Case Summary:

The NIW (National Interest Waiver) visa is a type of nonimmigrant visa for individuals of interest to the United States. This means those foreign nationals who can show that their work is valuable for the U.S. can continue to work in their area of interest without a labor certification or a permanent job offer. So the case preparation requires very specific arguments that aid the process of adjudication. This is where our firm comes in. We make sure to aid our clients in every way possible to write a solid petition tailored to make their talents stand out.

This is what we did for a client from Saudi Arabia who was a GIS planning manager in geospatial information science. We found the following information on her:

• As an expert in the field, her proposed endeavor is to work on the development and application of spatial optimization strategies in public land planning using spatial research, spatial analysis, and geographic information systems modeling. She wanted to facilitate accessibility to essential resources while mitigating adverse environmental and ecological impacts.
• Her research advancing her proposed endeavor is of great importance because it utilizes geospatial information sciences (GIS) data to impact the understanding of land and resource use and management and global climate change. GIS, “an essential tool for managing the earth’s resources,” takes data that includes land cover, soil, vegetation, and geology maps in order to spatially analyze a given region.
• Her proposed endeavor also has broad implications for the United States since her use of GIS data to support land management and conservation efforts is of interest to the U.S.
• Due to its clear national importance, her research has also been supported with funding from the Social Science Research Council (SSRC).
• Her research has resulted in 4 peer-reviewed journal articles (2 of them first-authored) which have been cited a total of 19 times according to Google Scholar, thereby demonstrating that these publications are widely recognized and relied upon in the field of geospatial information science.
• Her 11 years of work have provided her with the necessary experience to continue her work in her chosen area of endeavor.
• This was also evident because of the 4 letters of recommendation available to her supporting her work in the area. Two of these letters said the following:

“[The client] is advancing the wider field of geospatial information sciences by combining modeling techniques and analytical approaches to understand and quantify the nuances of resource use and land planning for different populations across the globe. Her work is inherently beneficial toward informing conservation policy that applies not only to Southern Guyana but to the global community.”

“The United States is home to approximately 7.5% of the world’s forests. Since more than 740 million acres of forest cover the U.S., and over half of this land is privately owned, it is critical that land use management policies are well-informed based on how people use the land that they possess. Through groundbreaking geospatial information analysis approaches to environmental and socioeconomic problems in land management, [the client] is advancing the U.S. interest to more efficiently allocate and use its natural resources. Her work on ecosystem services (ES) utilization helps provide a scientific basis for resource management laws.”

We are thus proud of having represented her and we wish her all the very best in her future endeavors.