What is EB-2 National Interest Waiver Green Card, Who Can Apply, What Are the Conditions?

By Ergul Celiksoy, Immigration Attorney at CK Law Firm

In this article, Dr. Ergül Çeliksoy, founding attorney of CK Law Firm, provides answers to the most frequently asked questions about the EB2 National Interest Waiver (EB2 NIW) Green Card process. By reading this article, you will find answers to the following questions:

• What is EB2 National Interest Waiver Visa?
• What are the Advantages of EB2 NIW Visa?
• Who Can Apply for EB2 NIW Visa?
• What are the Application Requirements for EB2 NIW Visa?
  • Criterion 1: Advanced Degree
  • Criterion 2: National Interest (Potential to Make a Positive Contribution to the United States)
  • Criterion 3: You are an expert and competent in your field
  • Criterion 4: It is in America’s interest to approve your application when your entire application is considered
• How does the EB2 NIW visa application process work?

EB2 National Interest Waiver Visa: What is it?

The EB2 National Interest Waiver visa, also known as the Benefit Waiver, is a Green Card-based visa type that you can apply for without any sponsor or employer. With the EB2 NIW visa, you can obtain a Green Card and live and work in the United States. Moreover, after living in the US for 5 years with this visa, you can apply for US citizenship. This visa allows both you and your family to live in the US and eventually become US citizens.

The main philosophy behind the EB2 NIW visa is to provide experts in their fields with the opportunity to obtain a Green Card, live, and work in the US, thus promoting brain drain. By designing this visa, the US aims to attract successful individuals from different countries to come to the US, continue their professional lives, and contribute positively to the country. In this article, I will explain in detail who can apply for this visa, the requirements of the visa, how to meet these requirements, and how the application process is managed.

What are the Advantages of EB2 NIW Visa?

The EB2 NIW visa has many advantages, including:

• You do not need a job offer from a US employer or a sponsor to apply for the EB2 NIW visa. You can apply based on your work experience and achievements in your field. This is a significant advantage.
• After obtaining a Green Card with the EB2 NIW visa, you are not obligated to work for any specific employer. You can change employers as you wish or even start your own business. The important thing is that you continue to work in your field.
• You do not need to make any investment in the US for the EB2 NIW visa. You only need to pay the visa fees to apply. If you choose to follow the process with a lawyer, there will be legal fees. However, unlike some other visa types, you do not need to make any investment or maintain a large amount of money in your bank account.
• You do not need to be in the US to apply for the EB2 NIW visa. You can manage the process from Turkey. It is possible to apply for this visa and follow the process both from within and outside the US. Therefore, if you are not currently in the US, there is no need to worry because you can handle all the necessary procedures for this visa from outside the US.
• Since this is an immigration visa, you receive a Green Card through this visa and can become a US citizen in the future.
• If you are married and have children, they can also obtain a Green Card through you and come to the US with you.

The EB2 NIW visa has many more advantages like these. Therefore, many successful individuals from around the world choose this visa and take their first steps toward a new life in the US.

Who Can Apply for EB2 NIW Visa?

The EB2 NIW visa is a suitable visa type for individuals who are experts and successful in their fields. This visa can be applied for by successful academics, doctors, engineers, IT professionals, senior executives, artists, and athletes.

In fact, there is no specific restriction on who can apply based on their profession. The main criterion here is that the applicants are highly successful in their fields and can support this with documents. Generally, the EB2 NIW visa is preferred by academics, doctors, engineers, athletes, and artists. Most of our clients also belong to these professional groups.

If you are successful in your field and believe that you meet the criteria for the visa, you can send us your detailed and up-to-date CV by email for a free evaluation. Our team will assess whether you meet the criteria for the EB2 NIW visa and inform you of our opinion. If our initial review indicates that you meet the criteria for this visa, we will conduct a free 30-minute Zoom meeting with you to evaluate your eligibility in more detail. For more information, you can send your CV to us by email right away!

What are the Application Requirements for EB2 NIW Visa?

As briefly mentioned above, the main philosophy of the EB2 NIW visa is to encourage brain drain. Therefore, this visa can be applied for by individuals who are experts and successful in their fields. There are four main criteria for the EB2 NIW visa. I will now explain these criteria one by one:

CRITERIA 1: Advanced Degree

The first requirement for the EB2 NIW visa is that the applicant must have an advanced degree. This advanced degree means:

• The applicant must have at least a Master’s degree or higher in their field. If you have a Master’s or Doctorate degree, you can easily meet this criterion.
• If you do not have a Master’s or Doctorate degree, you must have at least a Bachelor’s degree and at least 5 years of work experience in your field.

