MBAs make strong NIW cases??

[MBAfromMIT]

Do you guys think that MBA people working in Sales/Marketing for high tech firms have good chances with NIW filings?

I just received an RFE on my NIW case, filed late 2004 with the Texas Service Center. I would appreciate your honest and candid opinion on my chances for success.

Here is my background:

• MBA from Top-10 US School
• 5-10 years of Marketing and Product Management experience with widely recognized high tech firms, working mostly with International operations.
• Authored whitepaper on marketing impact of new Mobile technology for my prior employer. Whitepaper comes out ranked in 2nd place in Google's search results when looking for that particular technology. DOES GOOGLE RANKING QUALIFIES AS "CITATION" for NIW purposes?
• Letters from:
- (my school) economics professor who was on advisory position for president Bush
- another (my school) Economics professor
- CEO of a software firm
- VP Sales from my prior employer

By the way, I paid $11,000 to my lawyer for my original NIW filing. Now she's asking for an extra $3,000 for the RFE. What do you think of these fees?

Thanks a lot!

 

[MBAfromMIT]

Sorry for posting on my own thread. I just have an additional question for you guys:

My EAD expires on Oct/2005. I will file a renewal this week, and I am wondering if I can continue working AFTER Oct/2005 if the renewal hasn't been approved by that date.

By the way, how long do EAD renewals typically take?

Thanks a lot!

 

[MBAfromMIT]

Friend of mine (MBA from my school) got rejected...

...a friend of mine (MBA from my school) just got rejected for her EB-1 (Extraordinary) case. She works for a top Investment Bank in NY, as a financial analyst.

I see tons of posting here from people with PhDs, physics, biochemistry, and other technical areas, but very few on business/finance/marketing. Could it be that we MBA folks just have so few chances of making it with an EB-1 or EB-2 case that very few of us give it a try?

Your candid answers are extremely valuable (I feel I get a much better idea about how this NIW thing works from reading these postings, than from my over-paid, under-responsive attorney)

 

[trojanblue]

Do you guys think that MBA people working in Sales/Marketing for high tech firms have good chances with NIW filings?

I just received an RFE on my NIW case, filed on Sept. of 2004 with the Texas Service Center. I would appreciate your honest and candid opinion on my chances for success.

Here is my background:

• MBA from M.I.T. (1999)
• 6 years of Marketing and Product Management experience with widely recognized high tech firms, working mostly with Latin American operations.
• Authored whitepaper on Mobile Picture messaging for my prior employer. Whitepaper comes out ranked in 2nd place in Google's search results when looking for "Billing for MMS"--which, in simple terms, is how Verizon, Sprint and other folks actually can make money from MMS (MultiMedia Service, or pictures sent from your mobile.) DOES GOOGLE RANKING QUALIFIES AS "CITATION" for NIW purposes?
• Letters from:
- MIT economics professor who was on G.W.Bush's Council of Economic Advisors.
- another MIT Economics professor
- CEO of a software firm
- VP Sales from my prior employer
• My lawyer presented me as an "international technology transfer expert", which is pretty much what I've been doing: helping US-based companies sell their wares in Latin America.

By the way, I paid $11,000 to my lawyer for my original NIW filing. Now she's asking for an extra $3,000 for the RFE. What do you think of these fees?

Thanks a lot!

For a NIW case, you MUST show why the work you do is in America's national interest, failing which you dont stand a chance.

• MBA from M.I.T. (1999)

Doesn't matter.

• 6 years of Marketing and Product Management experience with widely recognized high tech firms, working mostly with Latin American operations.

How does this serve America's national interest. You must show how your help to a select few American companies in selling their wares in Latin America benefits America as a whole.

• Authored whitepaper on Mobile Picture messaging for my prior employer. Whitepaper comes out ranked in 2nd place in Google's search results when looking for "Billing for MMS"--which, in simple terms, is how Verizon, Sprint and other folks actually can make money from MMS (MultiMedia Service, or pictures sent from your mobile.)

Whitepaper and other internal company reports don't count. If other companies are making money from MMS, you must show what role you played in developing this method/technology etc that has been considered so valuable that other companies have implemented it. You must show how it was your whitepaper that led to this development.

DOES GOOGLE RANKING QUALIFIES AS "CITATION" for NIW purposes?

No


Letters from:
- MIT economics professor who was on G.W.Bush's Council of Economic Advisors.
- another MIT Economics professor
- CEO of a software firm
- VP Sales from my prior employer

Good Recos. You may need a few more, preferably from those who dont know you, to write you a letter.


If you can give us more details about your background it might be easier for some of us to give you a better opinion.

Good luck

trojanblue

 

[Hercules]

I agree with Trojan Blue

I have a similar background as you do, although I have a Ph.D. in Physics, in addition to an MBA, and I am currently in the business profession. I do not know what role my Ph.D. would have played. Both Ph.D. and MBA are from the top 3 schools in the U.S.

