NIWquestion said:
Congratulations! I am thinking to self-apply for NIW myself, but I do not know where to start from. Could you give me any advice? Did you buy any of the "do-it-yourself" packages? If yes, could you share which one? I was also wondering whether you would share your petition with me. I am sure that I need to read a success case to help me write my own petition and I would really appreciate your help. I would even be willing to pay for it, rather for a "do-it-yourself" package. What do you think? Please, reply to my private email:
m_erick_123@yahoo.com. Thank you.
Thanks. I can share with you my main sources of information. But since I do not know your exact background, my advice would be rather "generic".
#1 and, indeed,...#1. Administrative Decisions. That's what people get when their original petititons got denied, and they go for appeal. Every decision describes particular case in
details, so an applicant can find someone's case that looks most similar to applicant's own qualification. By reading those real cases, you can get an idea what the successful case looks like, and what a failure looks like. You may find out what is a good letter of reference looks like, and what is bad. Investing my time in that reading was the key thing in preparing my own petititon. You may find these decisions as .pdf files stored at
www.uscis.gov, the exact url is below:
http://uscis.gov/graphics/lawsregs/admindec3/b5/index.htm
Some decisions in this category (B5) are about cases involving labor certifications, but you have to select and read those that claim National Interest Waiver of labor cert. Also note, that there are cases under jurisdiction of different centers, you should look at those that originate from your center with the most attention.
#2. Very informative article written by the immigration attorneys describing how to tailor a successful petititon for NIW. A lot of ideas that almost anyone can accomodate in his/her own petition.
http://www.twmlaw.com/site/resources/immigrant/immigrant9cont.htm
Besides that, what was the strategy?
1. Evaluation of diplomas (you will need this to demonstrate that you have education equivalent of the US Master degree or above) using credentials evaluation service. You can find plenty of these in the Internet.
2. Obtaining recommendation letters, one of the key things in demonstrating that you are one of the best in your area of expertise.
3. Preparing copies of all awards, publications, presentations at conferences, proofs of membership in exclusive professional societies, etc.
After you have all these pieces of evidence, you can start writing your cover letter for your I-140. In this letter, you:
1. Introduce yourself in terms of your professional background and expertise.
2. Demonstrate why you think you satisfy all requirements for NIW (see article #2 above), in particular:
- your work is in an area of substantial intrinsic merit;
- your work is national in scope - it's gonna benefit not only your city or state, but the whole country;
- you will serve the national interest to a substantially greater degree than would an available U.S. worker having the same minimum qualifications. Here you throw in all your awards, publications written by you and/or about your work, letters of recommendation and other stuff in order to prove that you are much better than an "available U.S. worker having the same minimum qualifications".
After you are done with your cover letter, read carefully all instructions for I-140 (Immigrant Petition, find it at
www.uscis.gov) and the other form you need to submit with your package, ETA 750
part B (you can find it at:
http://www.doleta.gov/) . Then, fill the forms out. Organize your package as described here:
http://uscis.gov/graphics/fieldoffices/scnational/index.htm#H
Do it exactly how they want it. At this step, you may also want to add I-485 (Application to adjust status) for yourself and your family (this is so called concurrent filing, you may want to read more about this at
www.uscis.gov, in particular, in the instructions provided with forms I-485 and I-140 that you can download from this website). One is eligible to do concurrent filing, if the immigrant visa number is current for his/her country of origin.
I did not use any "do-it-yourself" kits. You may try one, but I would discourage you to use the exact drafts for cover letter and recommendation letters that you will get with the kit. You may use these drafts as a "generic" sample, but I believe that one should add to these drafts as much of "individual touch" as possible. Remember, many people are buying these kits and using them without much changes to file their petitions. Now you can imagine that CIS officers are sick and tired to read the same phrases in every petition. I am afraid that it may hurt such a petitioner.
Having in mind that, I would never share my own petitions/letters with anyone, I am sorry. If you want to invest your hard-earned money in your self-prepared petition, I can suggest a better way of doing that. Prepare everything yourself, and then find the best immigration attorney in your area. Have an attorney reviewed your package, it will not cost you much. If agreed, most probably an attorney would charge you few hundred $ for such a review. Some friends of mine tried this strategy, and it worked for them.
After you started doing it, you will have more specific questions. Many people on these boards, including myself, will be glad to answer them.
The best of luck!
