National Interest Waiver (NIW) EB-2

Prong I. The Proposed Endeavor’s Substantial Merit and National Importance

The First Prong of the National Interest Waiver (NIW) EB-2 petition, Substantial Merit and National Importance, focuses on the specific endeavor that the foreign national proposes to undertake.

The endeavor’s merit may be demonstrated in a range of areas such as:

• Business
  • You must provide evidence that your work has implications beyond any individual company and its business partners or clients at a level sufficient to demonstrate the national importance of your endeavor.
• Entrepreneurialism
  • You must provide a business plan outlining future projections and explain how your business stands to have substantial positive economic effects.
  • Your business plan must provide comparative statistics, industry data, or other economic metrics indicating that benefits to a specific industry or economy.
• Science
  • You must show evidence that your research stands to have broader implications beyond any one company or organization, whether through the development of technical advances or through research for dissemination to others in the field through professional journals and conferences.
  • To satisfy the national importance requirement, the Petitioner must demonstrate the “potential prospective impact” of his work. Evidence may include letters of support from colleagues discussing the potential benefits of your research in the field and industry.
• Technology
  • You must be able to explain the capacity in which you intend to develop this technology, whether in the private or public sector.
• Culture
• Health
• Education

National Importance:

• Your activities must rise to the level of having national importance because they would impact your field more broadly than just your customers, clients or organization.
• In determining whether the proposed endeavor has national importance, USCIS will consider its potential prospective impact.