EB-2 NIW Case Study: Colombian Lawyer Approved to Advance Women’s Rights

After the initial filing, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued an RFE seeking additional information across several areas of the petition. The agency asked for more detail on the national importance of the proposed endeavor, including how the client’s work would extend beyond direct beneficiaries to create broader impact in the United States. 

The RFE also requested further evidence that the client was well-positioned to advance the endeavor, including additional information about the model behind her organization and the level of interest from outside parties willing to support the work. Our response needed to clarify these points and present the evidence in a way that made each requirement easy for the reviewing officer to follow.

The legal team built the RFE response around clarity and structure, organizing the submission so that each concern was addressed with targeted documentation.  

In response to the officer’s national importance concerns, the response expanded on how the client’s endeavor aligned with specific federal policy goals and national initiatives focused on advancing protections for women and addressing gender-based violence, including U.S. Congressional reauthorizations of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), U.S. Justice Department grants to support survivors of gender-based violence, and the White House’s National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence. The legal team also clearly explained the innovative aspects of the client’s specific, multi-disciplinary work, such that her endeavor would broadly impact the field. 

To show that the client had the experience and preparation needed to carry out the work, it reinforced her track record and the operational depth of her plan, along with an updated letter of support from a party already committed to backing her endeavor in the United States. 

As Attorney Jason Qiu explained: “Our strategy was to address every factor USCIS raised in a clear, systematic way. By mapping the evidence directly to each requirement, we made it straightforward to see how the client’s endeavor met the national importance standard.“

USCIS approved the EB-2 NIW petition after reviewing the RFE response, acknowledging the national importance of the client’s endeavor and her well-positioning to advance it in the United States. The approval reflects the strength of the underlying work and the clarity of the evidence presented in support of each prong. 

With this approval, the client can move forward toward establishing her organization in the United States. Once permanent residency is obtained, she will be able to bring together legal professionals and social workers within the integrated structure her model depends on. She will also be able to formalize the partnerships with educational institutions and public and private sector entities that extend the reach of her organization.