• Waivers are available to EB-2 Aliens with Advanced Degrees (Sciences, Arts, or Business) or of Exceptional Ability. 
• When it is in the national interest, the Secretary of Homeland Security may waive the labor certification requirement.
• No permanent job offer is required.
• A labor certification is not required.
• Although a majority of NIW petitioners are researchers in science, other fields and professions are included.  Waivers have been granted to engineers, actors, musicians, painters, movie directors, writers, educators, entrepreneurs, and chefs.
• The area of research, be it medical, military technology, or energy, is not determinative.  
• The merit of the NIW petition depends on how well we prove that your specific achievements justify the projection that your future contribution to the U.S. national interest is substantially higher than that of your peers.  

Qualifications to be granted a National Interest Waiver

1. The alien must seek employment in an area of substantial intrinsic merit;
2. The proposed benefit must be national in scope; and
3. The national interest would be adversely affected if a labor certification were required for the alien.  (Crucial to the third prong is proving that the national interest would not be as well served by giving the job to a U.S. worker with the same minimum qualifications.  To prove that the alien would benefit the national interest in ways that could not be matched by U.S. workers with the same minimum qualifications, the alien beneficiary must possess a demonstrated record of specific prior achievements.)

There must be proof that requiring a labor certification would adversely affect  the U.S. national interest:  

Note:  these factors are not sufficient by themselves: 

• Assertion of a labor shortage;
• The mere possession of useful skills or a unique background or experience;
• Simple exposure to advanced technology; and,
• Special or unusual knowledge or training.

To prove that the U.S. national interest would be adversely affected if a labor certification were required, the petitioner must establish that the alien beneficiary would serve the national interest to a substantially greater degree than would an available U.S. worker having the same minimum qualifications.  Furthermore, since “exceptional ability” is not per se sufficient to waive labor certification, the alien must present benefits to his or her field that greatly exceed the achievements and significant contributions required of aliens of exceptional ability.

To that end, it is necessary to provide evidence of past achievements that justify projections of the proposed future benefit.  In other words, the alien beneficiary must have an established ability to serve the national interest to a greater extent than the majority of his or her colleagues, and possess a past history of demonstrable achievement with some degree of influence on the field as a whole.  

The emphasis, then, is on “specific prior achievements.”  Therefore, in national interest waiver, although USCIS looks into the future benefits to the U.S. national interest, the alien beneficiary must establish future benefits by providing an outstanding record of specific prior achievements. This is the key to a successful national interest waiver petition.