On April 11^th, 2016, we received another EB-1A (Alien of Extraordinary Ability) approval for a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Field of Biochemistry (Approval Notice).

General Field: Biochemistry

Position at the Time of Case Filing: Postdoctoral Fellow

Country of Origin: China

State of Residence at the Time of Filing: Tennessee

Approval Notice Date: April 11^th, 2016

Processing Time: 3 months, 19 days

Case Summary:

Nearly 4 months after we filed an EB-1A (Alien of Extraordinary Ability) petition for a postdoctoral fellow working in the field of biochemistry, Texas Service Center sent both of us an approval notice.

Our client obtained his Ph.D. in Preventative Veterinary Medicine from a university in his birth country of China and has spent years researching how viruses overcome immune system defenses. His work improves American public health as it progresses the medical sector’s understanding of viral infections. Furthermore, his research advances the field of biochemistry—as clearly indicated by his citation count (193 citations at the time of filing). We also established that our client’s opinions are highly respected by his peers— as exemplified through the 22 times he was invited to perform peer reviews for 11 scientific journals.

To bolster our client’s EB-1A petition dossier, we helped him select potential recommenders to reach out to. We needed these recommenders to sign testimonials verifying the value of our client’s research to the United States. Our selection process involved determining if they were familiar with our client’s work (his 36 publications) and/or if they had worked with him. All six recommenders were made up of professors working at distinguished institutions around the world, and their letters contained statements such as these:

• “Studies of the type [Client] conducts are highly valued in the United States, as evinced by the high rate of influenza activity in the country, as well as the virus’s continuous ability to adapt to vaccines, revealing this research’s high relevance on a national and international level.”

• “He has made substantial contributions to our knowledge base regarding these mechanisms, and there is no doubt in my mind that he will continue to do so in the years to come. Therefore, it is essential that he personally continue the work he has begun. There is no doubt that he will continue to excel in medicine.”

• “I believe that [Client] adds enormous value to the scientific research community in the United States. Molecular and cellular biology are revolutionizing medicine, offering treatments and cures that were unimaginable in the recent past. [Client] possesses the type of expertise necessary for these benefits to be fully realized. Without him, I fear that the rate of progress would slow, which is unacceptable when so much is at stake in terms of public health.”

We congratulate our client on this happy occasion, and wish him well as he embarks on the final leg of the green card journey: filing an I-485 application.