National Interest Waiver (NIW) for Medical Physicist

Background

The EB-2 is a diversified employment-based green card. Those who qualify are typically advanced degree holders and people who can prove that they have exceptional ability in their field.

However, both of these groups still require a job offer from a U.S. employer and a PERM Labor Certification. This latter item involves having the employer go through a recruitment process with the intention of filling your position with a qualified U.S. worker. This is a long process that can easily be done incorrectly, adding time and expense to your immigration process.

Fortunately, there is a third group that qualifies for the EB-2 green card. For those that either don’t have an employer or don’t want to go through the PERM process, there is the National Interest Waiver (NIW).

To qualify for an NIW, you need to demonstrate that your work will be in the national interest. It sounds straight forward, but as usual, nothing is simple in the world of immigration law.

For most NIW applicants, they need to show three things:

• That their work will greatly benefit the society, culture, education, economy, job market, health, science, or technology of the U.S.
• That they are equipped with the capability of developing the work. The USCIS will look at things such as education, past successes, current progress, and plans you have for the future of your work.
• That the U.S. would stand to benefit on balance, meaning that it gains more from waving the PERM requirement than it does by enforcing it.

These were the requirements we needed to keep in mind when a medical physicist retained our services for an NIW. Knowing what lay ahead, we rose to the challenge and strove to understand the client’s work.

The Case

As a senior medical physicist, the client had decades of experience working with radioactive materials and radiation testing. With a PhD, several graduate and undergraduate degrees, certifications, exclusive memberships, and specialized certifications, VisaNation aw Group’s client was almost qualified for an EB-1A for people with extraordinary ability.

However, if immigration policies have taught us anything, it’s that advocacy, or the way the facts are presented, are almost as important as the facts themselves. A qualified individual who does not advocate his or her case well is likely to be denied. On the other hand, a well-advocated case can be approved even if the applicant’s qualifications are not as solid.

In this case, the client was more than qualified to demonstrate that his practice would be in the national interest. What VisaNation Law Group needed to do was gather the evidence necessary and argue the facts so that the USCIS would be hard-pressed to deny the green card.

So they worked alongside the client in an effort to learn more about the practice of medical physics and how to best explain the necessity of the NIW to the USCIS. They curated the items for evidence, developed our case, and submitted it.

The Verdict

Fortunately, between the qualifications of our client and the hard work of VisaNation Law Group’s attorneys, the USCIS approved the NIW without issuing a Request for Evidence. With the right strategy and careful consideration for the details, we were able to help our client obtain his EB-2 green card.

Another VisaNation Law Group Success Story

So whether you’re an entrepreneur, researcher, or medical physicist, getting a National Interest Waiver is simply a matter of gathering the right kind of evidence, and advocating it in the right kind of way. VisaNation Law Group knows while many NIW applicants are brilliant, they’re seldom experts on immigration law. That’s why we always recommend retaining a qualified immigration attorney to help you with your case.

Take the stress out of filing by letting VisaNation Law Group’s lawyers handle the difficult tasks so that you can focus on your work in the U.S. Scheduling a consultation with a VisaNation Law Group attorney today.