VISA2US Blog

The National Interest Waiver (NIW) is part of the United States EB-2 employment-based visa petition. It’s designed for those with advanced degrees or exceptional abilities that could benefit the national interest of the US. It’s a highly sought-after visa because once the applicant is approved, they become a lawful permanent resident of the country. However, it’s not easy to qualify. Here are the details you must know before you apply for an NIW.

Petitioning for an employment-based green card typically requires a sponsor. Applicants on a general path to this target can’t petition for themselves. The process includes receiving job offers and perm labor certification approvals, as well as completing various other forms and awaiting approval. But if you qualify, you can avoid these delays and sponsor yourself under a National Interest Waiver (NIW), which may cut down the processing time for your green card significantly.

When you’re approved for a National Interest Waiver, you sponsor yourself and don’t need a job offer to get your document. The NIW, as it’s referred to, is a fast track to a green card. But to keep your place in the green card waiting line, you must continue to prove that you’re working toward the terms stipulated with your NIW, which usually means having a specific job. So, when you change employers under an NIW, it could technically affect your green card status. Here are the details you should know if you’re considering changing (or have already changed) jobs as a National Interest Waiver holder.

An NIW, or National Interest Waiver, is part of the EB-2 category, used when an applicant wishes to obtain a green card in the US. This second-preference employment-based visa opportunity eliminates the requirement of other work visas: the beneficiary does not need a job offer in order to qualify for an NIW. But to balance this exception, there are many other substantial factors that must be met before someone is approved for the waiver, and it can be confusing to navigate the NIW process. Here are some of the typical frequently asked questions and their answers regarding the EB-2 National Interest Waiver.

The National Interest Waiver program benefits those wishing to enter the United States without a sponsored job offer. Once there, they can take the Green Card path to permanent residency — provided it’s in the nation’s best interest to approve this waiver. However, recent changes make this challenging process a little more accessible to certain categories of people. What are these adaptations, and will they benefit you? Read on to find out.

Obtaining a green card is a challenging endeavor. Most people use this path to US residency when they have a family member sponsoring them or a job offer from an employer willing to support their green card journey. But if neither of those options applies to you, you could qualify for a national interest waiver. What is this document, and what are the qualifications for foreign nationals? We have everything you need to know right here!

Congress is continually monitoring immigration legislation and how it’s impacting the American economy and citizens. Revisions are always part of the agenda, regardless of which political party is in the majority at the time. As of 2023, the Republicans have the majority in the House, President Biden is a Democrat, and the combination is affecting H-1B visa holders and other immigration avenues. We’ll explain what you can expect to see in the near future here.

The H-1B visa is designed for skilled foreign workers to fill vacancies in the United States. When a US employer can’t find an employee with the qualifications to do the job or one willing to fill that role, the employer can reach out to foreign nationals and extend a job offer. The fees those employers pay are used in part to create training programs for Americans to prepare them for high-skilled jobs.  While foreign nationals aren’t eligible for these training sessions, understanding what goes into them can help you prepare your resume if you want to qualify for an H-1B visa in the future. 

There’s no denying that the H-1B visa is arguably the most popular category on the market. But with many more petitioners than visas allocated, it’s also very difficult to obtain. This year’s lottery, FY 2024, saw the largest influx of registrations in history, but the US Citizenship and Immigration Services can only provide 85,000 visas. If you weren’t one of the chosen few, you still have options, as we’ll discuss here.

If you’ve paid attention to the immigration climate in the United States, you’ve heard about the massive layoffs in the tech sector. Many of these workers were H-1B visa holders who rely on steady employment to keep their legal status in the country. Per the H-1B visa’s terms, workers have 60 days to find another employer willing to sponsor their visa status, or they must return to their home country. But with so many people searching for work within similar industries, this is a challenging endeavor. However, a recent workaround may keep thousands of these laid-off tech workers in the US legally while they look for employment, even after their 60-day grace period ends by changing from an H-1B to a B-1 or B-2 visa.