My lawyer suggested to me that I should qualify for the EB1-EA category, rather than the NIW. I got my Eb1-EA approved within 4 months by the TSC. Having said that, the EB1-EA category requires you to be a person of extraordinary ability in that specific field, in my case business. Examples of certain evidences that I showed:

1) One of the judges adjudicating in a leading Venture Capital Forum
2) Letter from the CEO of a company stating that I saved the company $18 million as a result of implementing my strategic/financial advice
3) I am currently the Managing Director of a Hedge Fund, managing $... million dollars

In addition to who writes the recommendation letter, I think what they write is also important. The letters should clearly state you are a person of extraordinary ability and the person should write a strong reason why he/she thinks so.

Hercules.

 

[MBAfromMIT]

Thanks!--Any comment about the $11k fees + $3k for RFE?

I have a similar background as you do, although I have a Ph.D. in Physics, in addition to an MBA, and I am currently in the business profession. I do not know what role my Ph.D. would have played. Both Ph.D. and MBA are from the top 3 schools in the U.S.

My lawyer suggested to me that I should qualify for the EB1-EA category, rather than the NIW. I got my Eb1-EA approved within 4 months by the TSC. Having said that, the EB1-EA category requires you to be a person of extraordinary ability in that specific field, in my case business. Examples of certain evidences that I showed:

1) One of the judges adjudicating in a leading Venture Capital Forum
2) Letter from the CEO of a company stating that I saved the company $18 million as a result of implementing my strategic/financial advice
3) I am currently the Managing Director of a Hedge Fund, managing $... million dollars

In addition to who writes the recommendation letter, I think what they write is also important. The letters should clearly state you are a person of extraordinary ability and the person should write a strong reason why he/she thinks so.

Hercules.

Gents,
Thanks to you both for your responses. Any comments about my attorney's fees? They seem a bit on the high end to me:
• $11,000 for the initial filing
• Now an additional $3,000 for RFE
How much did you guys pay?
Thanks a lot!

 

[honkman]

Gents,
Thanks to you both for your responses. Any comments about my attorney's fees? They seem a bit on the high end to me:
• $11,000 for the initial filing
• Now an additional $3,000 for RFE
How much did you guys pay?
Thanks a lot!

Pretty expensive for the initial filing. Normally $7000-8000 for I-140 + I-485 filing as an average price (of course with a lot of exception to higher and lower prices). Any additional fee for RFE is depending on the conditions you negotiated with your lawyer but $3000 sounds also quite expensive.
Just one comment to your NIW: You have to show that the US has a national interest in you because you have qualifications which an American with a similar background for your job doesn't have.

 

[memsg]

Gents,
Thanks to you both for your responses. Any comments about my attorney's fees? They seem a bit on the high end to me:
• $11,000 for the initial filing
• Now an additional $3,000 for RFE
How much did you guys pay?
Thanks a lot!

Your lawyer probably scaled her normal fees in proportion to your salary . Those of us who dwell in university research labs paid slightly less than half as much for each stage and we went with fairly reputable law firms.

The main difficulty with NIW is the third prong which requires you to prove that the national interest would be severely compromised if labor certification were made mandatory for your petition. To date, no lawyer has come up with a convincing (read water-tight) argument for this. These days, with PERM taking such little time, I wonder why folks with good steady jobs want to waste their hard earned $$$ on EB-2 NIW and EB1-EA.

Good luck!

 

[NIW2005RFE]

there is indeed water-tight argument for the third prong, which basically requires that you are the best in the field. Unfortunately, lot of lawyers do not play with this well, including my lawyer. that is why i got RFE.....

Your lawyer probably scaled her normal fees in proportion to your salary . Those of us who dwell in university research labs paid slightly less than half as much for each stage and we went with fairly reputable law firms.

The main difficulty with NIW is the third prong which requires you to prove that the national interest would be severely compromised if labor certification were made mandatory for your petition. To date, no lawyer has come up with a convincing (read water-tight) argument for this. These days, with PERM taking such little time, I wonder why folks with good steady jobs want to waste their hard earned $$$ on EB-2 NIW and EB1-EA.

Good luck!

 

[honkman]

These days, with PERM taking such little time, I wonder why folks with good steady jobs want to waste their hard earned $$$ on EB-2 NIW and EB1-EA.

The main reason is the problem of retrogression for EB-3 (and soon EB-2) which you avoid by trying EB-1 EA or EB-1 OR. GC through PERM will be slowed down significant soon by retrogression for many countries in EB-2 and EB-3, IMO.

 

[MBAfromMIT]

"Firing" my lawyer--How to do it?

Folks,
Thanks so much to all of you for your comments.

I'm thinking about just preparing my RFE response by myself--at the end of the day, it is me who has to do all the legwork to contacting references, crafting an argument, and so on. I've concluded that my attorney's fees are definitely not worth it. I feel I was oversold.

So my question is: am I "tied" in any way to my lawyer for RFE filing purposes? if I want to go on my own, is it necessary to "notify" the USCIS that my lawyer no longer represents me?

How do you guys go about it?

 

[honkman]

Folks,
Thanks so much to all of you for your comments.

I'm thinking about just preparing my RFE response by myself--at the end of the day, it is me who has to do all the legwork to contacting references, crafting an argument, and so on. I've concluded that my attorney's fees are definitely not worth it. I feel I was oversold.

