NotsonewMary:


Hi, thank you!

No, it is not. However, it is recommended and has become the ‘norm’ for a lot of applicants. I submitted a CV and/or documented professional profile for all of my recommenders along with the letters.

Some of your recommenders e.g well published professors, might already have their CV online (as was the case for one of mine). Alternatively, you can download and print out a copy of their LinkedIn profiles.

Essentially, the CV going with the letters just helps the reviewing officer to see the accomplishments of your recommender to show their expertise in your field and how they are well-positioned to recommend you.

P.S;Ideally, the first paragraph of your recommendation letter should be a brief intro of your recommender’s professional profile.

Hope this is helpful.🤗

Did you file yourself or used a lawyer? If yes, which did you use. Some of us did not have to submit a recommendation letter to get an approved petition though...and of course, we use a lawyer (Ellis Porter).

adedammy009:


Did you file yourself or used a lawyer? If yes, which did you use. Some of us did not have to submit a recommendation letter to get an approved petition though...and of course, we use a lawyer (Ellis Porter).

Hi, I completed the whole process myself, didn’t use a lawyer.

And yes, an approval is very much possible without recommendation letter(s).
I think it depends on the applicant’s profile. Some applicants already have a really superb professional profile and very weighty proposed endeavor, that even without recommendation letters they are good to go.

My opinion; If an applicant thinks or believes that getting recommendation letters adds value to their application, then by all means go for it!

NotsonewMary:


To be honest, no they are not. My friend, who only had one recommendation letter in her application got approved some months back, same friend told me she has a colleague who is now a greencard holder (through EB2) who had no recommendation letter attached to his application.

However, my own take is that recommendation letters are highly encouraged, especially if they are coming from reputable persons in your field. Anything you feel or believe will make your case stronger is definitely worth it.

USCIS treats each application on a “case by case” basis, what works for applicant A, might not work for applicant B.

Also on recommendation letters!

adedammy009:

Not necessarily....

Thanks boss.

NotsonewMary:


Hi, I completed the whole process myself, didn’t use a lawyer.

And yes, an approval is very much possible without recommendation letter(s).
I think it depends on the applicant’s profile. Some applicants already have a really superb professional profile and very weighty proposed endeavor, that even without recommendation letters they are good to go.

My opinion; If an applicant thinks or believes that getting recommendation letters adds value to their application, then by all means go for it!

Hi, thanks for the information. Please can I know if your profile is tilted to academics or industry? I can see that we have related endeavor in infectious disease but my job experience is mainly as a Teaching Assistant.

praizG:

Please check your email, I have sent it as requested.

Please, I can you send the link to join the telegram group for those waiting for an interview date. Here is my email id: lh5379@gmail.com. Thanks

AIT1:


Hi, thanks for the information. Please can I know if your profile is tilted to academics or industry? I can see that we have related endeavor in infectious disease but my job experience is mainly as a Teaching Assistant.

Hi, be it academia or industry, the most important thing is to satisfy the 3 prongs of EB2NIW.

Whatever field of Infectious disease your proposed endeavor is, your work experience is a plus for you. It’s one of the ways you can show that you have adequate knowledge about your endeavor, and you’re well positioned.

drbabsok:
I didn’t submit any recommendations. I only used my citations and number of publications.

Hello @drbabsok.

Congratulations on your EB2-NIW approval. You mentioned that you only used your citations and number of publications for your petition. I was wondering if you could share the criteria or prongs that you used for your petition please? How was your petition structured without any recommendation letter submitted? What were the additional evidences that you submitted to show you possess exceptional abilities in the sciences if applicable? Did you include being a member of professional association? Fellow postdoc in the sciences here and I would appreciate your input. I hope you get to see this. Anyone with similar experience could contribute as well. Thank you. Happy New Year!

NotsonewMary:


Hi, be it academia or industry, the most important thing is to satisfy the 3 prongs of EB2NIW.

Whatever field of Infectious disease your proposed endeavor is, your work experience is a plus for you. It’s one of the ways you can show that you have adequate knowledge about your endeavor, and you’re well positioned.

Thank you very much.

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.

Thanks for this information.

Has anyone receive IL from Lagos consulate for January 2024?

My PD August 2022

DQ April 2023.

The wait is not easy.

Aku660:
Has anyone receive IL from Lagos consulate for January 2024?

My PD August 2022

DQ April 2023.

The wait is not easy.

The wait is really taking long

eakhilomen:


The wait is really taking long

Check your PD if it's current. The date should be on or before 01/08/2022

Ak4me:
Check your PD if it's current. The date should be on or before 01/08/2022

My PD is August 2022 and it is current. EB2 NIW.

FAD for January 2024 is 1 November 2022.

Attached is the response I got after inquiry message.

Good day all,

If you're on F1 visa status, I believe you can opt-in for concurrent filling right?

If you opt-in for concurrent filling, are they going to wait for PD to become current before they begin to work on your file? Or you'll jump the queue?

I need this information please.

Thanks.

...but what's still holding them after your DP is current? Have you done your medicals as well? Just keep yourself a available online 24/7 bcoz you might the invitation before middle of the month.

Ak4me:
...but what's still holding them after your DP is current? Have you done your medicals as well? Just keep yourself a available online 24/7 bcoz you might the invitation before middle of the month.

Medicals can only be done after receiving the interview letter, because the physician will request for it.

Aku660:


Medicals can only be done after receiving the interview letter, because the physician will request for it.

Ok, just keep praying, you are almost there.

