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NIW EB2 for Phd Candidate

Published Jun 21,2018 By Samik Tsedreu

Hi,

Thank you for your website which contains useful information. I wanted to know your opinion on my situation: I am a Phd candidate in theoretical Physics in Quantum Optics and Communication. I did my undergraduate from US with a major in physics and did research on experimental optics. I have 3 co-author publication from my undergraduate work and more than 10 conference presentations at regional and national level in undergraduate level. For my Phd work, I switched to more theoretical work which is gaining a lot of attention now in international arena. This is my end of 3rd year of my Phd and I have published 4 coauthor paper and 3 co-author paper and 1 first author paper are pending for review for publication. I have more than 20 independent citations until now since my field is narrow compared to other fields. I have done 2 months international internships, one in China at a highly reputed University and one in Japan in a Japanese Government Research Lab on Quantum Optics and Communication. I have reviewed 2 papers for International Journals. My advisor is a well known in the field and he has worked for several years on US Government labs and government related funding. I can gather more than 4-5 independent letters along with 5-6 letters from people I have worked with who are well known people in my area for recommendation and these will all be very strong recommendation letters from well known experts from all over the world. I wanted to know what are the chances for NIW EB-2. My field is such that it is in national interest because many government labs are not being able to fill position because it requires Green card or citizenship.  I am planning on graduating in May of 2019 and if it doesn’t go well, resort is to move to Canada. Thank You

 

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Tigran Kalaydzhyan
Tigran Kalaydzhyan
5 years ago

Hi Samik,

It looks like you should be able to prepare an EB2-NIW case after graduation. The field can be presented as having intrinsic merit. However, please keep in mind that it is not defined by the ability of the government to hire people, but by the importance of the research for the national interests. In your case, such motivation can be, probably, extracted from DARPA, NASA and NIST publications on their websites and in pamphlets.

Samik Tsedreu
Samik Tsedreu
5 years ago

Hi Tigran,

Thank you for the response. I agree its not the ability of the government to hire people but the importance of the research in national interest. I have been funded through army and Airforce throughout my phd. In my opinion, I think it should be easier to show that it is in interest of the US because over the last few years, China has made such progress on this field which was deemed impossible in US government labs 10 years ago.
I wanted to get more of your opinion on one matter. My advisor is suggesting I just get a masters now just for the purpose of having a higher degree than Bachelor and file NIW now. He wants me to file now because I want to do postdoc and all the funding are restricted to US citizens or permanent residency mostly because all these positions are in national labs like Nist or Northrup Grumman and others. Do you think this would be a good path to take for me now?

Tigran Kalaydzhyan
Tigran Kalaydzhyan
5 years ago
Reply to  Samik Tsedreu

Hi Samik,

While it is possible to obtain EB2-NIW with Masters’ degree, it is more difficult than with PhD. If your advisor is willing to pay a lawyer for the case preparation, and the lawyer is taking the case, then it would make sense. You should also keep in mind that it may take up to 2 years to get it done, since there is no premium processing option for EB2 I-140 and the I-485 processing times are varying wildly: 16.5 Months to 23 Months for Nebraska Service Center and 16.5 Months to 39 Months for Texas Service Center, see the link below.

https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/

Dave
Dave
5 years ago

Hi Tigran,

My wife recently got her NIW I-140 package approved, and I recently got my F1 visa approved and will be in the US next month.

We got married last year, I understand because of the 90 day rule it’s best to adjust status after said 90days, we plan to file our I 485s together. She is currently working OPT-Stem, and I’d be a student then, would I need to apply for AP and an EAD as well?

Tigran Kalaydzhyan
Tigran Kalaydzhyan
5 years ago
Reply to  Dave

Hi Dave,

Congratulations on the NIW approval! You are right that it makes sense to wait for 90 days after entering the country with F1 before filing I-485. When you file I-485, both of you should also file for EAD. It makes sense to file for AP as well for each of you, because the current processing times for I-485 are very long and you won’t be able to use F1 for traveling. Please let me know if you have further questions.

Dave
Dave
5 years ago

Thank you for making this clearer! This is very helpful.

Do you have a sense for when items like the AP and EAD would be made available?

Separately, would that mean me, still being an F1 Student, if I get an EAD, I’d be able to work in the US?

Tigran Kalaydzhyan
Tigran Kalaydzhyan
5 years ago
Reply to  Dave

Current processing times for those are 2.5 to 5.5 months. Yes, if you get EAD you will be able to work in the U.S.

Dave
Dave
5 years ago

I thank you so much of your time!

My final final questions:

=When I file my I-485, as a dependent in this situation, would I be filing as “1.a other relative of […] lawful permanent resident[…]”, or “1.b “Alien worker”

=I also understand that to the question “Are you applying for adjustment based on the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) section 245(i)”- I should say no, because we’ve started filling out the I-485 supplement, I believe this is in error.

Tigran Kalaydzhyan
Tigran Kalaydzhyan
5 years ago
Reply to  Dave

[1] In Part 2, you will have to choose 1b, “Alien worker, Form I-140”.
[2] Unless you entered (or stayed/worked in) the United States illegally, you should say “no”, see the link below.

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/pressrelease/Section245ProvisionLIFEAct_032301.pdf

Dave
Dave
5 years ago

Thanks again for all you help Tigran

-also checked out your “Anti-CV”, happy you shared that, it’s inspired me to work even harder!

Tigran Kalaydzhyan
Tigran Kalaydzhyan
5 years ago
Reply to  Dave

You are welcome. I wish you success in your pursuits.

-You reminded me that I may need to update it, because I accumulated more failures since then 🙂

Dave
Dave
5 years ago

Hi Tigran,

A question just came to me, following on with my prior enquiries; do we (my wife and I) have to submit our I485s at the same time? Can my wife instead submit her form today, and I submit 90+ days from today?

Do you think this would cause any complications?

Tigran Kalaydzhyan
Tigran Kalaydzhyan
5 years ago
Reply to  Dave

Hi Dave,

This is a good question. Since I am not aware of separate filings of I-485, I would recommend to consult with an experienced immigration lawyer, who has more data from recent filings (the first consultations are usually free). Even though I see that the law allows for separate filings, I can imagine how it could complicate the process. For example, there is a new practice of USCIS interviewing NIW applicants, so you might have to go through the interviews twice and explain why you do so. And, more important, USCIS is pretty good with messing things up, so it is better to avoid nonstandard situations.

Dave
Dave
5 years ago

Hi Tigran,

I agree with you on this. The interview makes this process more complicated. Will avoid this route.

The reason I asked this was to meet the validity periods of the I693 (Medicals), and avoid having to redo them if I’m they expire during the I485 processing period.

Thanks

Tigran Kalaydzhyan
Tigran Kalaydzhyan
5 years ago
Reply to  Dave

I see. On the one hand, submitting newly prepared I-693 minimizes the chance of it being expired during the process. On the other hand, if you already have this done earlier, I am not sure you should renew it before submitting, because you may have to do it once again (i.e., for the third time) later, since, currently, the processing time for I-485 is more than a year. Probably, the best course of action would be to submit the medicals on hand. If you get the interview scheduled and your I-693 expires, you should get the new one prior to the interview and bring it with you.

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