National Interest Waiver
National Interest Waiver
Foreign nationals may be eligible for a second preference employment-based immigrant petition or “National Interest Waiver” if they are a member of a profession that requires an advanced degree or its equivalent, or have exceptional ability in their field. The advantage of the National Interest Waiver category is that it exempts the foreign national from obtaining a job offer (the foreign national may self-petition) and waives the labor certification requirement, provided it is in the best interest of the U.S. The immigration attorneys in our Michigan law firm have considerable experience in assisting petitioners seeking a National Interest Waiver.
The standards for National Interest Waivers are laid out in Matter of New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), a 1998 decision of the Administrative Appeals Office, Department of Homeland Security. It is designated as a precedent decision binding on all future cases and continues to provide the standards by which the immigration authorities adjudicate National Interest Waiver petitions. NYSDOT requires the foreign national to establish that:
- The employment is in a field of "substantial intrinsic merit” or work that substantially furthers a national goal;"
- The benefits to be provided will be national in scope, and not simply local; and
- The national interest would be adversely affected if a labor certification were required. In other words, the national benefit of the proposed work is so significant that it clearly outweighs the important public interest in maintaining certain minimum wage and employment standards, through requirement of a labor certification.
The following evidence has been used to satisfy these standards:
- Numerous letters from experts in the foreign national’s field of work or study, such as university professors or industry leaders, attesting to the significance of the foreign national’s work;
- Proof of numerous citations to the foreign national’s published works;
- Receipt of prestigious awards and fellowships;
- Letters of recommendations, to include current and previous employers;
- Licenses and certifications;
- Receipt of research grants from federal and state governments and private institutions; and/or
- Magazine and newspaper articles highlighting the foreign national’s achievements.
Although the standards set for obtaining a National Interest Waiver are high, they have been granted to high achievers in a wide variety of professions.
Our immigration attorneys have considerable experience in assisting foreign
nationals seeking National Interest Waivers.
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The Law Firm of Antone, Casagrande & Adwers, P.C. helps individuals and businesses worldwide with all of their US immigration needs including employment visas, obtaining green cards for business and corporate employees and family members, visas for doctors, nurses, therapists, and other health care workers, together with waivers for physicians under J visa training program, labor certifications (PERM), national interest waivers, marriage-based adjustments and green cards, fiancee visas, family immigration preferences, students, naturalization and citizenship, including medical waivers, asylum, deportation, hardship waivers, voluntary departure and removal. We serve clients in southeast Michigan including the Detroit Metro area, Ann Arbor, and Lansing. With offices in Farmington Hills, MI, we are close to Southfield, Troy, West Bloomfield, Birmingham, Novi, Rochester and Auburn Hills in Oakland County; Canton, Plymouth, Dearborn, and Detroit in Wayne County; Warren, Sterling Heights, and Mount Clemens in Macomb County; Brighton and Howell in Livingston County; Lansing in Ingham County; City of Monroe in Monroe County, Ann Arbor in Washtenaw County; Grand Rapids in Kent County; Battle Creek in Calhoun County; Kalamazoo in Kalamazoo County; Benton Harbor in Berrien County; Holland in Ottawa County; Flint in Genesee County; Ludington in Mason County; Muskegon in Muskegon County; and Traverse City in Grand Traverse County, Michigan. Although many of our clients are located in the tri-county area of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb, we also serve clients in many cities and states in the U.S. including Cleveland, Toledo and Cincinnati, Ohio; Chicago, Illinois; Milwaukee and Green Bay, Wisconsin; Indianapolis, Indiana; Buffalo, New York; Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego, California; Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona; Dallas, Houston, El Paso and Galveston, Texas; Miami, Florida; Washington D.C.; Virginia, Minnesota, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and many others. In addition to the United States, we also serve Canadian nationals from numerous provinces in Canada, including Toronto and Windsor in Ontario; Montreal in Quebec; Halifax in Nova Scotia; and Vancouver, British Columbia. We also serve cities and countries such as London, England; Scotland and other countries of the United Kingdom (U.K.); Mexico, Paris, France; Frankfurt and Berlin, Germany; Tokyo, Japan; India; Brazil; Rome, Italy; Shanghai and Beijing, China; Belgium; the Philippines, and many other countries in Europe, Asia and South America. |
