On April 25^th, 2016, we received another EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) approval for a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Field of Neuroscience (Approval Notice).

General Field: Neuroscience

Position at the Time of Case Filing: Postdoctoral Fellow

Country of Origin: Spain

Service Center: Texas Service Center (TSC)

State of Residence at the Time of Filing: New York

Approval Notice Date: April 25^th, 2016

Processing Time: 13 months, 7 days

Case Summary:

With a Ph.D. in Biomedical Science and many years of experience progressing the field of neuroscience, our client (a postdoctoral fellow from Spain) had suitable credentials to file his I-140 petition under EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver). Our attorneys and support staff worked diligently to compile as much relevant information as we could to build a strong case for our client.

Petition Contents:

Our client’s EB-2 NIW petition dossier was partly composed of his professional accomplishments such as his 8 journal articles, 1 published abstract, and numerous conference papers. We also noted the 55 citations gathered from his work. Furthermore, we accounted for our client’s multiple research projects on the application of a translational approach to biomedical challenges in neurodegenerative disorders, from the investigation of molecular mechanisms to the discovery and development of therapeutic targets. We then concluded that he qualifies for the national interest waiver as his work is of great benefit to the United States—most notably the country’s biomedical, neuroscience, preclinical, and clinical research communities, with particular emphasis to the pharmaceutical industry via their application in therapy and drug design studies.

To further strengthen our client’s EB-2 NIW petition, we included five recommendation letters contributed by other expert neuroscientists. Their letters advocated for the approval of our client’s EB-2 NIW petition by verifying the value of his work to not just the research community but to the U.S. as a whole. One of our client’s recommenders described his work as “…highly needed under the current circumstances in the United States of America, and is equally important to many other nations across the globe.” Another expert stated that our client “…continues to lead the way by exploring, discovering, and creating new opportunities that bring further advancements to the field of biomedical research. To hinder his progress would damage the general progress that is currently being made in this area and would be considered a severe mistake in judgment.”

Request for Evidence (RFE):

Despite our meticulous presentation of our client’s strong credentials, the USCIS issued a Request for Evidence (RFE). According to the USCIS website, “A request for evidence 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.” As soon as we received the RFE, our legal team sprang into action. We promptly responded to the RFE and also raised a service request on our client’s behalf to find out more about the status of the RFE case (which was pending for more than 60 days after the USCIS confirmed the receipt of our RFE response without offering any other updates).

EB-2 NIW approval:

Overall, it was 13 months and 7 days before the USCIS approved our client’s EB-2 NIW case, and we are pleased that they ultimately granted their approval. We congratulate our client on this milestone and wish him well as he continues to advance the field of neuroscience.