National Interest Waiver (NIW) approved for a Computer Analyst with no Academic Publication and no Citation

In March of 2014, Mr. X contacted our firm, interested in applying for permanent residency using the self-petition route of National Interest Waiver (NIW). NIW is classified as EB2. For Mr. X’s country of birth, EB2 priority date is current, meaning if successful, Mr. X could become a permanent resident within a short timeframe.

Mr. X received a bachelor degree in his home country, majoring in computer science, and worked several years for a well-known Internet company, before coming to U.S. to pursue graduate studies. At the time Mr. X contacted our firm, he was soon to receive his MBA, and did not have a job offer. Mr. X was worries about no getting selected by the H1B lottery , and wanted to pursue the NIW option leading to a green card.

After a thorough evaluation, we found two weak areas that must be addressed:

1. Mr. X has not published any paper in a traditional academic venue;
2. Due to the confidential nature of internal business practice, Mr. X’s research results are neither published nor publicized.

An additional difficult issue was Mr. X was still looking for jobs. His previous work experience was in the area of Internet security, but now he has a new MBA degree, he could land a position that’s business oriented. We had to carefully set the framework for Mr. X’s National Interest claim, without knowing what he is and will be doing.

We filed Mr. X’s NIW based I-140 petition to Nebraska Service Center in September of 2014. As expected, we received a Request for Evidence (RFE), asking, among other things, about Mr. X’s career plan:

“It is not evident exactly what day-to-day duties you would be performing in the United States, or that your intended employment is realistic. The record contains your statement indicating that you intend to continue research in data security and identity protection. Please submit a more detailed description of your plans and how you intend to execute them. Provide additional evidence to establish whether you intend to seek an employer or if you have the personal funds and/or investors to establish your own research. If it is the former, please submit any documentary evidence of interest from potential employers. If it is the latter, please submit documentary evidence of your funding and your business plan. While a specific job offer is not required, the evidence must establish that you have reasonable job prospects in the United States.

By the time we received the RFE in February of 2015, Mr. X already landed a job as a Data Analyst for a gaming software company. Again, we had to carefully draft a RFE response to back up our original claim that Mr. X intends to continue research that relates to Internet Security and Identity Protection.

Finally, we received the happy news that USCIS Nebraska Service Center approved Mr. X’s NIW petition on May 1, 2015.

Please see below a summary of Mr. X’s case:

Click here to see the I-140 approval notice.

To receive a free evaluation and see if you might be eligible for NIW, please email your inquiry to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., along with a resume and your Google Scholar Profile. Attorney Wang will personally reply, typically within 24-48 hours.

Mr. X’s concern proved to be valid. In April of 2015, his new employer filed his H1B petition, but it failed to make the lottery. As a non-stem student, he was only entitled to a 12-month OPT.