Case Summary:

North America Immigration Law Group (NAILG) was approached by a senior scientist II based in New Jersey to compose an EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) petition on her behalf. With a Ph.D. in chemistry and many years of experience in small molecule design and synthesis, biochemistry, and cell assay development, doubtlessly, she exhibited great skills to advance in the field of chemical biology. Our main goal was to convince the USCIS that her research is of great national importance, as the U.S. is a global leader in this pharmaceutical industry, and to support the continued success and maintain the nation’s competitive international edge, we require researchers like our client, who provide pharmaceutical companies with new and improved ways of producing the compounds required for their work. Thus, we counter-signed the client-attorney agreement and started preparing her case. We included all the required details in her petition packet:

1) Research Description– We learned that our client proposes her research on the evaluation of drug targets and structure-based drug design, which is of great importance because it advances the development of effective new drugs, particularly for the treatment of cancer, which positively impacts the U.S. pharmaceutical industry and U.S. health care.
2) Publication & Citation Count– We detailed that our client’s 7 peer-reviewed scientific articles had accumulated 337 citations. These publications have been published in some of the most authoritative and influential journals and have been cited by researchers in at least 30 countries, thereby signifying that these publications are widely recognized in the field of chemical biology.
3) Peer Review Experience– Also, we recorded that our client had conducted 37 peer reviews for well-regarded journals. While peer review is less immediately visible than a researcher’s own publication and citation counts, it is of immense importance for the overall advancement of research, and her review work is thus undeniably valuable. This wonderful record demonstrates her status as an established researcher in the field.
4) Funding Grants– Moreover, her research has been supported by funding from the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the National Science Foundation (NSF) fund projects promote “cancer prevention, detection, diagnosis, and survivorship”. Thus, this support, therefore, serves as evidence that her work is a fundamental contribution to the progress of research on cancer and neurological disease, and clearly advances the country’s medical capabilities and public health initiatives.
5) Recommendation Letter– To bolster our client’s EB-2 petition, we also added four of her obtained recommendation letters from other specialists in the same field. One of her recommenders stated:

“[Client] has made great advancements in the field of biochemistry. In particular, she has devised and validated new methods that both contribute to the research community’s understanding of key biological processes and facilitate the development of novel pharmaceuticals… It is therefore clear that her continued presence in the research community represents a definite benefit for the field and the nation. As such, it is my pleasure to offer my full support for her work in the United States.”

We happily congratulate our client on the NIW approval. We are delighted that our unique strategies yet again proved to be exceptional in this case. We thank our client for choosing us for her NIW petition as well as now awaiting EB1A approval.