Success Stories: EB-1A Petition Approved for California-based Scientist from China with 136 Citations in the Field of Biochemistry (PP Upgrade Without RFE)
Client’s Testimonial:
“WOW!! Thank you so much for letting me know this exciting news! My family and I want to thank the whole law group, especially attorney Elizabeth Wharton, for the effort and the help she has given me! She answered my every question in detail and responded emails very quickly. I'm very thankful for her efforts in assisting me with I140 case preparation. Application of the green card is really important to me and my family. The whole law group was very professional and informative.”
On April 26th, 2016, we received another EB-1A (Alien of Extraordinary Ability) approval for a Scientist in the Field of Biochemistry (Approval Notice).
General Field: Biochemistry
Position at the Time of Case Filing: Scientist
Country of Origin: China
Service Center: Nebraska Service Center (NSC)
State of Residence at the Time of Filing: California
Approval Notice Date: April 26th, 2016
Processing Time: 1 month, 21 days (Premium Processing Requested)
Case Summary:
Our client, a scientist working in the field of biochemistry, received notification that her EB-1A (Alien of Extraordinary Ability) petition had been approved just 1 month and 21 days after it was filed. The reason for such rapid adjudication is largely thanks to Premium Processing (PP), a paid option offered by the USCIS. Petitioners whose cases are filed under PP will have action taken on their petitions within 15 days instead of the average 4-9 months. The reason why our client’s case took longer than 15 days to be adjudicated is because she initially filed it under regular processing but upgraded it a little over a month later. True to their word, the USCIS reviewed our client’s case within 15 days after the PP upgrade and took action on it by granting their approval.
Building a strong EB-1A case:
As EB-1A has a very high standard of law and the lowest approval rates, it was crucial for North America Immigration Law Group (WeGreened.com) to work diligently to present a strong case to the USCIS. Amongst other things, we ended up focusing on the following: our client’s publication record, her citation count, and her experience judging the work of others. At the time of filing, our client had published half a dozen scientific papers and her work had collected 136 citations. Furthermore, she had conducted 40 peer reviews for 10 prestigious scientific journals, proving her worth as one of the top minds in the field of biochemistry.
To make our client’s EB-1A case even stronger, we incorporated recommendation letters into her petition packet. We helped her narrow down a list of potential recommenders based on two main criteria: they had to be experts in the field and they had to be familiar with her research on the application of mass spectrometry and various analytical techniques in the study of different biomolecules. Our client managed to obtain signed recommendation letters from six of these shortlisted recommenders, one of whom stated that “Without a doubt, [Client's] sustained research is crucial for ensuring that advancements in proteomics continue to be made. With the rise in cancer diagnoses in the United States, the development of therapeutics built upon proteins and antibodies cannot face any delays, such as those which would occur due to Dr. Han's premature departure from the field.”
Obtaining petition approval:
We would like to congratulate our client for obtaining a highly sought-after EB-1A petition approval. We thank her for working with our law firm, and we wish her well as she continues to carry out impactful biochemical research that benefits the United States.