So my question is: am I "tied" in any way to my lawyer for RFE filing purposes? if I want to go on my own, is it necessary to "notify" the USCIS that my lawyer no longer represents me?

How do you guys go about it?

I know that a lot of people have different opinions about that issue but I would always use a lawyer for your RFE, especially with your unusual case. But you don't have to use the same one as before (as long as you didn't sign any contracts with your old lawyer about that issue). Look for a new lawyer and he can than send your RFE evidences with a good petition to the USCIS

 

[memsg]

there is indeed water-tight argument for the third prong, which basically requires that you are the best in the field. Unfortunately, lot of lawyers do not play with this well, including my lawyer. that is why i got RFE.....

One would have to define one's field in a pretty narrow fashion in order to qualify as *the best* in one's field. Check out the NYSDOT case. VSC's director clearly stated that labour certification is indeed meant to identify those individuals who cannot be substituted by US citizens and residents. So he turned the tables on the petitioner by asking for a justification that the national interest would be severely compromised if labour certification were required. Think over this carefully. You will see the catch. Sheer merit cannot be used as the sole criterion.

 

[memsg]

The main reason is the problem of retrogression for EB-3 (and soon EB-2) which you avoid by trying EB-1 EA or EB-1 OR. GC through PERM will be slowed down significant soon by retrogression for many countries in EB-2 and EB-3, IMO.

Gotcha! Thanks.

 

[genuine]

I have an MBA degree and I work in a top US investment bank. My self-petitioned I-140 extraordinary ability was approved in VT center. I believe it is more difficult to go through NIW. However, since you already did that and got the RFE, you could write about how your work is critical to U.S. economy, how you help create more jobs for US citizens, how you help U.S. consumers by providing more affordable products, etc. I don't know if it applies to you, but for example, for I-bankers, you can talk about how selling companies' stock prices jump post announcement, a reflection of efficiency value created to the economy. Even if it does not apply to your field, you can think along that line and come up with some good arguments. In the NIW criteria, it clearly states "business" as one of the areas of "national interests".

The fees your attorney charges you is high, but not as high as what I heard from some other people. Consider the $11k as sunk cost, and if the additional $3k can push you though the finishing line, I think you should do it.

 

[NIW2005RFE]

i am not sure i get your point.

labor certificate is to protect the US citizens who satisfy the minimum requirement for certain jobs, isnt it?

One would have to define one's field in a pretty narrow fashion in order to qualify as *the best* in one's field. Check out the NYSDOT case. VSC's director clearly stated that labour certification is indeed meant to identify those individuals who cannot be substituted by US citizens and residents. So he turned the tables on the petitioner by asking for a justification that the national interest would be severely compromised if labour certification were required. Think over this carefully. You will see the catch. Sheer merit cannot be used as the sole criterion.

 

[NIW2005RFE]

does it mean NIW will become more difficult, because of the retrogression?

The main reason is the problem of retrogression for EB-3 (and soon EB-2) which you avoid by trying EB-1 EA or EB-1 OR. GC through PERM will be slowed down significant soon by retrogression for many countries in EB-2 and EB-3, IMO.

 

[honkman]

does it mean NIW will become more difficult, because of the retrogression?

There is not EB-2 retrogression yet so it is still speculation but it looks like it might come dec 2005. Adn if there will be soon some EB-2 retrogression it won't maek NIW (I-140) more difficult but it will take longer time to get I-485 approved.

 

[NIW2005RFE]

thanks for the explaination.

There is not EB-2 retrogression yet so it is still speculation but it looks like it might come dec 2005. Adn if there will be soon some EB-2 retrogression it won't maek NIW (I-140) more difficult but it will take longer time to get I-485 approved.

 

[memsg]

i am not sure i get your point.

labor certificate is to protect the US citizens who satisfy the minimum requirement for certain jobs, isnt it?

In brief the 3rd prong argument asks you (or your attorney) to explain that if the USCIS were to require you to undergo labour certification, the national interest would greatly suffer? This is the counter posed by the 3rd prong. This is what your attorney has to also address. In reality, during the labour certification process, you will always have a valid work VISA, so why waive labour certification for you? Your lawyer must address this in the RFE response.

Zhang and associates (if you check their website) had once successfully filed for a postdoc (I think he was in atmospheric sciences but am not sure) whose position was temporary (i.e grant funded - soft money) saying that he is not eligitble for labour certification but his work is terribly important. Not too many law firms are using this argument.

In the past, all that folks had to say what that they've published a great deal and their work is in the national interest and they were through! Once the 3rd prong came the number of NIW applications dropped dramatically.

The fact that you are one of the best (sounds like EB-1A), or that no other US national can replace you etc. are all valid arguments supporting a labour certification application. So why should you be exempt from it?

If USCIS really wants to reject your case, they can keep shaking their heads saying "not enough, not enough .." and there is nothing anyone can do about it. The fact that you have an RFE means that with a good RFE response you are through.

Now you could well imagine certain scenarios (if you read thrillers) that would require the wiaver of a labour certification requirement. Such 'jobs' can never be advertised. But then its pretty clear that such water-tight cases don't need a lawyer either. Get what I mean?

Good luck!