Visa Lawyer Blog
We have recently won another incredible case under the National Interest Waiver Category for a renowned scientist in the field of neuropathic pain! Attorneys Ekaterina Powell and Andrew Desposito from our office did a great job in this case. Andrew provides another summary of the process for our readers.
In this second part of the National Interest Waiver series, we discuss another class of persons who qualify. As before, there are two types of individuals who may be granted a green card through the National Interest Waiver: an Alien that is a member of a profession holding an advanced degree, and an Alien that has commanded a salary, or other remuneration for services, which demonstrates exceptional ability. This article will discuss the Alien that is a member of a profession holding an advanced degree.
In order to be an Alien that is a member of a profession holding an advanced degree, one must show two things: That the Alien is a member of the professions holding an advanced degree and the Alien meets the requirements as discussed in Matter of New York State Department of Transportation, Interim Decision 3363, (Aug. 1998). If an Alien meets the requirements as set forth above, he will be granted a green card under the National Interest Waiver.
The Alien is a member of the professions holding an advanced degree
Our client that got his I-140 petition approved is a leading international expert and a pain specialist with special skills in Interventional Pain Procedures, Neuropathic Pain Management, Cancer Pain, and Palliative Cares. His research in the field of neuropathic pain treatments is unquestionably significant and is recognized on the international level. Our clients’ credentials include a medical degree from his home country, a two year study on Pain Management at a Pain Clinic, and another three years as Coordinator of that same clinic. In addition, we submitted our client’s curriculum vitae to outline their Education, Professional and Research Experience, Oral Presentations, Scientific Publications, Professional Association Memberships, Professional Development Courses, and Honors and Awards.
Another point discussed in our client’s case was the various organizations and places the individual has been invited to lecture. We demonstrated, through many exhibits, the organizations our client participated in as a member related to his field of work, as well as documents that show the various lectures and seminars our client spoke as an expert on his field of expertise.
Meeting the Matter of New York State Department of Transportation Threshold
In addition to the above requirements to demonstrate that the person is in the national interest, the individual must also meet the requirements as set forth in the case of Matter of New York State Department of Transportation. There are three elements in the case that need to be met. First, the benefits of the individual’s proposed employment will be national in scope. Second, the individual’s work as a renowned scientist qualifies him as “significantly above” that which is necessary to prove the “prospective national benefit” required of aliens seeking to qualify as “exceptional.” Third, the national interest would be adversely affected if a labor certification were required in this case AND a national interest waiver is NOT being sought based on a shortage of qualified workers in the field.
The benefits of the individual’s proposed employment will be national in scope
We demonstrated that the individual’s proposed employment will be national in scope. It has intrinsic value because as a scientist his research has led to many breakthroughs for his field. Our client’s excellent work in neuropathic pain and cancer pain treatment research was well documented in several publications and by oral presentations at international meetings. He has many highly acclaimed publications and has shown leadership in cancer pain control, through publishing many other articles and book chapters and by being invited as a lecturer both nationally and internationally. We showed that our client has over 20 years of work devoted to terminally ill patients with cancer pain and chronic pain. Because of his expertise in pain, specifically neuropathic pain, he has been invited to be part of important Advisory Boards in Chronic and Neuropathic Pain, and Cancer Pain of pharmaceutical companies nationally and internationally (Pfizer, Janssen-Cilag, Grunenthal, etc), as well as invited by the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP), to be the chairman for the Neuropathic Satellite Meeting on behalf of the World Congress on Pain.
The combination of our client’s skills, knowledge, and expertise as the clinician in the field of neuropathic pain, and as a researcher in the field of diagnostics and pain management, are invaluable for the developing research in the area of stem cells related to neuropathic pain treatment, which objective is to find new efficient alternative treatments for neuropathic pain, unveiling the mysteries surrounding the neuropathic pain, and improving its diagnostics. Our client’s work is in the national in scope because such treatments will have a significant impact on the lives of millions of Americans.
The individual’s work as a scientist qualifies him as “significantly above” that which is necessary to prove the “prospective national benefit” required of aliens seeking to qualify as “exceptional”
To demonstrate how an individual’s work is in the prospective national benefit, we showed how our client’s work had made a direct impact in the national interest. To do this, we needed to show that our client is recognized as one of the world’s leading scientists in the field of neuropathic pain management. His extraordinary abilities and indispensable contributions to the advancements in the field of chronic pain management will benefit the United States, and humankind as a whole. His work, accomplishments, and innovations, have distinguished him as a leader and expert within the scientific community. We had our client bring in letters from other experts in his field from various institutions to show the impact his work had towards the national benefit. In particular, the letters continually expressed how important our client’s research and experience was to the national interest. Showing that our client’s work has such a direct impact was necessary to making such a strong case for him. By demonstrating how far-reaching the impact of our client’s research was, it helped prove that his work is in the prospective national benefit required of someone seeking to qualify as exceptional and that it is “significantly above” those who seek to be qualified as “exceptional”. It was not enough to show that our client be involved in research or development of treatments to cure various diseases. Rather, it was important to show how our client was the key individual with the research and development of treatments such that no other individual could replicate that same work being done.
The national interest would be adversely affected if a labor certification were required in this case AND a national interest waiver is NOT being sought based on a shortage of qualified workers in the field
This element is perhaps the easiest element to meet. In the case of our client, we simply referred back to the various awards for his work, his invitation to speak at various lectures, his numerous publications and his professional experience to meet this requirement. By incorporating the letters of recommendation and the other documents demonstrating our client’s extra ordinariness, it goes to show that labor certification should not be required in this case. Also by incorporating those letters and documents, it shows that the national interest waiver is not based on a shortage of qualified workers, since our client is truly a one-of-a-kind individual.
The National Interest Waiver Secured Once More
So in the end, there are only four elements to prove that your client is an individual whose work is in the national interest. The extraordinariness of the scientist will be unique in each case in that the individual must show that their work has a far-reaching effect in the U.S. Our client’s work shows how he is in the national interest because of how many lives his research and developments will impact. Through continued research into stem cell therapy related to neuropathic pain treatment, our client turned out to be a very extraordinary individual in this field. For your own prospective National Interest Waiver you should ask yourself, “How extraordinary is my client as a scientist? Are his contributions greater than any other in his field?” The more extraordinary your client is, the better a case you will have.