EB-2 NIW
National Interest Waiver
NIW lets you petition for yourself. No employer sponsor, no PERM labor certification. You argue that your work benefits the US enough that they should waive the normal job offer requirement.
This works well for researchers, engineers, entrepreneurs, and others with a track record of impact. Not everyone qualifies. You need demonstrable achievements and a plan for future work.
Requirements
You need to meet EB-2 education requirements:
- •Master's degree or PhD, OR
- •Bachelor's plus 5 years progressive experience
Then prove the three-prong Dhanasar test (from a 2016 AAO decision):
1. Substantial merit and national importance. Your work matters beyond a single employer or locality. "National importance" is interpreted broadly: tech, healthcare, education, and business all count.
2. Well positioned to advance the endeavor. You have the skills, background, and plan to make progress. Education, achievements, and future commitments help here.
3. Beneficial to waive the job offer. Would requiring a labor certification be a net negative? For entrepreneurs and people in fast-moving fields, this is often easy to show.
The process
You file this yourself or with a lawyer. Your priority date is when USCIS receives the petition. Most of the work is preparing your evidence and argument.
File when your date is current.
Evidence that helps
- •Recommendation letters from experts in your field (5-8 is typical), especially from people who don't know you directly
- •Publications and citations showing your work is used by others
- •Patents (granted or pending)
- •Media coverage or awards
- •Business impact like revenue, users, contracts
The petition letter matters. It needs to connect your evidence to the three Dhanasar prongs clearly.
Common fields
NIW works across many fields: STEM research, medicine, business, education, arts. Recent years have seen more approvals for entrepreneurs and people in AI/ML, biotech, and clean energy.
The key is demonstrating that your work has impact beyond a single employer.
NIW + PERM strategy
Many people file NIW while their employer files PERM in parallel. This gives you two paths to approval. If the PERM-based I-140 is approved first with an earlier priority date, you can use that date for NIW.
Useful if you want the flexibility of self-sponsorship but also want the earliest possible priority date.
RFEs
Requests for Evidence are common. USCIS may want more documentation or clarification. You get about 87 days to respond. Address exactly what they asked for with clear evidence.
Compare NIW to employer-sponsored routes for your situation.
See your timeline