Recently, there have been an increasing number of Ph.D. students who either cannot:

1. Secure a job offer without a green card; or
2. Get an H1B visa number to fulfill the job offer after leaving their universities.

Therefore, filing the application for your green card when you are still in school becomes a necessity to secure a job in the current competitive labor market. On April 4, 2008, CIS created a new rule to extend Optional Practical Training (OPT) from 12 months to 29 months for F-1 students with a degree in (a.) science, (b.) technology, (c.) engineering, or (d.) mathematics, who are employed by businesses enrolled in the E-verify program. Basically, this means that CIS was forced to extend their OPT to allow many Master’s and Ph.D. degree graduates to stay lawfully in the United States, since many of them may not be able to get their H1B visa numbers this year.

The good news is that Postdoc researchers and Ph.D. students can file a self-petition green card application BEFORE they find a permanent employment position. You must fulfill certain qualifications and have sufficient evidence in order to be approved.

For example, we recently had two clients who both received approval of their self-petition EB2NIW green card application:

1. Postdoctorate researcher – An EB2NIW green card application was filed for a postdoctoral researcher in the field of Databases, Multimedia; Mobile Computing; Information Security and Privacy; Distributed Computing; Peer-to-Peer Systems; Location-based Services; and Geographic Information Systems. His research was leading edge, and without the EB2NIW application, it would have been very difficult for him to secure a job offer without a U.S. permanent resident status.

Our client received a Ph.D. degree in Computer Science and two (2) Master’s degrees, one in Computer Science and another in Electrical Engineering. At the time of filing, this post-doctoral applicant made eight 8 invited conference presentations, published 7 journal articles, and 13conference proceeding book publications. In addition, some media including The New York Times, Daily Trojan, Wired News, published news reports about the new technology developed by the research group in which our client had been working as a postdoctoral researcher (our client’s name was not mentioned in the article). In order to provide sufficient evidence, we were able to make a connection between his work and the media reports to support his application. His EB2NIW application was approved by CIS Texas Service Center without RFE (Request for Evidence).

2. Postdoctoral Researchers and Ph.D. students in SOCIAL SCIENCE can apply for a green card in the EB2 NIW classification as well.

Most recently, a Korean Ph.D. student (in Education) with an OPT found a job, but the employer would NOT sponsor her working visa or her green card application. We advised her to file EB2NIW as a self-petition.

At the time of filing, she had published 4 journal papers in the United States and 4 research papers in Korea. She made 4 poster presentations at international conferences in her field. Two (2) Korean scientists cited her research discoveries. She had received the Graduate Student Support Award for 3 consecutive years. We concurrently filed the I-140 EB2NIW application and the I-485 Application for Adjustment of Status for her and her spouse. She received her working permit (Employment Authorization Card) in 90 days and the green card for her and her husband in about 6 months.

Again, postdoctoral researchers and Ph.D. students who are qualified for EB2NIW do not need a permanent job offer in order to apply for a green card. However, as the job market becomes more competitive, it is essential that a green card application is filed prior to finishing school.

For more information, you can visit our website at http://www.sunlawfirm.com

For free case evaluation, please e-mail your updated resume and contact information to alicesun@earthlink.net. Subject: Green Card Application

Disclaimer: The above newsletter information is general information. They are NOT legal consultations for any specific case or legal issues.