On April 14^th, 2016, we received another EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) approval for a Doctoral Candidate in the Field of Materials Engineering (Approval Notice).

General Field: Materials Engineering

Position at the Time of Case Filing: Doctoral Candidate

Country of Origin: Iran

Service Center: Texas Service Center (TSC)

State of Residence at the Time of Filing: Texas

Approval Notice Date: April 14^th, 2016

Processing Time: 2 months, 11 days

Case Summary:

A doctoral candidate from Iran approached North America Immigration Law Group (WeGreneed.com) when he decided that he wanted to become an American permanent resident. He hired us to help him with the first step of the green card process: filing an I-140 petition. After carefully evaluating his credentials, we determined that he qualified to file his I-140 under EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver).

Putting Together a Winning Petition:

In order to convince the USCIS that our client qualified for the national interest waiver, we had to demonstrate that his work (on illuminating the solid mechanics of a variety of important solids often studied and used in the materials engineering field and industries) is important to the United States. We also had to prove that he is a leader in the field of materials engineering and that only a small handful of researchers can attain the same level of research success. We did this by incorporating the following information and other relevant details into our client’s comprehensive NIW petition dossier.

1. Advanced Degree: Our client holds an M.Sc. in Civil and Earthquake Engineering from a well-known university in his birth country of Iran. This proved that he has the skills and theoretical knowledge needed to conduct outstanding fieldwork. Furthermore, he is current pursuing his doctoral degree—an added bonus to this portion of our argument.
2. Publication Record: When we filed our client’s EB-2 NIW petition, his experience in the field had led to the publication of 17 journal articles, 2 conference papers, 2 book contributions, and numerous conference presentations.
3. Citation Count: The aforementioned publications had collected 38 citations at the time of filing, and this signified the value placed on our client’s work by other researchers to advance their own investigations.
4. Testimonials: Six of our client’s peers furnished us with signed testimonials confirming the significance of his work to the United States. Here is an example of what was stated: “[Client’s] repeated success in his past work provides a veritable guarantee that he will continue to advance the field as a whole, and as such his current and future research presents an invaluable opportunity for the research community of the United States of America.”
5. Relevance of Research: Our client’s investigations have produced a better understanding of the mechanical properties of common materials. Additionally, his research efforts contribute to the United States’ materials science and engineering communities and their many industry applications.

Attaining an Approval Notice:

Barely 2.5 months after we submitted our client’s EB-2 NIW petition to the USCIS, he received notification of his case approval. We congratulate our client on this big win, and wish him well as he partakes in the final step of the green card process: filing an I-485 application. Our client recently informed us that he had his wife had received their work permits and travel documents. They are currently awaiting favorable news from the USCIS regarding their application for permanent residence, and we wish them the very best with this.