₦airaland Forum

drbabsok:
Great. Mine took 6 months exactly. My case was approved yesterday!

Yipee, we have an approval story on the thread. Congrats drbabsok!

Did you file i140 and i485 concurrently? And was your application submitted at the Nebraska or Texas center. A couple of people have told me Nebraska is faster with processing than Texas that’s why I’m asking if you wouldn’t mind. Thanks!

Helpout12345:
Good. Examples of attorneys for industry professionals are
https://www.hooyou.com/

This is a good one!, I know a friend that used this company and shared her petition letter with me, it was superb!, Infact she just received her GC last week. (EB2NIW).

johnJS:
Helpout12345 I really appreciate your advice here; you had mentioned it in your first post to me but I did not realize the import until you broke it down further so thank you very much for this.

We are industry professionals and my wife (principal applicant) is an engineer so do please share more on other attorneys and I will also be sure to emphasize this to my relatives when enquiring about immigration attorneys.

Just make sure you do your research thoroughly before settling for any specific lawyer. I do know that most lawyers that know their onions are very thorough and they leave no stone unturned. Also, lawyers tend to work with evidence/exhibits a lot!, which is exactly what USCIS wants. Be prepared to provide adequate supporting evidence for all of your documented achievements.

UmmZayd:
"The right information ni ooo" not just any information. Nice!!

You garrit!

johnJS:
We will look forward to this update

Oh well
May the odds be in our favor. Amin!

johnJS:
Three years that is gangster!

Haha, don’t mind me jare. Laziness and tiredness elongated the process for me, plus I have a whole unemployed little human to cater for as well…lol. Additionally, I had to carefully build my profile around my specific proposed endeavor.

Helpout12345:
Thanks for sharing. I wish you a successful petition.

This is this first time I am hearing a Nigerian DIY. I know many Indians DIY but I have not seen a Nigerian before.

Thanks, I wish myself good luck and God’s favor with my application as well. I’ll try to share my timeline and other information that might be useful to others once I receive an update from USCIS.

Lol, Indians and Chinese people ehn! Those guys are something else haha. They’ve saturated the EB2NIW field for the longest time, explains why their priority date for I-485 is not current. I admire how they share useful information among one another and keep their professional community in the US thriving.

Also, I know many Nigerians that have successfully petitioned for EB1 and EB2 categories of the NIW without employing the services of a lawyer. Many are now greencard holders and some others now US citizens.

As always, the right information is VERY key!, especially in America.

NotsonewMary:
DIY for the win mhen… Although, I’ve had a whole folder dedicated to gathering information and my exhibits for almost three years before putting in my application.

I also had sample petition letters and guidance from several friends who have also successfully gone through the process.

P.S; Nobody should PM me for information or to share any files with them abeg… lol. I know I’ve already had some PM’s that I haven’t responded to. Apologies!, but I simply don’t have the time.

Anybody that has any questions can ask on this thread for all of us to learn. That’s the whole purpose of creating the thread.

Thanks for understanding, and goodluck to all of us!

Helpout12345:
Thanks sis. Did you DIY or used an attorney to apply for your NIW?

DIY for the win mhen… Although, I’ve had a whole folder dedicated to gathering information and my exhibits for almost three years before putting in my application.

I also had sample petition letters and guidance from several friends who have also successfully gone through the process.

Helpout12345:
1. Evidence of receipt of lesser nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards for excellence
2. Evidence of your membership in associations in the field which demand outstanding achievement of their members
3. Evidence of published material about you in professional or major trade publications or other major media
4. Evidence that you have been asked to judge the work of others, either individually or on a panel
5. Evidence of your original scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic, or business-related contributions of major significance to the field
6. Evidence of your authorship of scholarly articles in professional or major trade publications or other major media
7. Evidence that your work has been displayed at artistic exhibitions or showcase
8. Evidence of your performance of a leading or critical role in distinguished organizations
9. Evidence that you command a high salary or other significantly high remuneration in relation to others in the field
10.Evidence of your commercial successes in the performing arts

From the above 10 criteria, how many of them can you can provide extensive documented evidences to?

