-- NIW Approval in 14 Days in Nebraska Service Center

The NSC speeds up its processing in light of the newly announced Bi-specialization program, which designated NSC and TSC to process I-140 petitions on April 1, 2006. Our law firm filed an NIW for one client on March 27, 2006 and it was approved on April 11, 2006. No RFE.

This is the third time that an NIW was filed on behalf of a research associate at the same university in Iowa, and the petition was approved.

The beneficiary is currently a key research scientist working on research projects focusing on functional inorganic oxide materials. The research projects are funded by NSF and DOE. Prior to current position, the beneficiary had worked as a postdoc in another universitiy.

The client received his Ph. D in materials sciences from a prestigious university in China. While in China, the client 's research projects were funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. He is a recipient of Yan Dongsheng Scholarship and Bao Gang Scholarship.

The beneficiary has also authored and co-authored about 20 publications in journals with high impact factors. The beneficiary’s research findings were also presented at a numerous national and international conferences, including the prestigious Gordon Research Conference on Solid State Chemistry.

Our client’s research has had a profound impact in the field. This is evidenced by the fact that his papers have been cited extensively by other researchers in the field. Another indicator of our client’s stature in the particular field of knowledge is invitations to serve as an expert reviewer for leading scientific journals. The beneficiary is also a member of several organizations including the prestigious Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society and the American Chemical Society.

We argued that the client has made groundbreaking research discoveries that have made a significant impact on inorganic chemistry and materials sciences at an international level. Citing the “National Critical Technologies Report,” we convincingly demonstrated that the client’s research in new intermatellic materials is of particular importance in the area, which is crucial for the US to take a lead in advanced materials research and compete in the global marketplace. Thus the research is not only national but global in scope. This research was shown to be substantially important to the economy, and national defense of the United States.

The beneficiary submitted several expert opinion letters from his Ph.D advisor, postdoc mentors and other independent experts both in the US and abroad. No letters from US government agencies were provided. We did a thorough analysis of each writer’s background and how the writers came to know the beneficiary. We then drafted the letters from the perspective of the advisors and independent experts. In addition, we argued that the letter providers, although not from government agencies, are authoritative in their field of expertise and are well qualified to evaluate the applicant’s research and its impacts. The letters attested that as a key research scientist of projects funded by important government agencies, US national interests would be adversely impacted without his continuing contribution.

Similar to most of our clients who obtained their advanced degrees in China, this client has done substantial research in China. We therefore advised the beneficiary to obtain one recommendation letter from China attesting to his research achievements while working toward his Ph. D degree. Based on our experience, the beneficiary’s publications and research experience in the home country are as important as the research achievements made in the US. They convincingly establish that the beneficiary has a prior track of demonstrable records of achievements which will justify his future contribution the US.

Our efforts have been repeatedly successful. The NIW was approved in 14 days.

--Response-to-RFE: Approval in Five Days for a Self-petitioned NIW from NSC

Following the NIW approval in 5 days for a self-petitioned NIW case, our firm received another NIW approval in 5 days, which is quite remarkable for a case filed with the Nebraska Service Center.

The applicant filed the NIW on September 29, 2005. The RFE arrived on November 10, 2005. We filed the response to RFE on January 27, 2006, and received the NIW approval on February 1, 2006.

The client sought our help to handle her RFE. The client had prepared a well-structured and articulate personal statement. In addition, she provided six recommendation letters from diverse sources, including letters from advisors and independent experts, as well as one letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Unfortunately, this NIW received an RFE because USCIS concluded the documentation submitted was not sufficient to warrant a favorable decision. Specifically, it did not properly address the third prong of the NIW, similar to most RFEs that we have handled. Although this particular client had done an unusually good job in explaining her research achievements and contributions, neither the recommendation letter nor her own personal statement compared her research with her peers. Moreover, this client had failed to mention the important research she had conducted in China.

Background

The client has fairly impressive credentials, stronger than some of our approved NIW cases. The client received her Ph. D in Endocrinology from a medical university in China. While in China, the client's research projects were funded by the Chinese Postdoctoral Science Foundation. She is a recipient of Travel Awards from the American Society of Nephrology. More than a dozen publications, including 6 articles in Chinese, were authored by this individual, published in both nationally and internationally circulated journals. In addition, the client has 14 abstracts in international conference proceedings. This client is also a member of The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and a member of The American Society of Nephrology.

Field of Research

The client, a postdoctoral research scientist in Colorado, is conducting pioneering studies aiming to understand the mechanisms underlying the kidney disease. This individual's research is of substantial benefit to the health of U.S. citizens and to the U.S. economy, as evidenced by research funding through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).

