LPY Law Group

The approval rate of NIW cases handled by Attorney Z. Zac Liu is close to 100%. He has helped hundreds of foreign nationals with advanced degrees obtain permanent residency through national interest waiver. Click HERE for his Recently Approved NIW Cases.

All cases including NIW cases are diligently handled by Attorney Z. Zac Liu. We strictly follow the deadlines set forth in our work procedures to process each individual case. For details about our work procedure for processing NIW cases at L&A, please click HERE for a Step by Step Procedure Flowchart.

In immigration petitions, just as in any areas of law, attorney’s experience and professional expertise can make a difference. NIW petition is a complicated legal process, our work includes, but is not limited to, (1) counseling client at every point of the process; (2) assisting client collecting useful information and supporting documents; (3) drafting, reviewing and editing recommendation letters, (4) organizing the documents provided by client; (5) preparing the immigration forms; (6) drafting the petition letter; (7) preparing and filing the petition package; (8) tracing the progress of USCIS adjudication; (9) answering RFE (request for evidence) if one was issued; (10) advising client of compliance with the immigration issues and options while his/her NIW case is pending; and (11) contacting USCIS if necessary.

The information provided in the initial evaluation may be different case by case because we do not use a broad brush template to answer every request. Each individual case is unique. But basically our evaluation includes the following information: (1) whether your credentials meet the minimum NIW requirements; (2) whether your case has a reasonable chance to be approved; (3) if, in our best judgment, you are not qualified for NIW, what other options you have to obtain to green card.

Now you know at least something about NIW from our website. If you are somehow wondering whether your credentials qualify you to file an NIW petition, or how good is your chance to get approved, email your resume or curriculum vitae to zliu@niwus.com. Attorney Liu will review your credentials and get back to you with a written evaluation within two work days. The evaluation is free and you are under no obligation to retain us after the evaluation.

No, this is not true. Although a majority of NIW petitioners are researchers in various fields of science, the law does not exclude individuals working in any specific field or profession. In practice, USCIS has granted national interest waiver to engineers, actors, musicians, painters, movie directors, writers, educators, entrepreneurs, and chefs, etc.

The legal standards for NIW adjudication were set by an AAU (The Administrative Appeals Unit) case law In re New York State Dept. of Transportation EAC 96 063 51031, (AAU, Aug. 7, 1998). This case set a three prong test: first, whether petitioner seeks employment in an area of substantial intrinsic merit; second, whether the proposed benefit of petitioner’s work is national in scope; and third, whether the national interest would be adversely affected if a labor certification were required. USCIS rarely denies an NIW case for failing to satisfy the first or second prong, but often raises questions based on the third prong.

It depends. An advanced degree or exceptional ability is only the statutory requirements for NIW eb-2 petition. In addition to meeting the statutory requirements, you also need to prove that granting you permanent residence is in the U.S. national interest.

Compared to regular Eb-2 petitions, NIW has two major advantages: first, a permanent job offer is not required; and second, a labor certification is not required. Accordingly, a qualified alien can file NIW petition on his/her own, and does not have to go through the dubious Labor Certification process.

NIW is available only to employment based second preference immigration petitions (Eb-2). This category requires that the alien beneficiary possess either an advanced degree (Masters Degree or above) OR exceptional ability. Therefore, you are statutorily eligible for NIW petition if you have at least a Master degree or you can establish exceptional ability with convincing evidence.

A majority of employment based immigrations are employer sponsored, which require, among other things, a permanent job offer from U.S. employer. One exception to this general rule is National Interest Waiver. To put it in a simple way, National Interest Waiver allows an alien to apply for green card without permanent job offer from U.S. employer by establishing that granting him/her permanent residence is in the U.S. national interest.