Success Stories: EB-1A Petition Approved for Technical Agronomist from India in the Field of Plant Science

 

Client’s Testimonial:

“I am really glad to hear this good news. You are a GREAT team of people who is always punctual in replying to messages, meeting deadlines and thorough preparation of the I-140 petition. I will definitely refer your immigration firm to my friends who is looking to file EB1 petition.”

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On April 5^th, 2016, we received another EB-1A (Alien of Extraordinary Ability) approval for a Technical Agronomist in the Field of Plant Science (Approval Notice).

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General Field: Plant Science

Position at the Time of Case Filing: Technical Agronomist

Country of Origin: India

Service Center: Nebraska Service Center (NSC)

State of Residence at the Time of Filing: Iowa

Approval Notice Date: April 5^th, 2016

Processing Time: 11 Days (Premium Processing Requested)

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Case Summary:

A talented technical agronomist from India hired North America Immigration Law Group (WeGreened.com) to help him with the first step of the green card process: filing an I-140 petition. We carefully evaluated his credentials and determined that the best way forward would be via EB-1A (Alien of Extraordinary Ability). Merely 11 days after we filed the I-140 petition on our client’s behalf, he received notification of case approval. Although the accelerated adjudication was largely due to Premium Processing, we have no doubt that our thorough presentation of our client’s strong credentials lent a hand in case approval.

What did the EB-1A petition contain?

It is no secret that the EB-1A visa category is upheld by a very high standard of law, and that petitioners filing their I-140 under it must meet specific requirements. In this case, we demonstrated to the USCIS that our client met three out of their 10 requirements. We established the following:

1. Publication Record: We listed our client’s 9 peer-reviewed scientific articles and 7 technical presentations, and noted that his research findings are of great value to other researchers in the field of plant science.
2. Valuable Contributions: Using Google Scholar and similar references, we determined that our client’s work had collected 168 citations at the time of filing. We argued that other scientists used his findings to progress their research, which inherently bodes well for the entire field.
3. Judge the Work of Others: When we filed our client’s EB-1A petition, he had already conducted 15 peer reviews for a handful of prominent scientific journals. As only top-level experts are invited to assess the work of their peers, our client’s peer review record demonstrated the value of his insights to other researchers in the field.

Besides proving to the USCIS that our client met the aforementioned requirements, we also included the following in our client’s EB-1A petition packet: details on his Ph.D. in Plant Breeding and Genetics, and summaries of his research ventures on developing plants with improved nitrogen usage. Using what we learned, we convinced the USCIS that our client’s work advances the United States’ ability to sustainably feed the population with less land use, and less non-renewable, expensive inputs in agriculture. Furthermore, we included recommendation letters volunteered by other leaders in the field, one of whom wrote, “… he is a leader within the field of agronomy and an essential member of the American scientific community.”

Final Step towards a Green Card:

With an approved EB-1A petition, our client is free to file an I-485 application. Once the USCIS approves his application, he will become an American permanent resident. We wish him well with this final step and thank him for choosing our law firm to represent his EB-1A case.

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