Success Story: After RFE, Fluid Mechanics Researcher Secures I-140 NIW Approval for Work Advancing Underwater Vehicle Efficiency
Client’s Testimonial:
"It has been a great pleasure to work with the Wegreened team. They have demonstrated sufficient expertise in the framing of my work into a viable immigration petition, and the petition stands solid despite the significant policy shift. They respond professionally and timely to my requests and concerns. Overall, the quality of the service is satisfactory."
On May 1st, 2026, we received another EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) approval for a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Field of Fluid Mechanics (Approval Notice).
General Field: Fluid Mechanics
Position at the Time of Case Filing: Postdoctoral Researcher
Country of Origin: China
State of Residence at the Time of Filing: Michigan
Approval Notice Date: May 1st, 2026
Processing Time: 22 months, 24 days
Case Summary:
For underwater vehicles, energy use is not only an engineering concern. It can determine how long a vehicle can operate, how reliably it can complete marine missions, and how effectively it can support national security and ocean-based industries. This was the practical problem at the center of this I-140 NIW approval after RFE.
The client, an expert in fluid mechanics with an M.S. in mechanical engineering, received I-140 NIW approval based on his proposed endeavor to continue decoding information from experimental measurements and developing advanced data-driven turbulence models. His research focuses on more accurately predicting and controlling the lift and drag forces of underwater vehicles, with the goal of reducing their energy consumption. The petition also documented his current employment conducting fluid mechanics research at a U.S. university, where he continues work related to drag decomposition, vorticity dynamics, and uncertainty quantification in fluid systems.
The RFE response emphasized that this endeavor was not merely theoretical modeling. We framed the client’s work as directly relevant to the performance of underwater vehicles, which are used in reconnaissance, marine data collection, resource exploration, and defense-related missions. By improving turbulence models and the prediction of lift and drag forces, his research supports more efficient underwater vehicle operation and addresses energy limitations that can restrict mission duration and reliability.
The petition demonstrated the client’s significance through a record of original research, independent reliance, and peer recognition. His credentials included:
- 5 peer-reviewed journal articles, including 4 first-authored or co-first-authored publications, along with 3 first-authored conference abstracts and 1 co-first-authored preprint.
- 120 citations, showing that other researchers relied on his work in fluid mechanics, turbulence modeling, physics-informed neural networks, and data assimilation.
- 5 completed peer reviews, reflecting trust from scholarly venues in his technical judgment.
- Research supported by the Office of Naval Research, demonstrating government interest in the national value of his work.
The filing also included 4 recommendation letters from experts in the field. These letters supported the argument that the client’s research addresses important challenges in fluid mechanics and that his technical contributions are valuable to the continued development of data-driven turbulence modeling. One recommender stated: “It is clear that, given [Client’s] inventive research endeavors, he is a particularly valuable contributor to the United States’ fluid mechanics research community.”
This approval after RFE reflects the strength of a carefully prepared NIW petition grounded in technical specificity, independent reliance, and national relevance. We were pleased to help secure this result for a fluid mechanics researcher whose work supports more accurate turbulence modeling and more energy-efficient underwater vehicle technologies in the United States.