Recent NIW Appeals
Posted Apr 05, 2002

This MurthyBulletin / MurthyDotCom report covers appeals of EB1 and National Interest Waiver (NIW) green card cases in which the INS decision was reversed. These are cases that were originally denied by the INS and then appealed to the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO), which ultimately approved them. Though these were not cases handled by The Law Office of Sheela Murthy, P.C, they are publicly reported in the legal literature.

Computer Science  A PhD candidate, who held a Masters degree in Computer Science, filed a National Interest Waiver petition. The Texas Service Center determined that the petitioner did not effectively establish that the foregoing labor certification would be in the national interest and denied the petition. The petition was ultimately approved upon appeal based on sufficient evidence that other experts in his field had sought the petitioner's expertise. Specifically, the petitioner submitted two eMail messages from professors at other universities that demonstrated his renowned reputation in the field. 

Geographic Information Systems  A geographic information systems (GIS) coordinator filed a National Interest Waiver petition with the Nebraska Service Center. The petition was initially denied, with the director arguing that there was not sufficient evidence to justify an exemption from the job offer / labor certification requirement. The initial evidence submitted included a list of the beneficiary’s contributions and a general assertion of the importance of the GIS to the forestry industry.

The Associate Commissioner sustained the appeal noting, “It does not appear to have been the intent of Congress to grant National Interest Waivers on the basis of overall importance of a given field of endeavor, rather than on the merits of the individual alien.” The additional evidence that was submitted by the petitioner, specifically an independent evaluation of the beneficiary’s contributions, warranted an approval.

Economics  A petitioner with a PhD in Economics submitted a National Interest Waiver petition based on accomplishments as a financial analyst. The petition was initially denied by the Vermont Service Center. On appeal, the petition was approved, as the original and supplemental evidence submitted proved that the financial community recognized the particular significance of the petitioner’s research. It was determined the benefit of the petitioner’s services outweighs the national interest merit of labor certification. The petition was therefore approved.

The Law Office of Sheela Murthy has been largely successful with Extraordinary Ability (EA) and NIW cases filed with the INS and appeals to the AAO on behalf of our clients; this despite the difficulties cases of this type have faced since the NYSDOT case in late 1998. (Background information is available by searching "NYSDOT" on MurthyDotCom.) Our Office is one of very few immigration firms in the U.S. with a core team of professionals devoted exclusively to work of this nature. Our relentless pursuit and dogged determination to obtain approvals despite the odds is evident in our petitions and extraordinary rate of success in this area.