National Interest Waiver

National Interest Waiver is a waiver based on national interest. But waiver of what? We have the answers as follows: 

Generally speaking, immigrant visa shall be made available to qualified immigrants if the employer obtain labor certification from department of labor. Yet, the Attorney General may, when he deems it to be in the national interest, waive the requirement. 

Neither the statute nor Service regulations define the term “national interest.”  Supplementary information to Service regulations implementing the Immigration Act of 1990 (IMMACT), published at 56 Fed. Reg. 60897, 60900 (November 29, 1991), states: “The Service believes it appropriate to leave the application of this test as flexible as possible, The burden will rest with the alien to establish that exemption from, or waiver of, the job offer will be in the national interest. Each case is to be judged on its own merits.”

RFEs reveal that an alien seeking immigrant classification as an alien of exceptional ability or as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree cannot meet the threshold for a national interest waiver of the job offer requirement simply by establishing a certain level of training or education which could be articulated on an application for a labor certification; General arguments regarding the importance of a given field of endeavor, or the urgency of an issue facing the United States, cannot by themselves establish that an individual alien benefits the national interest by virtue of engaging in the field or seeking an as yet undiscovered solution to the problematic issue; A shortage of qualified workers in a given field, regardless of the nature of the occupation, does not constitute grounds for a national interest waiver. Given that the labor certification process was designed to address the issue of worker shortages, a shortage of qualified workers is an argument for obtaining rather than waiving a labor certification.

Because of the complexity and high standards involved with an NIW petition, we strongly recommend that you to seek assistance from experienced NIW immigration attorneys, which is the key to your success, especially under current immigration conditions.