National Interest Waiver
A National Interest Wavier provides an exemption from the job offer and labor certification requirements imposed on a foreign worker seeking to immigrate under the Second Employment Based Preference Category for professionals with advanced degrees and aliens with exceptional ability. U.S. law allows these requirements to be waived if the immigration authorities decide that a waiver would be, as the name implies, in the national interest.
A set of standards for National Interest Waivers were laid out in Matter of New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), a decision of the Administrative Appeals Office of the former Immigration and Naturalization Service. Designated as a precedent decision binding on all future cases, NYSDOT continues to provide the standards by which the immigration authorities judge National Interest Waiver applications. These standards are as follows:
The foreign worker must establish that.- S/he is employed in a field of "substantial intrinsic merit."
- The benefit s/he will provide will be national, and not simply local, in scope.
- S/he will benefit the national interest to a greater degree than a U.S. worker possessing the same minimum qualifications.
- Numerous letters from experts in the individual's field of work or study, such as university professors or industry leaders, attesting to the significance of the alien's work.
- Proof of numerous citations to the individual's published works.
- Receipt of prestigious awards and fellowships.
- Receipt of research grants from federal and state governments and private institutions.
- Magazine and newspaper articles highlighting the individual's achievements.
Although the standards set for receiving a National Interest Waiver are high, they have been granted to high achievers in a wide variety of professions.
