EB-2 NIW Case Study: Approval for an Agricultural Engineer from Colombia Colombia Agricultural EngineerColombo & Hurd secured approval of an EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW) petition without a Request for Evidence (RFE) for an agricultural engineer from Colombia whose work focuses on improving how farms spray pesticides and other chemicals. Each year, the agricultural industry in the United States uses about one billion pounds of pesticides to protect crops from weeds, insects, and disease. These products help make the country one of the largest food producers in the world, and they protect a farm and food economy that the U.S. Department of Agriculture values at roughly $1.5 trillion a year. The professionals trained to make that spraying more precise are agricultural engineers, a small and specialized group. Our client’s career centers on exactly this kind of precision, field experience into methods that help farms get more from every application while wasting less. His proposed endeavor is to improve how American farms raise the amount and quality of what they produce while reducing the impact on air, water, soil, and wildlife. The Colombo & Hurd team led the petition to approval. Evaluate My Profile Client Profile Agricultural Engineer with Significant Field Experience EB-2 NIW VisaOur client holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering. Over a career spanning nearly 50 years, he has developed extensive expertise in the calibration and operation of aerial and ground spraying equipment used in large-scale agriculture. He specializes in calibration, meaning adjusting spraying equipment, so it releases the correct dose, in the right droplet size, in the right place. His peers describe him as one of the very few people trusted to certify that aerial and ground equipment is working correctly. His methods at a large banana producer helped control Black Sigatoka, a leaf disease that threatens banana crops, across about 49,000 acres. His work also supported the operation as it expanded the amount of land it could manage effectively. He wrote a manual on application techniques published by a major crop-science company, trained pilots and technicians across several countries, and received an award from a professional association of agricultural engineers. The Challenge Showing That Better Spraying Matters for Adequate Production Every EB-2 NIW petition must answer one central question: does the person’s work matter beyond their own job, and does it rise to national importance? Our client’s skill was clear and well documented. The goal was to show that improving how crops are sprayed is not just useful to one farm at a time but connects to areas the whole country depends on: a steady food supply, the financial health of American farms, and the quality of the water, air, and soil that communities share. Strategic Approach Connecting One Engineer’s Expertise to National Priorities Our legal team laid out what our client planned to do in the United States and explained why that work reaches beyond any single farm. The petition connected his proposed work to priorities that federal agencies already focus on: the Environmental Protection Agency’s work to keep farm runoff out of rivers and groundwater, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) promotion of integrated pest management, and trade rules on pesticide residue that affect whether American farmers can reach export markets. The team also documented his ability to carry out the proposed work through testimony from professionals who had seen his methods in practice. His peers described him as one of the few specialists they trusted to certify that aerial and ground spraying equipment was operating correctly. Colleagues also reported that his recommendations sharply reduced complaints from neighboring communities about chemicals drifting onto nearby land. These accounts helped show both the technical precision of his work and its practical effects. His record did not include a long list of academic papers or patents. Instead, the petition built his eligibility on its relevance to a shared national concern and his documented experience solving these exact problems and training others to do the same. That gave USCIS clear evidence of what he intended to do and why he was well-positioned to do it by relying on the client’s on-field experience, not on academic achievements. See If You QualifyGet Your Free EB-2 NIW Visa Profile Evaluation Evaluate My Profile The Result EB-2 NIW Approved USCIS approved our client’s EB-2 NIW petition with no RFE. The approval clears the way for him to pursue lawful permanent residence and to continue his work in the United States: helping American farms spray pesticides, chemicals and fertilizers more precisely, grow more food, protect the water and soil around them, and pass his methods on to the next generation of farmers and engineers. Case Overview Category Details Visa Classification EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW) Country of Origin Colombia Professional Field Agricultural engineering Education Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Engineering Request for Evidence (RFE) No Premium Processing No Outcome I-140 Petition Approved Date of Approval July 9, 2026 This case was led by 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 more than 2,500 approvals in EB-2 NIW and EB-1A categories since 2023.