We just got a positive result in an I-140 petition for an Outstanding Researcher from India. The petition was approved in five weeks. We pushed for an EB-1, so that a visa would be immediately available for her, and so she and her family could immediately file to adjust status to permanent resident (green card). This also allowed her to forego the lengthy labor certification process, where employers have to prove there are no minimally qualified U.S. workers to take the job – being a high-level researcher, this seems unlikely and a poor use of time and resources. Additionally had she applied for a National Interest Waiver, EB-2, she would have had to wait roughly five years before applying for permanent residence.
The key to her case was the nature of her work in biophysics. We were able to effectively communicate to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) the nature and importance of her research. I reviewed her publications, presentations and citations to her work, and conducted independent research to help explain her work to the laymen at USCIS. Despite not having a background in biology, my background in science and math (see below) made it quite a bit easier and faster to process the concepts and importance of her research so that US CIS can understand it. In this case, the researcher had one year as a research professor, four years as a post-doctoral researcher, co-author articles in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Nature, but no easily recognizable or internationally-known awards. Despite a lack of high-profile awards or first-author publications, this case was still approved without a Request for Evidence (RFE), which contributed to its fast adjudication.
While we cannot guarantee success, we can offer this: we will work quickly and efficiently to move your petition through the immigration process. A degree in Nuclear Engineering, and graduate level studies in mathematics have given me a strong science background, which provides us with a scientific literacy that enables us to more effectively communicate with the researcher and to educate USCIS of the importance of the research in terms that laymen can understand. My ability to understand complex scientific concepts allows me to better translate such ideas so that non-scientists can understand the significance of the research and why it signified our client as an outstanding researcher.
The combination of scientific literacy and experience in immigration law allows us to represent our clients quickly and efficiently.
We work closely with our clients to assemble the information needed for their I-140 application and determine which programs are the best fit for their situation. We make this recommendation by carefully examining their Curriculum Vitae (CV) to determine if their research, publications, and experience make them eligible for any of the research based visas or other programs. We also work with our clients to identify individuals with expertise in the field who can write letters discussing the importance of the client’s work. The key though is the ability to turn the scientific jargon used in those materials into easily-understandable information the USCIS can use to see the importance of their work, and therefore approve the petition.
We are please to have been able to get such a quick result in this case.