Success Stories: NIW Petition Finally Approved a Year after Filing for Postdoctoral Scholar from South Korea in the Field of Environmental Engineering
Client’s Testimonial:
“I’m so glad to hear the good news. I greatly appreciate your tireless effort to make this work.”
On August 2nd, 2017, we received another EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) approval for a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Field of Environmental Engineering (Approval Notice).
General Field: Environmental Engineering
Position at the Time of Case Filing: Postdoctoral Scholar
Country of Origin: South Korea
State of Residence at the Time of Filing: California
Approval Notice Date: August 2nd, 2017
Processing Time: 12 months, 7 days
Case Summary:
A year after North America Immigration Law Group (NAILG) filed an EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) petition for a postdoctoral scholar from South Korea, the USCIS approved her case. Despite the long wait, we are pleased that she is now one step closer to green card success, and we are pleased that we got the chance to help her come this far.
Putting together a strong NIW case:
We spent months collating the relevant information to build a solid NIW case. For instance, we detailed our client’s 3 peer-reviewed journal articles, 2 technical reports, and 1 patent. We also utilized Google Scholar to determine her citation count at the time of filing (54 citations). Moreover, we demonstrated our client’s high standing in the field by noting the 14 times she judged the work of her peers for one of the most esteemed journals of environmental engineering.
Gathering external support:
To strengthen our client’s NIW case, we urged her to secure support from her peers. Six of them agreed to help by signing recommendation letters. These letters not only listed our client’s studies on monitoring the environment and improving public health, they also noted their importance to the United States. For instance, these letters supported our argument that our client is contributing to the United States’ energy independence and environmental protection programs, as well as the selection of eco-friendly alternatives to plastics. As an example, this is what one of our client’s recommenders noted: “Unquestionably [Client] is a talented and irreplaceable researcher. Her knowledge of the most applicable methods for microbial water quality monitoringand novel molecular detection techniques sets her apart from her peers in environmental engineering.”
Taking the final step:
There are two steps in the green card process: filing an I-140 petition and an I-485 application. Now that our client has completed the first step, all that stands between her and a green card is the I-485 application. She has chosen to file an I-485 with the help of our DIY Packet, and we wish her the best with it.