EB-2 NIW Approval — AI/ML Research Scientist Establishes National Interest Waiver

IMMIGRATION LAW · SONG LAW FIRM SUCCESS STORY

Client Profile

A machine-learning research scientist at a U.S.-based AI startup, with international conference publications, a strong citation record, and substantial open-source project contributions.

Case Background

The employer was considering an EB-2 PERM sponsorship, but the wait was burdensome, and the client wanted the flexibility to eventually start his own venture — so we pursued a self-petitioned NIW in parallel.

Legal Issues

After Matter of Dhanasar (2022), NIW requires satisfaction of three prongs: (1) the proposed endeavor has substantial merit and national importance, (2) the petitioner is well-positioned to advance the endeavor, and (3) waiving the labor-market test (PERM) is on balance beneficial to the United States. USCIS has recently been more receptive to AI/ML petitions from a national-security and economic-competitiveness lens, but the individual contribution showing still receives strict scrutiny.

Song Law Firm Strategy

• Aligned the client's research agenda with U.S. federal strategy documents from NSF, NIST, and DOE to reinforce the "national importance" prong.
• Built a time-series record of citations, invited talks, and open-source adoption metrics to establish "well-positioned."
• Secured six recommendation letters from top-tier figures in both industry and academia, each articulating why PERM waiver was in the national interest with specific reasoning.

Process

Filed with Premium Processing. Approved within 45 days of receipt.

Result

I-140 EB-2 NIW approved. Client proceeded with concurrent I-485 filing without waiting on employer PERM. The self-petitioned track preserved the client's future startup options.

Lessons

NIW requires each of the three prongs to be argued as its own narrative. In practice, aligning the first "national importance" prong with federal policy documents and research roadmaps is the linchpin of a strong petition.