Our Response

The RFE specifically requests evidence that the client has a record of prior achievements and a substantially greater ability to serve national interests than the majority of his/her colleagues, as well as demonstrating influence on the field. All in all, the RFE requested the client to provide evidence that she satisfies the third prong of NIW.

We decided to provide more expert opinion letters, in particular, independent opinion letters, to convince the USCIS that the client is well qualified for NIW. Due to lack of networks in the field, the client found it hard to obtain recommendation letters from people outside of her circle. We then carefully drafted a request for recommendation letter on the client’s behalf, and the client emailed the request to the selected list of experts who work in her field. Most of the responses received were quite positive. The client was able to obtain letters from experts at universities in the United States and experts from abroad, as well as one letter from the National Kidney Foundation. Based on an analysis of the RFE, we strategically drafted additional letters addressing the issues raised in the RFE. To establish that our client’s research makes a profound scientific contribution, the letters argued that our client made groundbreaking discoveries which significantly changed scientists’ understanding of kidney lipid metabolism, thus provides a new direction for kidney disease research. The opinion letters also testified that our client received those highly selective travel awards due to her excellence in research.

As part of our efforts to prove the client's prior research achievements, we also provided an expert opinion letter from the client's advisor in China, describing the criteria of Fellowships from the Chinese Postdoctoral Science Foundation, and the pioneering research our client had conducted in China.

Finally, the RFE requests the client to provide copies of published articles by other researchers citing her research. The client was able to find a couple of citations of one of her papers in English from the ISI. In addition, the client’s papers in Chinese have more than ten citations, which were not mentioned in her initial submission. Since the citation record is not substantial, instead of providing the number of times that the client's papers were cited, we discussed in depth the novel findings that the client had made in these cited papers. Furthermore, we argued, through the expert opinion letters, that our client’s research discoveries have sparked great interest across the field of kidney disease research.

The NIW was approved in five days after the response to RFE was submitted. The client was thrilled with the approval.

--Response-to-RFE: Approval in Five Days for a Self-petitioned NIW

Like other law firms, our office has also filed a substantial number of EB1 and EB2 cases prior to September 30, 2005, as part of our push to file eligible cases before EB11 and EB2 retrogression was to go into effect. In the meanwhile, we also handled RFEs on behalf of some self-petitioned Do-It-Yourself (DIY) clients. Happily, most cases were approved within a couple of months.

Our firm received an NIW approval remarkable for its speed. The beneficiary filed the NIW on September 29, 2005. The RFE arrived on October 20, 2005. We filed the response on January 11, 2006, and received the NIW approval on January 16, 2006. The substance of the case follows. It is an example of the types of proof and the arguments that have helped the Jingcheng Law Firm obtain approvals in NIW cases for many of our clients

The client seeks our help to handle his RFE. After reviewing the RFE and documents initially submitted by the beneficiary to support his NIW petition, we concluded that this case is similar to a number of RFEs we have handled on behalf of our DIY clients. Namely, the case was not properly presented to the USCIS because the applicant did not properly address the third prong of the NIW. First, the petition did not compare the beneficiary with his peers; second, it did not emphasize the beneficiary's research contributions and their significance enough. Third, some of the recommendation letters undermined the case. Moreover, this particular client has conducted important research in China, which was not emphasized in the petition.

Background

The client received his Ph. D in biology from a medical university in China. While in China, the client 's research projects were funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. He is a recipient of the Shanghai Medical Science and Technology Progress Award. Nine publications were authored by this individual, published in both nationally and internationally circulated journals. This client is also a member of the American Society for Microbiology. Finally, the genomic sequences authored by the beneficiary were collected in GenBank.

Field of Research

The client, a postdoctoral research scientist in Georgia, is conducting pioneering studies about the mechanism of persistent virus infection. Medical research generally can be shown to be in the national interest. This individual's research is of substantial benefit to the health of U.S. citizens and to the U.S. economy, as evidenced by research funding through the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Disadvantages

It was only month since the original submission. Except for one new article, the beneficiary was unable to provide further proof of qualifications for the NIW. All available documents were already submitted.

Our Response

We decided to argue that the beneficiary satisfies the third prong of the NIW, based on the submitted documents. To do so, we helped the client draft six additional expert opinion letters, to establish that our client's research makes a profound scientific contribution. To establish the significance of this research, we argued that our client made a groundbreaking discovery that explains the mechanism of persistent virus infection. As part of our efforts to prove the client's prior demonstrable research achievements, we provided an expert opinion letter from the client's Ph.D advisor, showing that he has made important contributions in research projects funded by Chinese government.

