On April 18^th, 2016, we received another EB-1A (Alien of Extraordinary Ability) approval for a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Field of Medicinal Chemistry (Approval Notice).

General Field: Medicinal Chemistry

Position at the Time of Filing: Postdoctoral Researcher

Country of Origin: India

State of Residence at the Time of Filing: New York

Approval Notice Date: April 18^th, 2016

Processing Time: 11 months, 9 days

Case Summary:

Nearly a year after we filed an EB-1A (Alien of Extraordinary Ability) petition on behalf of a postdoctoral researcher from India, the USCIS ultimately granted their approval. It was not an easy road to petition approval and we encountered speedbumps along the way such as our firm raising a service request, and our client contacting his congressperson for an update on his petition (both actions were taken when the average processing time went beyond the norm). However, our thorough efforts and our client’s solid credentials paved the way for the approval of not just his EB-1A petition but also his green card.

Filing an I-485 application while the I-140 petitions is pending approval:

Our client received approval notices for both his EB-1A petition and green card approximately a month apart. The reason why he did not have to wait very long was because he chose to file his I-485 application (last step towards a green card) while his EB-1A petition was pending approval. Green card applicants have three options when filing an I-485 application: they can do what our client did and file it while their I-140 petition is pending approval, file it after their I-140 is approved, or file both at the same time.

Forming a Winning EB-1A Petition:

North America Immigration Law Group was tasked with compiling and submitting a strong EB-1A petition on our client’s behalf. We did everything we could to convince the USCIS that our client deserved to become an American permanent resident. We accumulated a wealth of information proving that our client is one of the most prominent researchers engaged in medicinal chemistry today. For instance, we documented his 26 scientific articles, his book chapter, the 223 citations to his work, and the 18 times he judged the work of his peers for scientific periodicals. We also reviewed and accounted for his research on using synthetic organic chemistry to identify and develop therapeutic agents for a variety of human diseases, such as hepatitis B, HIV, and cancer. We determined that our client’s investigations greatly benefit the U.S. medical sector and by extension, the health and well-being of all Americans.

To support our case, we encouraged our client to contact several other experts in his field for recommendation letters. He persuaded five medicinal chemists to lend their support, one of whom described our client’s work as “… of the utmost importance to continued advances in medical chemistry, cancer biology, and related fields. [Client] is conducting research that is directly and clinically applicable, signifying that his work is useful to the entire globe.”

We congratulate our client for receiving his green card, and we thank him for placing his complete trust in us to help him accomplish this major goal.