Case Summary:

An expert in the field of neurosurgery, our NIW client from Mexico held an M.D. in the field. Her proposed endeavor was to develop innovative surgical techniques and treatments using her expertise in brain tumors, immunotherapy, adoptive cell therapy, and global neurosurgery. This would aid to improve patient outcomes and overall quality of life, especially for those with lethal neurological conditions.

Our team has done their initial background research on her and found that her proposed endeavor is of great importance because it addresses major medical treatment and diagnostic shortcomings, through the development of microsurgical laboratories to improve cancer removal and early diagnosis strategies, which seeks to improve the quality of life for patients with brain tumors, as well as children with cleft lips and palates and other craniofacial anomalies.

The EB2-NIW visa is a subcategory of the nonimmigrant visa designed to accommodate those foreign nationals whose work is of national interest to the United States of America. In order to prove this, we looked at the following documents provided by our client:

• • Updated CVs
  • Transcripts from colleges and universities
  • Certificates of achievement from academic and professional institutions
  • Letters of recommendation from experts in the field
  • Details of client’s publications, citations, and peer review experience
  • Her funding sources and additional information available

This research helped us gather the following information:

• • She has completed at least 6 reviews to date for national and international scientific journals of repute in her area of expertise.
  • Her research has produced 15 peer-reviewed journal articles (3 of them first-authored), 3 letters to the editor (all of them first-authored), and 2 book chapters (1 of them first-authored).
  • These publications have been cited a total of 112 times according to Google Scholar, thereby demonstrating that these publications are widely recognized and relied upon in the field of neurosurgery.
  • Her determined methods for surgical procedures have greatly lowered the costs of the procedures, making them viable use in low-income areas. In one part of this work, she developed a mobile, inexpensive microsurgery lab to ensure the ability of underequipped healthcare facilities worldwide to perform microsurgeries. This proved that her work has immediate tangible benefits for the citizens of the United States of America.
  • She had collected 4 letters of support from other experts in the field. One of them had the following to say about her work:

“[Client’s] work brings a multitude of useful suggestions for resource-deficient health institutions within the United States. [Client’s] research has developed equipment that enables smaller-scale health institutions in the U.S. to perform satisfactory lumbar disc operations, which reduces the costs and resources for both patients and the health institution. [Client’s] research is undoubtedly beneficial to the United States as it helps conserve financial resources with simple changes to procedure and thereby allows more patients to access lumbar discectomies even at resource-deficient health institutions.”

Thus, considering her record of successful research in an area that significantly furthers U.S. interests, our client offers contributions of such value that, on balance, they would benefit the United States even assuming other qualified U.S. workers are available. Her education, experience, expertise, record of publication and citation, and history of successful research in the field all indicate that she truly deserves the NIW approval. So, when the approval came in less than the expected time, we joined our client in expressing joy on this victory. We wish her all the very best in all future endeavors.