On October 17th, 2016, we received another EB-1A (Alien of Extraordinary Ability) approval for a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Field of Virology (Approval Notice).

General Field: Virology

Position at the Time of Case Filing: Postdoctoral Research Associate

Country of Origin: China

Service Center: Texas Service Center (TSC)

State of Residence at the Time of Filing: Georgia

Approval Notice Date: October 17^th, 2016

Processing Time: 12 Days (Premium Processing Requested)

Case Summary:

Thanks to Premium Processing (PP), our client (a postdoctoral research associate from China) only waited 12 days before receiving notification of case approval. On average, it takes between 4-9 months for the USCIS to take action on I-140 petitions but because our client elected to pay an additional $1,225, she was treated to PP and action was taken on her case within 15 calendar days.

Based in Georgia, our client is an expert researcher working in the field of virology. With 26 peer-reviewed scientific articles and one book chapter in the bag, she was a suitable candidate for EB-1A (Alien of Extraordinary Ability). Besides her publication record, we incorporated the following information into her petition packet to prove to the USCIS that she deserved to get one step closer to a green card:

• We noted the nearly 3 dozen times she judged the work of her peers for a variety of high-impact scientific journals.
• Our client’s citation count was also detailed—136 citations at the time of filing.
• Moreover, we noted her research efforts on the pathogenesis and genomic characteristics of rabies virus, host-virus interactions, and the development of novel rabies vaccines for prevention as well as for therapy.
• Based on all the information we accumulated, we were able to prove to the USCIS that our client’s research addresses some of our nation’s most pressing issues in understanding the underlying mechanisms of this disease and how to develop successful therapeutic strategies to treat and prevent it.
• The six recommendation letters that we included in our client’s EB-1A petition packet also played a role in securing petition approval. According to one of the recommenders, our client “…is a unique virology and immunology researcher whose work has substantially affected our understanding of the functional genomics of the rabies vims and the underlying mechanisms of rabies virus disease progression, and as such, she presents one of the best opportunities for finally developing an improved vaccination strategy against the rabies virus, which costs thousands of lives around the world each year, while also exerting a significant economic impact on healthcare systems.”

We are delighted that our efforts led to the approval of our client’s EB-1A petition. We congratulate her on this milestone and thank her for retaining our firm to file I-485 applications for herself and her dependent. We join them as they await favorable news from the USCIS. In the meantime, we wish our client the best as she continues to progress the important field of virology in the United States.