What Is A National Interest Waiver?

Immigration law requires that any person born outside the United States obtain a visa to visit, live, or work inside this country.  An immigration attorney may often be required to help the petitioner fulfill immigration law and file all the necessary petitions and fees, and meet the deadlines required.  Immigration is a detailed process that falls under immigration law, which is administered by the Bureau of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and can be completed with the help of an immigration attorney.  Many petitioners desire to obtain a temporary work visa for employment in the United States.  There are several categories of work visas and an immigration attorney can help you discern if you qualify, but the worker must seek employment with a specific American employer who must also file paperwork outlined in immigration law, often with the help of an immigration attorney, to request a work visa for their potential employee. 

In some cases, immigration law allows certain exceptional workers to obtain a work visa without a labor certification by an employer.  Immigration law allows these petitioners to be granted a National Interest Waiver (NIW), although immigration is a complicated and demanding process for which they would be wise to retain an immigration attorney.  Immigration law may allow an NIW to be granted, for example, to physicians and medical professionals who practice in areas where there is insufficient healthcare or those who wish to practice in Veterans Affairs facilities.  They may also provide essential contributions to the U.S. economy, industry, education, or the environment.  Immigration law also specifies that NIW work visas may be granted to individuals whose presence has been requested by a U.S. government agency, in which case there can be minimal need for an immigration attorney. 

Petitioning for a National Interest Waiver

There are five categories of work visas that immigration attorneys can help petitioners apply for under immigration law.  Immigration attorneys can help apply for work visas under immigration law in the following categories:

• Priority workers
• Professionals with advanced degrees or aliens of exceptional ability
• Skilled workers, professionals without advanced degrees, and unskilled workers for a needed employment area
• Special immigrants, which includes ministers, religious workers, and employees of the U.S. government abroad
• And employment creation immigrants or "investors"

It is the second category under which immigration law generally allows NIW work visas to be granted.  Immigration law states that this is an EB2 category of work visa, under the specific sub-category of aliens of exceptional ability, and there are very detailed specifications in immigration law governing their approval.  That is why it is often necessary to call on an experienced immigration attorney to help file a NIW work visa petition.  It is often only with the help of an experienced immigration attorney that a petitioner can ensure that all the requirements of immigration law are fulfilled in a timely manner. 

Evidence Supporting NIW Work Visas

There are several types of support and evidence, which an immigration attorney can help procure to support the request for a NIW work visa under immigration law.  Once compiled, a skilled immigration attorney can effectively present this type of evidence for a NIW work visa to the USCIS.

• Affidavits compiled by an immigration attorney showing the skills of the potential NIW work visa recipient by well known and respected Americans or institutions
• Past achievements which are well-documented and shown to be of national benefit
• Evidence presented by an immigration attorney of skills which are significantly above those of the general work visa applicant and that provide national benefit
• The crucial nature of their contributions to a team working in the national interest
• Evidence of already completed work that contributes to the national interest, not merely the potential to do so

An immigration attorney can help discover and present evidence supporting an applicant’s qualifications.

NIW Work Visa Approval

Under immigration law, the process for petitioning for NIW work visa approval is generally similar to that of any other work visa.  With the help of an immigration attorney, the petitioner must file the appropriate petition, include the proper fines, and submit evidence of their qualifications for a NIW work visa.  However, instead of the immigration law requirement that a specific employer contact an immigration attorney and file a labor certificate, the qualifications for immigration law requirement may be partially waived.  The need for a specific employer at a specific place of employment is not always necessary, and immigration law only requires the petitioner and their immigration attorney file their own request for a work visa.  Again, the requirements for this type of waiver are complex, and may be delayed or even rejected if all the details and paperwork are not complete and accurately filed by an immigration attorney.