On September 8^th, 2016, we received another EB-1A (Alien of Extraordinary Ability) approval for a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Field of Electrical Engineering (Approval Notice).

General Field: Electrical Engineering

Position at the Time of Case Filing: Postdoctoral Researcher

Country of Origin: Algeria

Service Center: Nebraska Service Center (NSC)

State of Residence at the Time of Filing: California

Approval Notice Date: September 8^th, 2016

Processing Time: 7 Days (Premium Processing Requested)

Case Summary:

With a doctorate in electrical engineering and years of experience conducting research in the same field, our client seemed like a suitable candidate for EB-1A (Alien of Extraordinary Ability). Although EB-1A is one of the toughest visa categories to obtain approval, it also offers one of the best perks: Premium Processing (PP). This is an option offered by the USCIS to specific visa categories (such as EB-1A) and it allows petitioners to have their cases processed within 15 calendar days instead of the regular 4-9 months. In this case, our client opted to file his EB-1A petition using PP and received notification of case approval merely a week later.

Building a strong EB-1A case:

After going through our client’s qualifications, we determined that we would present the following to the USCIS:

1. Citation Count: When we filed his case, our client’s work had gathered a whopping 436 citations. This number proved that his findings are being used by researchers who are collectively working to progress the field of electrical engineering as a whole.
2. Publication Record: At the time of filing, our client had published 4 articles, all of which appeared in top-rated scientific journals. The dissemination of his work amongst researchers in the field has propelled him to a leadership position amongst his peers. Furthermore, our client also has 21 conference proceeding articles and 1 granted patent to his name.
3. Peer Review Experience: Our client has already conducted 18 peer reviews for some of the top scientific periodicals in the realm of science. As only the cream of the crop are invited to judge the work of their peers, our client’s distinguished peer review record proved that he is highly respected by those working within his concentration.

To support our argument that our client is one of only a small handful of experts who can attain outstanding research results related to his work, we incorporated five letters into his petition packet. These were no ordinary letters but rather, recommendation letters contributed by other top minds in the field. They supported the approval of our client’s EB-1A petition by making statements such as this: “Indeed, scientists around the world have acknowledged [Client’s] history of success and extended him regular invitations to conduct manuscript reviews for international publications. Since only the most qualified experts are invited to perform this task, [Client’s] regular peer review service proves that he is a researcher with a position of authority among his colleagues.”

We congratulate our client for obtaining an EB-1A petition approval and we wish him the best as he waits for the USCIS to take action on his I-485 application (which North America Immigration Law Group recently filed on his behalf). In the meantime, we wish our client well as he continues to investigate the field of electrical engineering.