U.S. employer, qualify for a Green Card as a priority worker within the outstanding professors and researchers subcategory. The foreign national will have to show at least three years experience at either teaching or research in the relevant academic field. The job offer for which the applicant is coming to the U.S. must be a specific tenured or tenure-track teaching or research position at a university or an institution of higher learning. Or, if the position is at a research organization, it must be a permanent position - showing permanence can be a bit dicey in cases where the position is based on grant money that will run out in a year, but this can be overcome by showing that the employer intends to seek continued funding and that a reasonable expectation of success exists, such as a track record of renewed funding. Not every type of employer can make use of this visa category. It must be a qualified employer, meaning either a university or institution of higher education or a department, division, or institute of a private research entity with at least three full-time researchers on staff. The private U.S. employer will also need to show a history of making significant achievements in research. For more information, please see EB1 Outstanding Researchers and Professors EB-1 Subcategory

What is National Interest Waiver

What is National Interest Waiver The Immigration Act of 1990 created several new employment-based immigration categories. Section 203(b)(2)(A) includes members of the professions holding advanced degrees and aliens of exceptional ability in the arts, sciences or business. Popularly referred to as EB2, this category normally requires a permanent job offer and an approved Labor Certification. The Immigration Act of 1990 also created a means of avoiding these requirements, by including a provision for a "national interest" waiver of the requirement of a job offer and a Labor Certification. The Act states that "the Attorney General may, when he deems it to be in the national interest, waive the requirement...that an alien's services in the sciences, arts or business be sought by an employer in the United States." The National Interest Waiver applies to both sub-categories of EB2, members of the professions holding advanced degrees and aliens of exceptional ability. Since most scientists, researchers, international students, and university teachers have at least a Master's degree, the waiver provision can be extremely beneficial to the academic community. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) also recognizes that a Bachelor's degree plus five years of progressive work experience in the area of specialty is equivalent to an advanced degree. For more information, please see What is National Interest Waiver

National Interest Waiver - Options to Apply for a U.S. Green Card

National Interest Waiver - Options to Apply for a U.S. Green Card The National Interest Waiver or NIW, is an employment-based, second preference immigration application. It is so named because it asks that the otherwise required Labor Certification requirement be waived "in the U.S. national interest." For applicants with an advanced degree - masters or above, there are three ideal options to apply for a Green Card. These options are in different classifications of Employment-based (EB) immigration, including: · EB1A: Aliens with Extraordinary Ability in science, art, and business (or EB1-EA); · EB1B: Outstanding Researchers and Professors (or EB1-OR); · EB2 NIW: Members of Professions Holding Advanced Degrees Applying for a Waiver of Labor Certification in National Interest (or NIW). Many talented scientists and researchers should have better chances when they apply for an attractive job position. However often times, they failed just because they do not have a U.S. Green Card. Some people with advanced degree do not know how to apply for U.S. Green Card in above three preferred immigration categories, but instead, these people apply for a Labor Certification. However, choosing Labor Certification is not the best strategy for people who may qualify for one of the above three ideal immigration classifications. To qualify for EB2 NIW, an alien applicant needs to demonstrate that his or her work is in the National Interest of United States, and the alien applicant should have an advanced degree and have exceptional ability in sciences, arts or business. The National Interest Waiver Green Card application can either be filed by an alien applicant, or be sponsored by a U.S. employer. An alien applicant may also file additional Green Card applications in other categories, while a National Interest Waiver application is pending. For more information, please see National Interest Waiver - Ideal Options to Apply for a U.S. Green Card

EB1 Extraordinary Ability application - The Reference Letters (Recommendation Letters)

The Reference Letters (Recommendation Letters) and Application Cover Letter For EB1 Extraordinary Ability application, an alien applicants needs to have four to five reference letters (also called recommendation letters) from experts in a field attesting to the alien's significant contributions to the field and national or international reputation in the field. It is recommended a alien should collect a variety of letters from people outside his or her current employer and/or outside the U.S., and from senior people in U.S. government and industry. The reference letters included in the EB1-Extraordinary Ability application and written by field experts should include the following: 1) Writer's qualifications to issue his/her opinion, and the position of the writer in the field; 2) How the writer knows of the alien's work, and alien's background and achievements as well as commentaries on how the alien's achievements are original contributions of major significance; 3) Commentaries on the significance of the alien's publications, awards, and any memberships in professional associations, and how the alien's work has made significant or outstanding contributions to the field; 4) The alien applicant possesses unique knowledge, abilities, or experience that sets him/her apart from the professional peers. The worst thing is to obtain several reference letters which are all look same, and may have the same repeated grammatical errors. The USCIS examiners will believe that these letters were actually prepared by the applicant, rather than by the actual referrers. Also, the EB1-Extraordinary Ability application should include a application cover letter, which should be used as a summary letter discussing the following items: 1) Describes the alien's work and how it affects the field, it’s potential for broader applications; 2) Explains the alien's current work and its future applications, both academically and in the private sector; 3) Describes how the alien is essential or intimately connected to the work, the effects of this work on the U.S. and its people. The application cover letter and reference letters should be written in plain English. Immigration officers with bachelor's or higher degrees will usually read these letters. They may not know the alien's field, but they do spend most working days evaluating and synthesizing information and drawing conclusions. Therefore, an alien applicant should convince them that the alien is doing exceptional work and that somewhere down the line this work will help someone they know. For more information, please see EB1 Extraordinary Ability application - The Reference Letters (Recommendation Letters)