And give brief description of your claims.

With that, I can answer your question

Nice Checklist!

This is also an additional official link for anyone who wants to have an idea on the analysis of petition letters for USCIS decision making.

https://www.uscis.gov/administrative-appeals/aao-decisions/aao-non-precedent-decisions

You can search by clicking on ‘select a topic’. B5 will show the analysis of EB2NIW appeal cases. I believe B2 should be for one of the EB1 categories.

johnJS:
My spouse and I are both professionals with about 15 years work experience each in multinational organizations.

My wife has an advanced engineering degree from the US (her undergraduate degree is from the US also) so she'll be the main EB-2 applicant.

We intend to contact our relatives in the US to provide recommendations for US immigration lawyers so we can get some legal advice on putting together our application so we're just at the research and information gathering stage.

This is just by way of sharing and my own contribution towards keeping the conversation going �

If you have the extra financial resources for a lawyer, then by all means go for it. The average charge I’ve heard of in recent times has ranged between $3k-4k for the lawyers fees alone!

Alternatively, this process is also something you can put together all by yourself if you do your research very well and you’re ready to put in the work.

Below is a link that could help you to get started;

https://myeb2niw.com/

There is a DIY package on that website that goes for only $150, and trust me when I say that package has ALL that you need to get started and MORE.
N.B. I have no business links or ties with the owner of the website. You can also download the free ebook from the website.

YouTube and the internet generally has many great videos and resources for sample petition letters, recommendation letters and how to properly fill the required form(s) for EB2NIW.

Good luck to you and your spouse!

Helpout12345:
All the links you need have been posted by others already.

Because I know this is alot of information to someone new to this route. I will help to brake it down.

H1b, L1 are dual intent work visas but you need a US employer to sponsor you on these visas. Dual intent because you can adjust your immigration status to Permanent Residency from such visas when you arrive or living in the US.

Eb1b, Eb1C, Eb2 advance degree, Eb3 are Permanent residency visas but they also require an employer to sponsor you.

Eb1A and Eb2NIW (National Interest Waiver) are the only 2 sub categories that you can process without an employer sponsorship. This is because those are meant for the US to pull best brains from all over the world. They waive requirements of a job offer and employer sponsorship for these two sub categories knowing that the people that will qualify can easily land a job in the US, most likely contributed quickly to US interests.

It's not always easy for most foreigners to get employer sponsorship because of the rigor of the employer passing the Labor Certification requirements to proof that the employer cannot fill that job position with US citizens or Permanent Residents. This is why many people that can get Eb1A and NIW file for themselves.

Now to file NIW or 1A, first make sure you can provide well-documented evidences to support 4 out of the 10 criteria. I said 4 to be on safe side in case USCIS rejects any of your claims.

Then look for a good immigration lawyer that is also very familiar with your field of occupation to file I140 form for you.

To look for lawyers and read their reviews, visit www.avvo.com, you can also get a good lawyer by referral.

After you get approved on I140, you move to second stage of NVC where you submit processing fees and civil documents.

Third stage is different based on where you reside when you are going through this process. If you are already living in the US legally, your third stage is Adjustment of Status route. If you are outside the US, your third stage is Consular Processing route, where you will attend immigration visa interview in a US embassy in your country of residence.

There are so many information on this route, just be specific with your questions, so that you can get specific answers.

THANK YOU!

aieromon:
I think he was referring to the multitude of persons that make up the "Japa" group of potential emigrants.

Aight, I see.�

zed7:
Unfortunately, most Nigerians don't qualify for this visa. Think twice before wasting funds.

“Most Nigerians”

So you mean most Nigerians are not advanced degrees holders?, most Nigerians do not have exceptional or extraordinary ability?, most Nigerians are not currently engaged in work that can benefit the US?.

