EB-2 National Interest Waiver: a green card without an employer.

Two tests, not one

EB-2 is the second employment-based preference category for US permanent residence. Normally it needs a US employer, a job offer and a labour certification from the Department of Labor proving no suitable US worker is available. The national interest waiver (NIW) removes that requirement: if USCIS agrees it is in the national interest, you can file the immigrant petition, Form I-140, for yourself.

USCIS assesses this in two steps. First, you must qualify for EB-2 at all — either as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree, or as someone of exceptional ability. Only then does it ask whether the job-offer requirement should be waived, applying the three-part framework from a 2016 decision called Matter of Dhanasar. Passing the first test does not get you through the second. A master’s degree makes you eligible to be considered; it is not, on its own, a reason for a waiver.

An approved I-140 is not a green card. It gives you a place in line, dated by your priority date. You can only apply for the green card itself — by adjusting status inside the US or through a US consulate abroad — when a visa number is available for your category and country of birth, which, for EB-2, currently means waiting.

1. 1

   EB-2 eligibility: advanced degree or exceptional ability

   An advanced degree is a US degree above a bachelor’s, or a foreign equivalent; a bachelor’s plus five years of progressive post-degree experience in the specialty counts as equivalent to a master’s. The degree route also needs the occupation to be a profession. Exceptional ability is the alternative: you must meet at least three of six listed criteria — such as an academic record in the field, ten years of full-time experience, a licence, a salary showing exceptional ability, professional memberships, or recognition for significant contributions — and that ability must relate to the endeavour you are proposing.

2. 2

   The proposed endeavour has substantial merit and national importance

   Merit can be in business, science, technology, health, education, culture and other areas. National importance is about the endeavour’s potential prospective impact — broader implications for a field, or significant economic effects — rather than the importance of the profession in general or the benefit to a single employer or client.

3. 3

   You are well positioned to advance it

   USCIS looks at your education, skills and record of success, a model or plan for the endeavour, any progress already made, and the interest of potential customers, users, investors or other relevant parties. Letters help only when they say something specific and verifiable.

4. 4

   On balance, waiving the job offer benefits the United States

   The final prong weighs whether it would be impractical to require a job offer and labour certification, whether the US would benefit even if qualified US workers are available, and whether the national interest in your contribution is urgent enough to justify skipping the normal process. Discretion applies throughout.

In January 2025 USCIS updated its Policy Manual guidance on NIW petitions, including how it judges national importance and how it weighs letters of support and business plans. Advice written before then may not reflect how cases are assessed now.

Nothing on this list is requested on our enquiry form. Documents are only ever exchanged inside the secure client portal, after a case has started.

Your spouse and children

Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 can be included as derivatives and receive green cards on the strength of your approved petition. They do not need to qualify for EB-2 themselves. Each applies for the green card stage with you, through adjustment of status or their own DS-260 if processing consularly.

A child’s age is assessed under specific rules, and a long wait for a priority date can bring a child close to 21 before the green card stage. If you have a child aged 17 or over, raise it in the first conversation; it can change how the timing should be planned.

What Vizabolt does, and what it does not

Vizabolt is a case-coordination service, not a US law firm, and we do not give US legal advice or represent anyone before USCIS or the Department of State. An NIW is a self-petition, and nothing prevents you from filing it yourself, but it is an argued legal case. The legal judgement in a case of this kind — whether it should be filed, how the argument is framed, and the filing itself — belongs with a US-licensed immigration attorney, and we will tell you so at the start rather than after you have committed to anything.

What we do is the work around that judgement: an early, honest read of whether your profile is worth taking to an attorney at all, planning the evidence and the order it needs to be gathered in, chasing and organising documents from the UAE side, keeping the timeline visible, and coordinating with the attorney you instruct so that nothing waits on a missing letter. The scope and our fee are agreed in writing before any work begins.