Success Story: Cybersecurity Expert Secures NIW Approval in Under Two Months
Client’s Testimonial:
"Thank you so much for the congratulations. I am very happy to receive the NIW I-140 approval. It was also a great pleasure working with your team.”
On June 10th, 2026, we received another EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) approval for an Assistant Research Scientist in the Field of Cybersecurity (Approval Notice).
General Field: Cybersecurity
Position at the Time of Case Filing: Assistant Research Scientist
Country of Origin: South Korea
State of Residence at the Time of Filing: Texas
Approval Notice Date: June 10th, 2026
Processing Time: 1 month, 27 days (Premium Processing Requested)
Case Summary:
A cybersecurity researcher from South Korea sought assistance from the North America Immigration Law Group (Chen Immigration Law Associates) in pursuing an NIW petition based on his work in cyber-physical system security. Holding a Ph.D. in computer engineering, the client proposed to continue developing advanced intelligent control and cybersecurity frameworks that improve the resilience, reliability, and trustworthiness of critical infrastructure supporting the energy, transportation, and manufacturing sectors.
The petition highlighted several research directions central to the proposed endeavor, including advanced cybersecurity architectures, AI-driven threat detection, adaptive network defenses, security frameworks for autonomous systems, and real-time cyberattack identification techniques. His work directly addresses vulnerabilities across critical infrastructure, including renewable energy grids, automated transportation platforms, and other cyber-physical environments where security disruptions carry severe economic and public safety consequences.
The client's record demonstrated that he was well-positioned to advance this work. He had authored 9 peer-reviewed journal articles, 19 peer-reviewed conference articles, a first-authored book chapter, a technical report, and a preprint. His research had accumulated 277 citations, including 2 papers ranking among the top 1% most-cited Computer Science articles for their publication years, 3 ranking among the top 10%, and 2 ranking among the top 20%. He had also completed 6 peer reviews for respected journals and conferences and was selected to serve as a co-chair for a workshop.
Beyond publication metrics, the petition documented meaningful independent reliance on his research. Other investigators adopted and extended his dynamic watermarking methodologies to strengthen renewable-energy infrastructure, improve autonomous vehicle cybersecurity, and enhance protection for virtual power plants. His research was also supported by funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, the Office of Naval Research, the Army Research Office, and the Army Research Laboratory, reflecting the recognized importance of developing technologies that protect critical infrastructure and strengthen national security.
The approval recognized the national importance of research aimed at securing the cyber-physical systems that power modern society and support the safe operation of the nation's most critical infrastructure.