Success Stories: NIW Petition Approved in Only 40 Days for Postdoctoral Scholar from India in the Field of Cancer Biology
Client’s Testimonial:
“Thanks for the good news.”
On April 14th, 2016, we received another EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) approval for a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Field of Cancer Biology (Approval Notice).
General Field: Cancer Biology
Position at the Time of Case Filing: Postdoctoral Scholar
Country of Origin: India
Service Center: Texas Service Center (TSC)
State of Residence at the Time of Filing: Alabama
Approval Notice Date: April 14th, 2016
Processing Time: 1 month, 9 days
With a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and extensive experience working in the field of cancer biology, our client seemed like a suitable candidate for EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver). Even so, we carefully evaluated his credentials to be sure and went the extra mile to calculate his independent citation count. Once we had confirmed that we could build a strong EB-2 NIW case on his behalf, we initiated the contract and started work as soon as he had signed and returned the document to us.
Selecting recommenders:
As part of our comprehensive services, we helped our client go through a list of experts working in the field of cancer biology and narrowed down potential recommenders. We needed these recommenders to be familiar with our client’s 5 publications and/or had worked with him. To our pleasure, our client returned with five signed recommendation letters from the preferred experts, one of whom stated that “[Client] is certainly one of the most productive researchers in his field, and more importantly, his research consistently produces novel outcomes, while still retaining an essential pragmatism vis-à-vis current trends in the field. In light of these facts, any impediment to [Client's] continued efforts would have a damaging effect on the advance of cancer research in the U.S. in general, and every effort should be made instead to facilitate his work.”
Highlighting our client’s credentials:
Our client’s years of experience researching mechanisms related to programmed cell death in cancer cells led to the publication of several articles that had collected 78 citations at the time of filing. We determined that his work sheds light on targets for therapies and inhibition strategies to treat a myriad of cancer types. This benefits the U.S. medical sector and improves the health and well-being of all Americans. We also concluded that our client’s findings contribute to the country’s economy due to the fact that they are applicable to the optimization and reduction of the cost of expensive cancer treatment therapies.
Petition Approval:
The USCIS only spent a little over a month reviewing our client’s EB-2 NIW petition before granting their approval (the average processing time is between 4-9 months), and we congratulate him on this milestone. However, our client is unable to move forward and file an I-485 application (last step towards a green card) until his priority date becomes current.
What is a priority date?
Quoting the USCIS, “Priority dates are numerical limitations (preferences) assigned to eligible applicants seeking to immigrate to the United States. This is solely due to the maximum number of visas issued per fiscal year (October 1 through September 30) that are divided into family sponsored, employment based, and diversity immigrant visas.” They go on to say that “If your immigrant visa category is one of the family sponsored or employment based categories, a waiting list has been established based on your priority date. The priority cut-off dates are established by the Department of State Visa Office to determine when your petition will be reached for continued processing. The petition can only become current, and thus ready for further processing, when the priority cut-off date for your category has advanced up to your priority date.” Seeing that our client was born in India and holds an approved EB-2 NIW, the rules related to current priority dates apply to him.
For the latest update on priority dates, please refer to our visa bulletin: http://www.wegreened.com/visabulletin/
- EB1 Green Card,
- Biology (Pathology and Immunology, Human Genetics, Genomics, Molecular Biology, Animal, Plant, Microbiology, Genetics, Botany),
- Medical (Gastroenterology, Cancer, Cancer Pharmacology, Cardiology, Immunology, Pathology, Hematology, Neurology, Neuroscience, Urology, Gynecology, Dentistry, Endocrinology)