My PD is April 27th, 2023. DQ is August, 2023.

EB-3

Aku660:
Has anyone receive IL from Lagos consulate for January 2024?

My PD August 2022

DQ April 2023.

The wait is not easy.

Those that got the last batch of IL (sent Sept 1, 2023) are yet to have their interview as the date have been changed several times. Their new date is this month. Hopefully, that batch is attended to this month, then we can expect the release of IL.

Ak4me:


Ok, just keep praying, you are almost there.

My PD is April 27th, 2023. DQ is August, 2023.

EB-3

Yes, steady prayers.
God will help us all.

adedammy009:


Those that got the last batch of IL (sent Sept 1, 2023) are yet to have their interview as the date have been changed several times. Their new date is this month. Hopefully, that batch is attended to this month, then we can expect the release of IL.

Okay, I'm wondering if IL has ever been released after the first week of the month.

Aku660:
Has anyone receive IL from Lagos consulate for January 2024?

My PD August 2022

DQ April 2023.

The wait is not easy.

Those who got DQ up to December 2022 are to have their interview this January.

Going by the family based visa category, February seems to be fully booked and some family based visa applicants scheduled for end of January have been rescheduled to first week in March.

By permutation, seems the earliest we can expect interview for employment based category may be for the month of March.
I do pray for an earlier date.

dest4real:
Good day all,

If you're on F1 visa status, I believe you can opt-in for concurrent filling right?

If you opt-in for concurrent filling, are they going to wait for PD to become current before they begin to work on your file? Or you'll jump the queue?

I need this information please.

Thanks.

You cannot concurrently file for EB2NIW right now because priority date is not current for any country. You can only submit the I-140 application, then wait for when your date of filing becomes current on the visa bulletin, then you can submit the I-485 application.

However, if you qualify for EB1, priority date is still current for all countries (apart from China and India), you can concurrently file for that.

Can you port to Eb1 from Eb2 while you are already waiting for interview?

Jannyfranc:
Can you port to Eb1 from Eb2 while you are already waiting for interview?

I think you can port PD, not categories. You still have to submit petition for the category you want. For instance, if you already have an approved EB2-NIW with Dec 2022 PD, you can file petition for EB1 in Dec 2023, get approved and port PD to Dec 2022. Of course, this porting favors people from China and India mostly as they have a very long wait time to be current.

I was thinking F1 students can concurrently file since a visa number is immediately availability for them.

NotsonewMary:


You cannot concurrently file for EB2NIW right now because priority date is not current for any country. You can only submit the I-140 application, then wait for when your date of filing becomes current on the visa bulletin, then you can submit the I-485 application.

However, if you qualify for EB1, priority date is still current for all countries (apart from China and India), you can concurrently file for that.

dest4real:
I was thinking F1 students can concurrently file since a visa number is immediately availability for them.

I am not sure how best to explain this to you but I’ll try.

Visa number availability for EB visas relates to Greencard availability.
Every Fiscal year, congress makes 140,000 greencards available under all of the Employment-based visa categories i.e., EB1 to EB5.

The summary of it is that right now, the number of applicants is significantly more than the number of greencards available. So, USCIS has devised a means to put everyone in line and wait for your turn (this is what priority date comes in).

Hope this was helpful. You can watch videos online to get a better understanding of this. I’ll see if I can put some links here to help you understand.

Thank you for your response.

I have honestly gone to read up after I read your initial write-up. I really understand the whole process now, save one; I can see that the "final action date" is backlogged for about 14 months. I want to believe that the final action date is always set by the US government based on the number of green cards available per year, is this correct please?

Again, I've a fall admission for a PhD program in the US. I recently applied for F1 Visa. I was going to file EB-2 NIW application (I've 25 publications and about 78 citations) using premium service before the admission offer came through. But I fear that it may affect my F1 Visa interview if I go ahead to file 1-140 form now. What do you suggest please?

NotsonewMary:


I am not sure how best to explain this to you but I’ll try.

Visa number availability for EB visas relates to Greencard availability.
Every Fiscal year, congress makes 140,000 greencards available under all of the Employment-based visa categories i.e., EB1 to EB5.

The summary of it is that right now, the number of applicants is significantly more than the number of greencards available. So, USCIS has devised a means to put everyone in line and wait for your turn (this is what priority date comes in).

Hope this was helpful. You can watch videos online to get a better understanding of this. I’ll see if I can put some links here to help you understand.

Ak4me:


Ok, just keep praying, you are almost there.

My PD is April 27th, 2023. DQ is August, 2023.

EB-3

You need to check the visa bulletin monthly. You cannot be scheduled for interview if your priority date is not current in the most recent visa bulletin. For January 2024 visa bulletin, the date for filing for EB-3 is feb 2023 which explains why you’re already DQ’d, but final action date for EB-3 is 2021 so you can’t get your interview letter until your PD is current.

sebo:


You need to check the visa bulletin monthly. You cannot be scheduled for interview if your priority date is not current in the most recent visa bulletin. For January 2024 visa bulletin, the date for filing for EB-3 is feb 2023 which explains why you’re already DQ’d, but final action date for EB-3 is 2021 so you can’t get your interview letter until your PD is current.

Thanks guy..
I never expecting any IL from them, since I know well that my PD is not current. I just told the guy waiting to receive IL of my PD and DQed. I hope the Feb 2024 visa bulletin will favour me next week. Looking forward to it.

please send me the link to the telegram group. My email is olamideadegokeh@gmail.com