Applying for NIW - my chances for an EB-1A ?

[indiandude1]

I am from a retrogressed country - India.

Ph. D. from a top 10 U. S. university 2005.
Worked as a postdoc at a top 1-2 U. S. school until 2007.
Worked as a research scientist at a 20-30 U. S. school until now. (needed experience in a strong group in my field, the rest of the place is so-so)
Managed a 10 person lab for 3 years already.
Set up a new lab for my current boss.
16 publications (9 first author, 5 second author, 1 third author, 1 fourth author)
1 paper in Nature Materials, 1 invited review in Advanced Materials, rest - IEEE, SPIE, Applied Physics Letters, JAP, etc.
Cited ~ 70 times (50 after you remove self and collaborator citations)
20 conference talks (1 invited) etc.
One invited book chapter (published)
One invite to write a book (not yet even started)
2 patent applications pending
Served as a panel reviewer for NSF and DOE (once each).
Area of interest - energy harvesting, lighting, deposition methods (theory and experiment)
No journal reviewing experience (other than reviewing tons of papers for my bosses)
5 reference letters (already have collected two, followed a DIY package from greencardapply.com to draft it).
I can get a sixth, but it is from a new guy, so may not be very strong.
Asking for a seventh from a former NSF big shot. Likely to get it.
No honour societies. Member of IEEE, MRS, etc. (all paid memberships)
Currently in the 5th year of my H-1B. I know, I should have applied earlier.

I have a gut feeling that it is not a strong EB-1A case, so I am thinking of saving my money and my recommenders the botheration.

Second question - how long does this take ? I have had lawyers tell me it can take up to 8-12 months, but I get the sense they might be trying to rope me in. I have read of cases of some Chinese guys (China is about as badly retrogressed as India) who got theirs in 17 days, but I find that extremely hard to believe.

I want to apply on my own as my money situation is a little tight and I have heard of how lawyers can delay things.

 

[doctalk2]

In reality each application is unique and the presentation is always of paramount importance. In any case, you don't have a choice but to make a good case for EB1-EA (or EB2-NIW?)
I feel the items that need to be given prominence are

1. 16 publications (9 first author, 5 second author, 1 third author, 1 fourth author)
2. 1 paper in Nature Materials, 1 invited review in Advanced Materials, rest - IEEE, SPIE, Applied Physics Letters, JAP, etc.
Find out impact factor etc.
Cited ~ 70 times (50 after you remove self and collaborator citations)

3. 20 conference talks (1 invited) etc. -- include invitation as an exhibit?

4. One invited book chapter (published) -- can you get a letter from the editor specifically indicating why he thought you were a the right person for this chapter.

5. One invite to write a book (not yet even started) --- include invitation (email) as an exhibit

6. 2 patent applications pending - of no consequence unless someone is using it, intends to use it or can be substantiated in any way by your referees.
Served as a panel reviewer for NSF and DOE (once each).
Area of interest - energy harvesting, lighting, deposition methods (theory and experiment)

7. No journal reviewing experience (other than reviewing tons of papers for my bosses) - sorry, will not count.

8. 5 reference letters (already have collected two, followed a DIY package from greencardapply.com to draft it). -- getting letters from folks who dont know you personally but know you because of your work would be very strong.

9. I can get a sixth, but it is from a new guy, so may not be very strong.
Asking for a seventh from a former NSF big shot. Likely to get it.

-- does not hurt to get a letter from the new guy if he can assert that your work has guided him in some way to support his own lab/work

10. No honour societies. Member of IEEE, MRS, etc. (all paid memberships) - not going to help, don't waste time.


-- Any awards?
-- Any grants?
-- Any media reports of work?
-- Can you get letters from people who have cited your work?

I think you can do a good job if you can focus on the letters and clear pieces of evidence. Also consider getting input from a GOOD lawyer - even for a few hours.

Good Luck!

 

[alex09]

Try to review several papers. Prepare a good letter (This is the most important part) and email editorial board members of several journals (not necessarily highly ranked journals.) Ask them to send you review invitations. If you review about ten papers, it'll be sufficient.

Apart from that, your case is very good.

Also, let a good lawyer draft your cover letter.