On June 23^rd, 2016, we received another EB-1A (Alien of Extraordinary Ability) approval for a Postdoctoral Research Scholar in the Field of Polymer Science (Approval Notice).

General Field: Polymer Science

Position at the Time of Case Filing: Postdoctoral Research Scholar

Country of Origin: India

State of Residence at the Time of Filing: Tennessee

Approval Notice Date: June 23^rd, 2016

Processing Time: 14 months, 20 days

Case Summary:

A gifted postdoctoral research scholar from India hired North America Immigration Law Group (WeGreened.com) to help him get one step closer to green card success. Our client, a well-known expert working in the field of polymer science, has extensive experience developing smart polymeric biomaterials for tissue engineering and drug delivery applications. His work has resulted in a myriad of accolades, most of which were listed in his EB-1A (Alien of Extraordinary Ability) petition packet. Amongst other things, here are the achievements we focused on:

1. Citation Record & Published Works: When we filed the case, our client’s work had led to the publication of 21 scientific articles, 2 book chapters, and numerous presentations at national and international conferences. Furthermore, his publications had collected nearly 200 citations, proving the significance of his investigations to other polymer scientists around the world.
2. Review Experience: As only leaders in the field are invited to judge the work of their peers for scientific journals, our client’s review record (30 peer reviews at the time of filing) denoted the weight that his insights and opinions have on the work of other researchers.
3. Third-party Support: To further prove that our client is an asset not just to the field of polymer science but to the United States as a whole, we urged him to reach out to other experts in the field. We needed these experts to sign recommendation letters that confirmed our client’s high standing in the field. To our delight, our client persuaded six experts to advocate for the approval of his EB-1A petition, one of whom described him as “… a top scientist who supplies the world and his colleagues with immense information that fosters medical and scientific progress. He is truly a distinct and exceptional researcher, and his work can be replicated by few, if any, other polymer scientists.”
4. Additional Evidence: To bolster our client’s EB-1A petition, we incorporated other relevant details such as his Ph.D. in Polymer Science & Engineering and descriptions of his research projects and their impact on the nation. For instance, we demonstrated that our client’s work is used to modify chemical structures to improve initiator efficiency.

Overcoming significant hurdles:

Despite our thorough presentation of our client’s strong credentials, we encountered a couple of speed bumps along the way to petition approval. First, no action was taken on our client’s case and it remained pending for many months. Once it was considered outside the normal processing timeline, we raised a service request on his behalf. This was followed by the issuance of a Request for Evidence (RFE) over two months later. According to the USCIS website, an RFE is made when “an application/petition is lacking required documentation/evidence (initial evidence) or the officer needs more documentation/evidence (additional evidence) to determine an applicant’s eligibility for the benefit sought.” Our attorneys and support staff are skilled at putting together RFE responses and we did so in an efficient and prompt manner. Because we were able to prove to the USCIS that our client’s credentials are legitimate and that he is truly an asset to the United States, they ultimately approved his petition. We congratulate our client for obtaining a highly sought-after EB-1A petition approval and thank him for choosing North America Immigration Law Group (WeGreened.com) to represent his case.