If you meet these conditions, you satisfy the advanced degree requirement. The key thing to note here is that your education must be in your current field of expertise. For example, if you are a doctor applying for this visa, you must use your medical education to meet this requirement. However, if you currently work in IT but have a degree in a different field like economics, your education may not meet the advanced degree requirement for the EB2 visa.

Generally, this first criterion is the easiest to meet. In most of our applications, we have not encountered any issues related to the advanced degree. You do not need to have completed your education in the US to apply for the EB2 NIW visa. You can apply with the education you completed at a university in Turkey, and you will generally not face any issues. If you have questions about whether your education is suitable for this visa, please contact us.

CRITERIA 2: National Interest (Having the Potential to Make a Positive Contribution to America)

The second criterion for the EB2 NIW visa is related to how continuing your work in the US will contribute to the US. As mentioned at the beginning of the article, this visa is designed to encourage brain drain. By granting you this visa, the US expects you to contribute positively to the country. The nature of this contribution can vary for each applicant. However, the main point here is that the criterion of contributing to the US is the most crucial and requires the most thought in the context of the EB2 NIW visa.

Contribution to the US:

In your EB2 NIW visa application, you need to include a statement explaining what job you will do in the US. You should describe the job you will do related to your field of expertise and explain its importance to the US. Each applicant’s situation is different here. For example, for academics, doctors, and engineers, the contribution to the US is generally more concrete.

For instance, a physics academician can claim that continuing their academic work in the US will contribute academically to the field of physics. Or, a doctor specializing in cardiac surgery can state that continuing their work in this field will contribute to the healthcare sector in the US. In our office, we conduct individual meetings with each client to thoroughly evaluate the contribution to the US and prepare a comprehensive plan for the EB2 NIW application.

Assessment of the Contribution to America Criteria:

When your application is evaluated, your claimed contribution to the US is examined in two ways:

• First, is the job you intend to do in the US of substantial merit? In other words, is the job you will do genuinely important and valuable?
• Second, does this job have the potential to contribute to the US in general?

We evaluate the contribution criterion in detail during the meetings we conduct with you while preparing your application. This often involves researching the reflections and current developments in your field in the US. It is particularly useful to consider the strategic policies of the US government, both at the federal and local levels, related to your field of expertise.

CRITERION 3: Expertise and Competence in Your Field

The third criterion for the EB2 NIW visa is that you must be an expert and competent in your field. You can demonstrate this with numerous documents related to your work in your field. You can show your expertise and competence in your field through:

• Your work experience,
• Successful projects you have completed in your field,
• Contributions to your field,
• Reference letters from other experts in your field,
• Your national and international publications in your field,
• Presentations at conferences,
• Interviews and news about you.

If you send us your detailed CV by email, we will evaluate it in terms of the EB2 NIW visa and provide you with our opinion. One important thing to note about the expertise and competence criterion is that your field of expertise should align with the job you intend to do in the US. For example, if you are a successful economist, the job you plan to do in the US should also be related to this.

CRITERION 4: The Overall Evaluation of Your Application Being in the US’s Interest

The final criterion for the EB2 NIW visa is related to the overall evaluation of your application. Essentially, this criterion is about how strong your application is when the first three criteria are considered together. If the first three criteria are positive, this final criterion is generally met.

Conclusion

There are many details related to the EB2 NIW visa. The application packages we prepare for our clients generally range from 400-500 pages. It is necessary to provide convincing documents and explanations for each criterion explained here. If you ask me, if you have the dream of living and working in the US, the EB2 NIW visa is definitely an option you should consider.

Who is Attorney Dr. Ergül Çeliksoy?

Attorney Dr. Ergül Çeliksoy is the co-founder of CK Law Firm. Dr. Çeliksoy has extensive experience in US immigration law. He completed his master’s degree in international law and human rights law at the University of Nottingham in 2017 and began his PhD at the same university. In 2022, he completed his law doctorate at the University of Nottingham School of Law, enhancing his academic career. Dr. Çeliksoy is a registered member of the California Bar and provides excellent service to his clients with his deep knowledge and experience in US immigration law cases. His expertise in immigration law adds valuable contributions to CK Law Firm’s work in this field.

Dr. Çeliksoy offers comprehensive and strategic solutions to his clients in immigration law cases, helping them secure their legal status in the US. In his work on human rights and immigration processes, his deep knowledge of modern slavery and criminal justice issues allows him to effectively resolve the complex legal problems faced by immigrants. Dr. Çeliksoy reinforces CK Law Firm’s leadership in immigration law by providing reliable and effective legal advisory services, helping his clients build new lives in the US.