Can you show us how you came about this statistics Sir/Ma?

drbabsok:
Yes, I applied for H1B visa from Nigeria and It was granted. Applied for my EB-1 NIW some months ago

Niice!, May God favor those of us in the waiting game. I also recently applied for the EB-2 NIW.

Hoping this thread gets to people who have already been approved so they can share their timeline especially from approval to greencard.

I appreciate everyone that has contributed to this thread so far. Have a beautiful and blessed week ahead everyone!

UmmZayd:
Nice!!
It's about time we start this�

Long overdue!, I was really surprised when I didn’t find any thread on this.

Please share your employment based Greencard stories (employer-sponsored and self-sponsored) here!

https://www.nairaland.com/7266642/usa-employment-based-immigration-eb-1eb-2eb-3-visa#115426943

Please share your F1/ H1B to Greencard stories here!

https://www.nairaland.com/7266642/usa-employment-based-immigration-eb-1eb-2eb-3-visa#115426943

Thanks!

Hello All,

This thread is dedicated to people who would like to share their employment based immigration stories and pathway for others to learn.

I stand corrected, but I believe one field of USA legal immigration that is not very known to professionals and advanced degree holders in the Nigerian community is the EB-1 and EB-2 NIW route by which a person can self-petition for permanent residency (Greencard).

Below are helpful links that provide broad information on this category.

https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-eligibility/green-card-for-employment-based-immigrants

More information specific to EB-1 and EB-2 NIW self petition without a US employer are found in the additional links below.

https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/permanent-workers/employment-based-immigration-first-preference-eb-1

https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-6-part-f-chapter-2

https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/permanent-workers/employment-based-immigration-second-preference-eb-2

https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-6-part-f-chapter-5

fcisca:
Good day nairalanders. Happy Eid to everyone celebrating.
Please does anyone know what it looks like or care to share experiences with picking up their passports from DHL Abuja? The IW submission was hellish and I need to know what to expect at pickup.
TY.

Pick up is also hellish, based on my mum’s experience. She was there for over 6 hours before she could pick up last week.

She mentioned that the DHL workers even started collecting bribes of 5k and upwards from some people in order to fast-rack their collection. It is well with this country!!

Please what’s the current vaccination or testing requirements for intending travelers to the US?

If there’s a link where I can find current information I’ll appreciate that.

fkj950ax:
Beg how. You don't have to o. It's a public forum. You can disagree freely and at will.

“I beg to” in that context is an expression . It’s like saying, I beg to differ. It just means he/she politely disagrees with you.

BizErikah:
A journey that began on 23rd March, has finally ended.
I was refused and asked to come in on any Thursday for a follow up interview
I got there and was told to submit fingerprints.
Which I did and application changed to issued.
I picked up passport on 28th April in Abuja.
Same day I got a pick up mail from DHL.

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences, it helped me mentally.
Cos this people are totally unpredictable.

I was able to fly out sane 28th.

Thanks for sharing. Please what is the current vaccination or COVID testing requirements for intending travelers to the US?

DrStrangelove:
Your aunt is a low risk traveller. Just let know she shouldn't stay that long again as to them it looks like she's patterning her travels.

Only God knows what the VO wrote on her case note for future references.

Congrats

PA to the VO’s

I have received some help on this forum and I feel I should give back because it might be useful to 1 or more people.

My mum’s visa was just issued this morning (Abuja Dropbox)

I was a bit worried because of her length of stay the two times she visited me in the past. First time she stayed for 4 months ( I just had a baby); on her 2nd visit few months after the 1st, she spent 5 months.

I know being a retiree might have helped her case; but at least I’m glad she wasn’t refused and called in for a follow up physical interview because a couple of people made it seem like everyone that spent greater than 6weeks or 3months was being called in for further explanation on that.

Wish everyone here a great week ahead!