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NIW - National Interest Waiver
 China Town
NIW stands for National Interest Waiver, and it is one of the three subcategories of EB-2, Employment Based Immigration 2nd preference. Generally, for applying for a immigrant status through employment, an applicant must have a permanent job offer and employer must go through the Labor Certificate process. INA Sec. 203(b)(2). NIW is an exception to the regular procedures. An applicant may be eligible if he or she can demonstrate it is in the national interest of the U.S. to grant him or her permanent resident status. The applicant must also possess advanced degree or exceptional ability. (Master’s degree or bachelor’s degree plus 5 years progress employment history.)
The advantages of NIW is obvious. First, an applicant does not have to be attached to the same employer during the process; second, he or she does not have to wait for the long Labor Certificate process. The key for a successful NIW application is to establish national interest to the U.S. National Interest is not specified by statute but by case laws. The AAU provided a three prong test in In Re NYSDOT for granting NIW: (1) whether a petitioner seeks employment in an area of substantial intrinsic merits; (2) whether benefits of petitioner’s work is national in scope; (3) whether national interest would be adversely affected if a Labor Certificate is required. The attorney of an applicant should provide strong and sufficient proof and evidence in order to establish these three prongs, but often the most important and/or problematic one is the third. Therefore, an attorney’s knowledge and expertise is very important. We are focused on immigration law. If you would like to find out whether you are eligible for NIW, or if you have any question about other immigration matters. Please feel free to schedule a consultation with Mr. Jimmy Namgyal. Contact Us. For more about NIW, please click NIW Requirements. |