EB-2 NIW Case Study: Approval for Digital Banking Specialist from Chile Chile Digital Banking Specialist Colombo & Hurd secured approval of an EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW) petition for a digital banking specialist from Chile whose work focuses on strengthening digital banking and payment systems for regional and mid-sized banks. USCIS approved the petition with Premium Processing after the firm responded to a Request for Evidence (RFE). Regional and mid-sized banks are where millions of Americans and small businesses do their everyday banking. Many still run on core systems built for a slower era, which makes it harder to offer instant payments, quick digital sign-up, and strong fraud protection. When these banks fall behind, customers feel it, and some move to larger institutions and fintech apps that move faster. Better banking technology helps these institutions compete and keeps affordable financial services within reach for the communities they serve. Our client is a FinTech specialist with experience leading product development, payment platforms, and digital transformation at major financial institutions. Her goal in the United States is to modernize the digital banking and payment systems that regional and mid-sized banks rely on. She aims to close the technology gaps that hold these institutions back and widen access to secure financial services. Colombo & Hurd Senior Attorney Anabel García led the initial filing, and Senior Attorney Nizar Kafrouni led the RFE response. Evaluate My Profile Client ProfileA Career Spent Modernizing Digital Banking and Payments EB-2 NIW VisaOur client holds a master’s degree in business administration and a bachelor’s degree in business engineering. Her career has centered on digital banking, where she spent more than 15 years leading product development and technology projects at major banks and payment companies. Across these roles, she worked to make banking faster, safer, and easier for customers to reach. Much of her work focused on digital onboarding, the process a customer goes through to open an account. In one of her projects, she added digital identity checks and biometric verification, so accounts became quicker to open and harder to defraud. Her digital banking work also significantly expanded the bank’s online customer base, showing how better technology can expand a bank’s reach without opening a single new branch. In the United States, the client plans to bring this same approach to regional and mid-sized banks. Her plans center on modernizing core systems, automating slow manual steps, and upgrading payment technology so smaller institutions can offer the instant, secure service their customers expect. See If You QualifyGet Your Free EB-2 NIW Visa Profile Evaluation Evaluate My Profile The Challenge Showing How One Specialist’s Work Could Reach Beyond a Single Bank After the initial filing, USCIS accepted that the client qualified for the EB-2 category based on her advanced degree and that her proposed endeavor had substantial merit. The central question raised in the RFE was whether her work could have an impact beyond the individual banks she would serve. USCIS also asked for additional evidence that she was well positioned to carry out the proposed work in the United States. The response needed to show why modernizing FinTech and payment systems at regional and mid-sized institutions could have broader implications for the U.S. financial system, and that her education and experience allowed her to achieve that goal. Strategic Response Connecting Proven Digital Banking Work to U.S. Financial Priorities The legal team showed how the client’s proposed work lines up with priorities the U.S. government has identified for its financial system. A White House executive order, Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology, established a federal policy focused on strengthening U.S. leadership in digital finance. The client’s work modernizing digital onboarding and Application Programming Interface (API) based payment systems at regional and mid-sized banks supports that goal directly, giving financial institutions and everyday customers the tools to take part in the digital financial system instead of falling outside it. The RFE response also showed how a second national priority connected to work the client had already done. The Treasury Department’s National Strategy for Financial Inclusion aims to expand access to safe, affordable financial services for vulnerable populations. At one bank, our client replaced a paper-based sign-up process that took about 20 days with a digital one that took a day or two, and she lowered the cost of serving each customer. Those are the exact changes that let regional banks reach low-income and underbanked customers without taking a loss, expanding the reach of banking services to more communities. Letters of recommendation from senior banking professionals who know her work firsthand, along with her documented record of leading digital financial projects from start to finish, helped establish that she had already produced measurable results in the same areas she proposed to pursue in the United States. A letter of interest from a U.S. company provided additional evidence that her expertise could be applied in the U.S. market. The Result EB-2 NIW Approval After the RFE Response USCIS approved the EB-2 NIW petition after reviewing the RFE response. The client had filed with Premium Processing from the Initial filing. The petition answered each point USCIS raised and connected the client’s work to priorities the government has already set for the financial system. The approval marks an important step toward U.S. permanent residence and the client’s longer-term goal of helping regional and mid-sized banks modernize their Digital Financial Services. Case Overview Category Details Visa Classification EB-2 NIW Nationality Chile Professional Field Digital Banking and Payments Education Master’s Degree in Business Administration, Bachelor’s Degree in Business Engineering Request for Evidence (RFE) Yes Premium Processing Yes Attorneys Senior Attorney Anabel García (Initial Filing) and Senior Attorney Nizar Kafrouni (RFE Response) Outcome I-140 petition approved Date of Approval August 10, 2026 This case was represented by Immigration Attorney Anabel Garcia (Initial Filing) and Senior Immigration Attorney Nizar Kafrouni (RFE) 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 more than 2,500 approvals in EB-2 NIW and EB-1A categories since 2023.