How to prepare NIW package

Petition letter is not a personal statement, biography or job description. Key is to list existing objective documentary evidence! Petition letter is more like a cover letter for your Exhibits to help officers easier locate the key information they are expecting.

The task is to find relevant exhibits and experts’ testimonial to cover the following

First Prong (substantial merit and national importance)

·        Endeavor: not routine job, such as teacher teaching or physician meeting patients

·        Substantial merit: potential prospective impact

·        National importance: indicate that the widespread benefit of his proposed research has broader implications for the field

Second Prong (well positioned)

Possesses considerable experience and expertise (similar to Eb1a major contribution + sustained impact)

·        Track of past successes

·        Significance of proposed work to advance U.S. interests

I don’t see any people being rejected because of the Third Prong (on balance). If first two are strong enough, third prong is automatically solved.

Some evidence is suitable to be included in the Exhibits directly, some are better included in the reference letter. So what should be included in recommendation letter?

Give background knowledge of the endeavor

·        Explain how critical the endeavor is to the national interest (through known facts)

·        Difficulty and challenges in the research direction that the petitioner made contributions towards

·        Comment on potential prospective impact

Tell important facts not easily reflected in documents/evidence (for example, 3^rd+ in author list, grant without petitioner’s name)

·        Clarify petitioner’s important role in the project

·        Impacts of petitioner’s work in the society (trigger new grant, attract interest from third party, notice the work in a review paper/media coverage)

·        Idea/product/innovation/patent being implemented widely in society

Comment on the quality of work

·        How good is the conference, journal, review

·        How rare being invited to a seminar, give an oral presentation

·        How prestigious being honored a title/award in a society