Petition for yourself
No employer, no job offer, and no labor certification. You file on your own behalf.
EB-2 NIW · Green Card
EB-2 NIW Green CardA Green Card for work that matters to the U.S.
Permanent residence you petition for yourself. The National Interest Waiver skips the job offer and labor certification for people whose work serves the national interest. You need an advanced degree or exceptional ability, and a case that meets a three-part test.
Attorney-led petitions, prepared with the Law Offices of Jacob Sapochnick.
Green Card
Permanent residence, self-petitioned
No employer
Job offer and labor certification waived
Degree or ability
Advanced degree, or exceptional ability
Premium available
USCIS action within 45 business days
General information about EB-2 NIW eligibility; not legal advice.
Self-petition, no employer
2,000+cases prepared
100+countries
★ 5.0on Google
80%come by referral
Since 2016in practice
Self-petition, no employer
2,000+cases prepared
100+countries
★ 5.0on Google
80%come by referral
Since 2016in practice
Why the EB-2 NIW
A Green Card for work that matters.
Built for high-impact work
For work that matters to the U.S., so the usual job offer step is waived. Premium processing is available at the I-140 stage.
Your family gets Green Cards too
Your spouse and children under 21 receive Green Cards with you, with a path to citizenship.
Who qualifies
You may already qualify.
The NIW rewards work that matters beyond one employer, backed by the expertise to move it forward. It is not about fame. What matters most is how your work and its impact are documented.
Many people assume the NIW is only for senior scientists. In reality, founders, engineers, healthcare professionals, and specialists in many fields may already qualify without realizing it.
Researchers and scientists
Founders and entrepreneurs
Engineers and STEM professionals
Healthcare and public health professionals
Academics and educators
Specialists with exceptional ability
Reviewed by an immigration attorney
Could you qualify for the EB-2 NIW?
Let an attorney tell you.
Not a quiz with a score. An immigration attorney reads every answer and tells you where you stand.
Prefer to talk first? Book a free call
Is it a fit?
Thinking about the EB-2 NIW?
May be a good fit if...
- You have an advanced degree, a bachelor's plus progressive experience, or exceptional ability.
- Your work matters beyond a single employer, in research, technology, health, or the economy.
- Your track record shows you can move the work forward.
- You want a Green Card you can file for yourself, with no employer.
- You value a path to citizenship over a temporary visa.
May not be a good fit if...
- Your work is valuable but hard to show as nationally important.
- Your record does not yet show you are well placed to advance the work, though the firm can help you plan toward it.
- You need to start working in the U.S. right away; a work visa such as the O-1 may be the faster first step.
- You would rather have an employer sponsor a standard EB-2 or EB-3.
How USCIS evaluates it
Fit EB-2, then pass the three-part test.
First you qualify for the EB-2 category, through an advanced degree or exceptional ability. Then the waiver turns on three questions. A strong case answers each one with evidence. Here is what each part tends to look like.
Step 1 · The EB-2 category
Advanced degree
A master's or higher, or a bachelor's plus five years of progressive experience. For example: an MSc, PhD, MBA, or a foreign equivalent.
Exceptional ability
Expertise well above the norm, shown by at least three of the USCIS criteria. For example: licenses, high salary, memberships, or peer recognition.
Step 2 · The national interest test
Merit and national importance
Your proposed work has real value that reaches beyond one employer. For example: research, technology, health, the economy, or the environment.
Well placed to advance it
Your education, record, and plans show you can move the work forward. For example: publications, citations, funding, users, or contracts.
Worth waiving the job offer
On balance, the U.S. benefits from letting you proceed without a job offer and labor certification. For example: the urgency of the work, or the value of your specific skills.
You need one of the two ways into EB-2, and all three parts of the national interest test. How your work fits each part is confirmed for your case by the Law Offices of Jacob Sapochnick.
The three-part test comes from Matter of Dhanasar, applied under INA 203(b)(2).
How it goes
From first call to
your Green Card.
Your attorney starts with a strategy, so you both know what your case will be built on, starting with how to describe your work and why it matters to the U.S. From there you get a clear checklist and gather only the documents that matter. No guessing, and no time spent translating or sending papers that won't be used. Once everything is in place, the firm prepares your petition and files it with USCIS.
Timelines depend on timely document collection. With premium processing, USCIS acts on the petition within 45 business days. Green Card timing then depends on visa availability for your country, which the firm confirms at the start.
Strategy setting
Your attorney defines your proposed endeavor and maps what a strong case needs against the three-part test.
Documents and evidence
You gather publications, citations, funding, results, and reference letters, guided by the strategy, so nothing important is missed. This is the part that most affects your timeline.
Case preparation
Legal drafting, the endeavor statement, expert letters, and petition assembly by the firm, once your documents are in place.
USCIS review
With premium processing, USCIS takes action on Form I-140 within 45 business days. Premium processing is an optional paid service; without it, standard processing times vary and are typically measured in months.
Your Green Card
Once a visa number is available, you apply for the Green Card in the U.S. or at a U.S. consulate abroad. Your attorney prepares you for each step.
The finished petition
See exactly what you get.
Your NIW is a complete, attorney-built petition: a clear endeavor statement, evidence of its importance and your role in it, expert letters, and the three-part argument, assembled into one package. Here is what one looks like.
0:18What a finished petition looks like
Common questions
The things people ask most.
It means you are your own sponsor. You file the petition (Form I-140) on your own behalf, with no employer, no job offer, and no labor certification. That is what the national interest waiver waives.
You only need to show that you plan to keep working on your proposed work in the U.S. You are free to change jobs, start a company, or work for yourself along the way, as long as you stay on that path.
The EB-2 NIW has two steps.
Step 1: the I-140 petition. USCIS decides whether you qualify for EB-2 and whether your work meets the national interest test. With premium processing, an optional paid service, USCIS acts within 45 business days. Without it, this step typically takes several months.
Step 2: the Green Card itself. Once your I-140 is approved and your priority date is current, you apply for the Green Card. If you are in the U.S., this is Adjustment of Status (Form I-485), filed with USCIS. If you are abroad, it is the immigrant visa process, through the National Visa Center and an interview at a U.S. consulate. This step usually takes several months, depending on where you file.
Unlike EB-1, EB-2 priority dates often have a wait, and it changes month to month. It is longest for countries such as India and China. The firm checks the latest Visa Bulletin and gives you a realistic timeline.
Yes. Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 can receive Green Cards as part of your case.
They do not need a degree or any achievements of their own. They need to prove the family relationship, with a marriage or birth certificate, and go through the standard steps everyone completes: a medical exam and background checks. If a child is close to turning 21, tell your attorney early; in some cases the law protects their eligibility.
Yes, you can reapply. There is no waiting period and no limit on how many times you can file. A past denial does not ban you.
What matters is fixing what went wrong. Your attorney reads the denial notice, sees which part of the test USCIS questioned, and strengthens that evidence or reframes your proposed work before filing again. In some cases a motion or an appeal is an option instead, but these have short deadlines, usually about 30 days, so share the notice as soon as you can.
Your place in the Green Card line. For the EB-2 NIW, it is the date USCIS receives your petition.
Every month the Department of State publishes the Visa Bulletin, which shows whose priority dates can move forward, by category and country. When your date is current, you can take the final Green Card step. A good detail to know: once your petition is approved, you can usually keep that priority date even if you file another Green Card petition later, for example an EB-1A.
Free evaluation
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EB-2 NIW is right for you?
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