Video Transcript:
Hi I’m Nicole Hemrich and I’m the managing partner at Hemrick Law LLC today. I would like to talk about a new USCIS policy interpretation that it is calling an update regarding the eb2 national interest waiver. This was published on January 15 2025 so, it is very recent. This update doesn’t introduce any revolutionary changes but it does provide some important clarifications on how officers evaluate petitions and what evidence petitioners should be providing today. We’re going to talk about the key highlights of this update first, of course, you have to show that you qualify for the eb2 classification. So you must demonstrate that you either have an advanced degree or you are an individual of exceptional ability no change there to qualify as an advanced degree professional. You have to show that you either have a master’s degree or a PhD or that you have a bachelor’s degree followed by five years of progressive experience in your area of specialty.
USCIS has clarified here three important points first the occupation through which the petitioner intends to advance the proposed Endeavor must be a profession. Meaning that it must usually require at least a bachelor’s degree holding an advanced degree is insufficient petitioners must also demonstrate that the occupation in which they intend to work in the US. Typically requires at least a bachelor’s degree second for petitioners who do not hold a master’s degree or a PhD but rather are relying on a bachelor’s degree plus 5 years of progressive experience after the bachelor’s degree. The post-bachelor’s degree experience must be directly related to the field of the degree and finally the professional occupation requires a degree in a specific field the experience has to usually be related to the proposed Endeavor for professions. That do not require a degree in a specific field USCIS generally interprets the petitioner specialty as related to the proposed Endeavor another way to qualify is being an individual of exceptional ability so if you don’t hold an advanced degree or have the five years of post bachelor’s degree experience.
You can demonstrate that you have exceptional ability and this exceptional ability USCIS has clarified must be related to the proposed Endeavor a fourth takeaway. Here is related to the National importance of the proposed endeavor. This is always a challenging one in these new cases USC has reiterated that there is a difference between an occupation which is general and a proposed Endeavor. Which is more specific so what is it that you are going to do USCIS encourages a very clear and straightforward description of your Endeavor. Even for cases that involve highly technical occupations and Endeavors USC clarifies that a proposed Endeavor holds National importance. If it has National or even Global implications with a particular field if it has significant potential to employ us workers or other substantial positive economic effects.
If it has the potential to broadly enhance societal welfare or cultural or artistic enrichment or to contribute to the advancement of a valuable technology or field of study generally an Endeavor that only benefits the petitioners immediate circle such as their employer or clients is not going to be considered nationally important and USCIS has specifically stated that simply the fact of working in an occupation with a national shortage is not per se sufficient to demonstrate National importance another important point from this update is USCIS talks about the well-positioned prong so USCIS here provides a a non-exhaustive list of evidence that the petitioner may use to demonstrate they are well positioned to advance and Endeavor this list includes things such as degrees or certificates or licenses in the field the person has patents or trademarks or copyrights letters from experts within the field published articles or media about the person’s achievements or work in the field documentation Dem demonstrating a strong citation history of the person’s work or excerpts of publications of articles in the field evidence that the person’s work has been influential in the field correspondents from prospective employers clients or customers documentation reflecting feasible plans for financial support proof that the person is getting investment from us investors such as Venture Capital funds for the particular Endeavor let from government agencies and so on you can find this list at the USCIS website USCIS has also provided information regarding the on the balance prong the on the balance prong is all about whether on the balance it would be beneficial to the United States to wave the job offer and thus the permanent labor certification requirement for this particular beneficiary again a labor shortage in and of itself is not going to be sufficient to meet this PR USCIS again has acknowledged that stem professions with a more specific emphasis on critical and emerging Technologies and areas focusing on us competitiveness and National Security are key areas where the eb2 and IW may be appropriate and it also explains that in general claims that entrepreneurship benefit the economy in and of themselves are insufficient to wave the labor ification requirement if you have questions about this or any other immigration matter give us a call at 833.848.7838 or check us out online at https://hemrick.law/