The RFE specifically requests evidence of extensive and frequent citations of the beneficiary's research. Instead of providing the number of time that the beneficiary's papers were cited, we discussed in depth the novel findings the beneficiary has made in these published papers, which contributed to the high level of citations. In addition, we discussed the significance of the genbanks that collected genes authored by the client.

The NIW was approved five days after the RFE was submitted.

Vermont Service Center lately approved an NIW petition filed on behalf of an applicant working in a private biotech company in Pennsylvania. The NIW was filed on October 13, 05 and approved December 6, 05. No RFE. This is another NIW approval for applicants working at private companies.

Applicant received his B. S. and M.S. in Chemical Engineering in China and his Ph. D in Chemical Engineering in the US. Applicant did a three-year postdoc before joining a small-sized company focusing on diabetic foot disease. He is conducting research aiming to improve the quality of therapeutic footwear for diabetic patients. The employer was awarded a grant from NIH. During the past seven years, applicant conducted various research projects sponsored by different grants.

Applicant has four publications in peer-reviewed journals and a number of presentations at international academic conferences. Together with his advisor, applicant reviewed articles submitted to the academic journals in the field. He is the second inventor of a patent, which is to be submitted to US Patent Office. Applicant serves as a judge for the northeast Ohio Science and Engineering Fair. He is also a recipient of Innovator Award while working as a postdoc. Applicant is a member of American Association of Physicists in Medicine, American Chemical Society and Electrochemical Society.

Applicant provided eight testimonial letters from current employer, ph.D advisor, Postdoc mentor, collaborators and international experts. No letters from US government agencies were provided. We emphasized that applicant has made significant contributions in the co-authored articles, and that the peer-reviewed journals and conferences that published applicant’s papers are prestigious ones with high impact factors. In addition, we argued that the letter providers, although not from government agencies, are authoritative in their field of expertise and are well qualified to evaluate the applicant’s research and its impacts.

We argued that applicant’s landmark research has set him apart from his peers having similar qualifications. We also provided documents to establish applicant’s research, although in a private company, has intrinsic merit and serves important national interests of national scope.

Given the visa retrogression in employment-based categories, it might be a wiser choice for researchers working in private companies to consider NIW petitions. No need to worry about being laid off while your NIW case is pending with USCIS, you are ready to move to the next job as long as you will be working in the similar field of expertise and your work will continue to serve national interests. As for the employer-sponsored petition, you cannot leave the job unless the adjustment of status (I-485) petition has been pending with the USCIS for more than 180 days.

--EB1-1 and NIW Approvals for the Same Applicant in Nebraska Service Center

Our law firm filed an EB11 and an NIW for the same client, and both cases got approved in Nebraska Service Center. The EB11 was filed on September 29 and approved on November 14, 2005. The NIW was filed on October 10 and approved on December 6. No RFE.

This is the second time that both NIW and EB11 were filed on behalf of a research associate at the same university in Iowa, and both petitions were approved.

The beneficiary is currently a key research scientist working on research projects focusing on nanomaterials based sensing devices. The research projects are fully funded by NSF, NASA and ASFOR.

After reviewing the client’s credential, we recommended that he apply for NIW and EB1A (Alien of Extraordinary Ability). None of those two categories requires employer’s sponsorship.

A member of several organizations that are integral to the field, including the prestigious Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society, the beneficiary has also authored and co-authored thirty publications. These publications included articles in journals with high impact factors, invited articles, and abstracts in conference proceedings. The beneficiary also presented his innovative research at numerous national and international conferences. Our client’s research is clearly being used by others within the area of specialization, as the work has been favorably cited more than one hundred (100) times by other researchers in the field. Another indicator of our client’s stature in the particular field of knowledge is frequent invitations to serve as a reviewer for leading scientific journals. The beneficiary has received a number of prestigious scholarships in China, including Ying-Song Scholarship and Dai An-gang Scholarship.

We have argued that the client has made groundbreaking research discoveries that have significant impact on nano-technology and materials sciences at an international level. His research is of particular importance in the area, which is crucial for the US to take a lead in nanotechnology and compete in the global marketplace, thus the research is not only national, but global in scope. This research was shown to be substantially important to the health care, economy, and national defense of the United States.

The beneficiary submitted several expert opinion letters from universities both in the US and abroad, as well as from recognized organization, including one letter from NIST. We did a thorough analysis of each writer’s background, and how the writers came to know the beneficiary, and we then drafted the letters from the perspective of the advisors, the collaborators, and independent experts. These letters attested to the importance of our client’s cutting-edge research and to the fact that our client is one of the small percentages who have risen to the very top of the field. They further attested that as a key research scientist of projects funded by important government agencies, the US national interests would be adversely impacted without his continuing contribution.

