EB-2 NIW Green Card for AML Professional from Ecuador

Ecuador

AML and Compliance Professional

Colombo & Hurd secured an EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW) green card for an anti-money laundering (AML) and compliance professional from Ecuador who works in financial crime risk management. USCIS approved the EB-2 NIW petition without a Request for Evidence (RFE). After completing the immigrant visa process through a U.S. consulate, the client received his green card and is now a permanent resident of the United States.

Money laundering and other illicit finance activities weaken the U.S. financial system. They also help fund serious crimes, including human trafficking and exploitation. Smaller financial institutions often have fewer resources to catch this activity. Strong compliance and risk programs help them protect themselves and the wider system.

The client has built a career in banking, compliance, and financial crime risk management, with work across many countries. In the United States, he plans to help smaller financial institutions strengthen their AML and compliance programs.

The Colombo & Hurd legal team prepared and filed the EB-2 NIW petition. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) approved the I-140 petition directly, with no RFE. After the I-140 approval, Immigration Attorney Michelle Villagran guided the client through the consular processing, resulting in his green card.

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Client Profile

EB-2 NIW Visa

The client holds a master’s degree in business administration and a bachelor’s degree in international studies with a minor in business administration. He has spent more than eight years in banking, focused on compliance, risk management, and AML. Early on, he helped overhaul a compliance and AML department at a bank to meet U.S. regulatory standards.

Our client has managed high-risk accounts and led risk reviews across several countries. His professional training includes an AML certification from a government-sponsored program, along with additional certificates in AML policy and compliance. He later advanced to a senior manager role in financial crime risk management, where he kept transactions compliant across a global operation.

To advance his work in the United States, the client formed his own business entity. Through a consulting firm, he plans to train staff at smaller financial institutions and connect banks, regulators, and groups that fight illicit finance. A key goal was to show how money laundering links to crimes like human trafficking and exploitation, so institutions can spot it sooner.

The Challenge

Because the client planned to work directly with individual financial institutions, the case needed to show how those efforts could benefit the wider financial system and not just these institutions individually. The challenge was explaining why stronger safeguards at these organizations matter to the financial system as a whole.

Smaller institutions may have fewer compliance resources, but they still process transactions that can expose them to money laundering and other financial crimes. Criminal networks often look for institutions with weaker controls. Gaps at one organization can therefore create risks that extend beyond a single bank or community.

Strategic Approach

The legal team worked with the client to clearly explain how his proposed consulting practice would address those risks at a national level. His practice will focus on training staff at smaller financial institutions, improving AML programs, and helping compliance professionals understand how criminals move and hide money through the financial system.

His work aligned with established federal priorities related to money laundering, illicit finance, and human trafficking. The Bank Secrecy Act requires financial institutions to guard against money laundering. The Treasury Department runs a national strategy to combat illicit finance, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network sets priorities for the field, and the Department of Homeland Security’s Blue Campaign works to stop human trafficking.

Letters from banking, risk, and business professionals added outside support for his experience and proposed consulting work. Rather than relying on general praise, they described the practical need for stronger AML training and controls at smaller institutions and explained how his background could help address that need.

The Result

USCIS approved the client’s EB-2 NIW petition without an RFE. He then completed consular processing and received his green card and is now a lawful permanent resident of the United States.

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What This Approval Enables

As a permanent resident, the client can now build his advisory practice in the United States. He plans to start in a major U.S. financial hub and later expand to other regions. The work grows in steps: training staff at smaller institutions, then connecting banks, regulators, and anti-trafficking groups so they can share what they learn. He also plans to create a task force that keeps professionals current on new criminal tactics.

Case Overview

Category	Details
Visa Classification	EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW)
Nationality	Ecuador
Professional Field	Anti-Money Laundering and Financial Crime Risk Management
Education	Master’s degree in Business Administration; Bachelor’s degree in International Studies
Proposed endeavor	Strengthen risk management and anti-money laundering compliance capabilities of small and medium-sized U.S. financial institutions
Request for Evidence (RFE)	No
Premium processing	No
Attorney	Michelle Villagran
Final Outcome	Green card approved; lawful permanent residency granted
Green Card Approval Date	July 2, 2026

This case was handled by Immigration Attorney Michelle Villagran of Colombo & Hurd, a U.S. immigration law firm specializing in employment-based visas including EB-2 NIW and EB-1A petitions. The firm has secured over 10,000 successful visa and green card approvals for clients from more than 100 countries, including more than 2,500 approvals in EB-2 NIW and EB-1A categories since 2023.