Success Stories: A Chinese Postdoctoral Associate in Molecular Biology Comes to NAILG for NIW Approval and Gets Confirmation in Less Than 5 Months
Client’s Testimonial:
“It is really great news. It was a pleasure working with you.”
On April 18th, 2022, we received another EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) approval for a Postdoctoral Associate in the Field of Molecular Biology (Approval Notice).
General Field: Molecular Biology
Position at the Time of Case Filing: Postdoctoral Associate
Country of Origin: China
State of Residence at the Time of Filing: North Carolina
Approval Notice Date: April 18th, 2022
Processing Time: 4 months, 27 days
Case Summary:
The I-140 NIW is an EB2 category visa for individuals of foreign origin who want to work in the U.S. and prove their work is nationally significant. So when an expert in the field of molecular biology from China came to us, we made sure to help her obtain the National Interest Waiver (NIW) approval as quickly as possible. In our years of experience, we have seen that the NIW approval period can be as short as several weeks to multiple years. While the exact reason for this is not known, we are certain that the adjudication process can be helped immensely if the case preparation and presentation are strong. This is where we come in.
Based on the above calculation, we began working on our client’s application. We collected data from all of her academic and professional records. We checked every document and turned every page to find the following:
- Her proposed endeavor is to continue her research on the study of the mechanisms of proteins and viruses and the development of state-of-the-art extracellular vesicle engineering, visualization, and purification approaches in order to improve therapeutics for a variety of human diseases.
- Her research has great substantial merit and national importance since among other applications, it is essential to improving drug performance, reducing drug development costs, and developing inhibitors against ricin and treatments for common foodborne illnesses.
- As her research promotes the development of more affordable and more successful novel drug platforms for treating diseases, it was evidently of significance for the country and the globe.
- Her research directly addresses the global need for novel drug platforms that demonstrate superior performance and effectiveness, simplifying the decision-making process among pharmaceutical companies for identifying drug candidates and reducing the overall costs associated with developing new drugs. This is why one of her recommenders also said:
- In addition to addressing important national security concerns, Dr. Zhou’s work addresses salient national healthcare concerns, due to which her research has been supported with funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS).
- Her research has resulted in 6 peer-reviewed journal articles (4 of them first-authored) and these publications have been cited a total of 71 times according to Google Scholar.
- She has been pursuing research directly related to her proposed endeavor of improving therapeutics for a variety of human diseases for 8 years now making her immensely knowledgeable.
- She has received 4 letters of recommendation from other experts who knew her work. One of these said:
It is apparent that she has come to be an inseparable part of research in this field now and her work is indeed of much significance to the United States. This is exactly what won her the approval only 4 months and 27 days later. We are proud of having had the opportunity to help her and we wish her all the best in future endeavors.