It is noteworthy that the beneficiary has done substantial research in China. We therefore advised the beneficiary to obtain one recommendation letter from China attesting to his research achievements while working toward his Ph. D degree. Based on our observation, the beneficiary’s publications and research experience in the home country are as important as the research achievements made in the US, thus should not be neglected. They convincingly established that the beneficiary has prior track of demonstrable records of achievements, which will justify his future contribution the US.

Our efforts have been repeatedly successful. Both the NIW and EB11 were approved in less than three months from Nebraska Service Center, which is notorious for its lower approval rate on EB11 and NIW cases.

--Response-to-RFE Approval for a Self-petitioned NIW

This law office recently responded an RFE on behalf a Ph. D student in Rhode Island. The NIW was approved three weeks after the response was submitted.

The beneficiary filed a self-petitioned NIW in 2003 when he was a second year Ph. D student in pharmacology and toxicology. An RFE was received in middle of 2005.

After reviewing the RFE and documents initially submitted by the beneficiary to support his NIW petition, we concluded this NIW case was not properly presented to the USCIS because the applicant was not fully aware of the latest trends in NIW cases. In particular, some of the recommendation letters, undermined the case drastically. Instead of emphasizing the applicant has benefited the US greater than those having similar qualifications, the letters stated the applicant is irreplaceable because the applicant possesses a level of skills that are difficult to find.

Applicant received his M.S in Pharmacology from the top medical school in China. His research project in China was funded by China National Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs. His research papers were cited by Chemical Abstracts.

The client is conducting research in the field of molecular toxicology; specifically, in research on heavy metals toxicology in cadmium. Our client’s work has substantial intrinsic merit to the national interests of the United States in such areas as environmental risk assessment, public health care and biomedical research. The project was funded by the NIH.

In responding to the RFE, we took great efforts to establish our client’s research contributions have profound impacts in the field. We helped the client drafting five additional expert opinion letters, including one letter from the president of Metals Specialty Section, SOT. In addition, since the original submission, the beneficiary published two new articles in leading journals, and was invited to present his research results at the meetings in the area of toxicology based on work conducted prior to submission of the original application. The client also received the Pre-doctoral Outstanding Research Award from the SOT Metals Specialty Section. He was selected as a member of the Society of Toxicology. We were able, therefore, to include these in the response as further proof of applicant’s prior demonstrable research achievements. Although still a doctoral student, applicant’s research contribution to the field is greater than those having similar qualifications.

The case was approved following our RFE response. While many people panic when their cases receive RFEs, this is another example of the fact that cases are often approved following the proper response to an RFE.

This is another of our successful NIW approvals for Ph. D students.

--B12(Outstanding Professor/Researcher) and NIW Approval

Our immigration professionals helped file an EB12 (sponsored by employer) and an NIW on behalf of a research engineer in a medical research institute in Ohio. Both cases were approved in the Nebraska Service Center. No RFEs.

The beneficiary is a Co-investigator of research projects funded by two NIH grants, Co-Investigator of research project funded by Department of Defense. He is focused on performing cutting-edge research on human central nervous system functions during movement.

The client received his M.S in Biology in China, and subsequently his Ph. D in Biomedical Engineering in the US. Having more than ten publications in peer-reviewed journals, including Brain, and Neurophysiology, the beneficiary was recognized for his groundbreaking discoveries and novel original research contributions in neural control mechanisms of human movements, which are critical to develop the effective treatment for movement disabilities. He was invited to be an expert reviewer for Muscle & Nerve. In addition, the beneficiary was invited to present his research work in the leading conferences in the field.

We provided amply evidence to establish the employer is an accomplished research institute and research position filed by the beneficiary requires proven extraordinary ability in the field of biomedical engineering. The beneficiary provided grant proposals to establish he is an indispensable member of several federal-funded research projects.

We also provided substantial evidence to support our argument that the beneficiary is a renowned research scientist in the field of EEG analysis of cognitive control, movement disorders, and movement rehabilitation. Documents included medial reports about the research lab in which the beneficiary is a key research scientist. In addition, substantial documents were also included to prove the beneficiary’s research in clinical rehabilitation and movements will provide better understanding for mechanisms underlying human movement diseases and to improve movement rehabilitation for patients who lost their move abilities. Thus, his research has had and will continue to have significant impacts on American health care.

The beneficiary submitted eight expert letters from universities and hospitals. These letters attested to the importance of our client’s groundbreaking research and to the fact that our client’s research has significant clinical applications.

Both EB12 and NIW were approved by the Nebraska Service Center three months after submission.