Success Story: NIW Victory! We Guided a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Field of Environmental Engineering to Approval

Client’s Testimonial:

“Congratulations to the Chen Immigration Team as well with special thanks to Chow for his unconditional support and guidance.”

On March 11^th, 2025, we received another EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) approval for a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Field of Environmental Engineering (Approval Notice).

General Field: Environmental Engineering

Position at the Time of Case Filing: Postdoctoral Researcher

Country of Origin: Rwanda

Country of Residence at the Time of Filing: China

Approval Notice Date: March 11^th, 2025

Processing Time: 10 months, 11 days

Case Summary:

We are proud to share the success story of a Ph.D. holder in environmental engineering whose I-140 NIW (National Interest Waiver) petition was approved after 10 months and 11 days without receiving any RFE issues. This case illustrates how well-documented achievements in a field of national urgency can lead to successful immigration outcomes.

Our client specializes in environmental engineering, with a research focus on sustainable technologies for recovering rare earth elements (REEs) from secondary sources such as electronic waste, industrial wastewater, mine tailings, and sludge. His work addresses multiple global priorities, including sustainable resource recovery, job creation in green industries, and decreased environmental exposure to toxic mining byproducts. He continues to develop scalable, circular-economy solutions that enhance domestic REE supply chains while lowering the cost of production and environmental risks.

His petition, filed under the EB-2 NIW category, showcased:

27 peer-reviewed journal articles,
346 citations according to Google Scholar,
A peer review record of at least 5 completed evaluations for reputable environmental science journals,
Several papers ranked among the top 10–20% most cited in the fields of Environment/Ecology and Chemistry for their publication years.

We also demonstrated that his research has been cited globally in support of advances in biohydrometallurgy, zero-waste recovery systems, and rare earth separation technologies. His work has earned funding from respected research organizations, including the Fujian Institute of Research on Structure Matter and the Institute of Urban Environment, FJIRSM&IUE, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), and the Fujian Provincial Science and Technology Program, affirming the technical merit and policy relevance of his research.

We are honored to have supported this dedicated researcher on his immigration journey and look forward to the ongoing impact of his innovations on rare earth element sustainability and environmental engineering solutions.

North America Immigration Law Group (Chen Immigration Law Associates) is a U.S. immigration law firm dedicated to representing corporations, research institutions, and individuals from all 50 U.S. states regarding I-140 immigration petitions. We specialize in employment-based immigration petition and have a proven record of high success rate for the categories of: EB2-NIW (National Interest Waiver), EB1-A (Alien of Extraordinary Ability), EB1-B (Outstanding Researcher/Professor) and O-1 (Alien of Extraordinary Ability).

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