On April 20^th, 2016, we received another EB-1A (Alien of Extraordinary Ability) approval for a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Field of Molecular Biology (Approval Notice).

General Field: Molecular Biology

Position at the Time of Case Filing: Postdoctoral Fellow

Country of Origin: India

Service Center: Texas Service Center (TSC)

State of Residence at the Time of Filing: South Carolina

Approval Notice Date: April 20^th, 2016

Processing Time: 9 Days (Premium Processing Requested)

Case Summary:

Our client (a postdoctoral fellow from India) received notification of his EB-1A (Alien of Extraordinary Ability) petition approval merely 9 days after it was filed. Such expeditious adjudication was largely thanks to Premium Processing (PP).

What is Premium Processing (PP)?

PP is an add-on service offered by the USCIS. Petitioners who want action to be taken on their I-140 petitions within 15 days must pay an additional $1,225 and submit an I-907 form to the USCIS. PP is a great option for petitioners who are unable or unwilling to wait an average of 4-9 months for action to be taken on their petitions. However, there is a catch: only selected visa categories qualify for PP, and good thing for our client, EB-1A is one of them.

Submitting an EB-1A petition:

In order to attain an EB-1A approval, petitioners must prove that they meet three out of the 10 requirements set in place by the USCIS. Although EB-1A has the lowest approval rates, with the right attorneys and a strong petition packet, anything is possible. In this case, we helped our client prove that he met the following three requirements: he has experience judging the work of others, he has made significant contributions to the field, and he has an impressive publication record. In order to present strong evidence to the USCIS, we had dig a little deeper into our client’s educational and professional background. Our diligent efforts led us to establish that he had conducted a dozen peer reviews, that his work had collected 266 citations, and that he had published 9 scientific articles.

To further fortify our petition packet, our client’s EB-1A petition was also composed of five recommendation letters contributed by other experts in his field. Not only did these experts confirm that our client is an asset to the U.S., they also briefly detailed his research projects on parasitology, especially with regard to Leishmania infection. Here is a strong statement extracted from one of these letters: “[Client] is a foremost researcher in disease pathology whose work is distinguished within the field. He has conducted inquiries into the genetic markers of Leishmania infection for the purposes of improving early diagnosis and tracking of drug resistance. With his unique knowledge, he is advancing a field that is critical to the public health. For this reason, his work is entirely necessary for the interests of the United States, and he should be granted all permission necessary to remain in the country.”

What Next?

As the I-485 application is the final step in the green card process, an approval would mean obtaining permanent residency. We wish our client the very best with this step, and thank him for choosing our law firm to represent his EB-1A petition.