WHAT WE DO?

A member of the professions holding an advanced degree or its equivalent, or a person who has exceptional ability, may be eligible for an EB-2 visa.

The endeavors that qualify for a National Interest Waiver (NIW) of the job offer, and thus the labor certification, are not defined by statute; instead, USCIS considers the 3 factors below:

• The proposed endeavor has both substantial merit and national importance.
• The applicant is well positioned to advance the proposed endeavor.
• On balance, it would be beneficial to the United States to waive the requirements of a job offer, and therefore the labor certification.

Notwithstanding the concession of the EB-2 NIW depends on subjective analysis from the USCIS officials, according to our experience we have conditions to evaluate in advance if our potential client has good chances or not to fill in their requirements and hence get the approval.

No. Your national diploma, professional and academic experience prior to the application is enough as long as it can prove the required advanced degree. The U.S. diploma validation and other licenses to work in the U.S. are not required for the EB-2 NIW application, but are an important step to be taken into consideration on an immigration plan.

There are two main steps involving different bodies of the American Government:

1. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (UCIS): The first step is to apply for the eligibility to immigrate to the U.S. (in our case, under the EB-2 NIW visa) before the USCIS. Once it is approved, the USCIS will be sending the petition to the NVC for visa pre-processing.
2. National Visa Center (NVC): Once the NVC receives the approved petition from the USCIS, it will have up to 1 year to create the visa case and enter the data from the petition into the system. Then, they will send the instructions for visa processing, including the necessary immigrant visa documents, application forms, civil documents, and more. Once the immigration visa is stamped in the Passport, the immigrant will have 6 months to travel to the U.S. in order to receive the Green Card and Social Security Number.

It is not possible to determine how long the whole process will take. According to our experience, USCIS usually takes from 4 months to 20 months to answer the EB-2 NIW applications. After that, it might take up to 1 year for the NVC to process the visa and, from that until the Green Card issuance, it might take a few or many months, depending on the client’s planning.

There are no limitations on crossing the U.S. border after you obtain your Visa. However, it is highly recommended for the Green Card holders to issue a reentry permit if he is leaving the US for more than 1 year.

In general, a Green Card holder who has lived in the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident for at least 5 years and stayed at least 50% of that time in the U.S. (2.5 years), has good moral character, is able to read, write, and speak basic English and has passed an U.S. Naturalization Test and a personal interview, will be eligible to become an American citizen.

Yes, your spouse and unmarried children under the age of 21 can get a Green Card with the same EB-2 NIW petition.

During your first meeting it will be explained all the costs in each phase of the process and the different payment options.

For official information about the EB-2 (NIW) and the basic requirements of eligibility please check the USCIS website.