Favorite NIW Approvals of 2024!
The beginning of the new year provides an opportunity to reflect on the past year’s achievements and outstanding EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW) approvals. In this edition of our Favorite Approvals of 2024 series, Colombo & Hurd Immigration Attorney Yeerin Kwon discusses one of her favorite success stories from last year, highlighting her team’s strategy in overcoming a Request for Evidence (RFE) from the USCIS to ultimately achieve NIW approval for her client.
Overcoming an RFE: NIW Success Story in Optimizing Latin-Owned Businesses in the Food Industry
This case involved a client from Venezuela in the field of business management, who sought to optimize and grow Latin-owned small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the food industry in the United States. Our client received NIW approval for a multi-faceted proposal offering economic benefits by boosting efficiency and profitability, addressing food needs through increased affordability and accessibility, and providing sustainability advantages by reducing food waste and environmental impact.
To secure approval, Colombo & Hurd Immigration Attorney Yeerin Kwon and her team employed a comprehensive approach, including thorough documentation, targeted arguments addressing Request for Evidence (RFE) concerns, and collaborative client-attorney cooperation. The RFE challenged the national importance of the proposed endeavor, that the client is well-positioned, and that it is beneficial to the United States to waive the requirements of a job offer and labor certification.
“The biggest part of the challenge raised by the RFE was demonstrating broad implications and substantial positive effects of the client’s endeavor,” said Ms. Kwon. To overcome these obstacles, Ms. Kwon and her team developed a focused and effective strategy to address USCIS concerns.
“I focused on working with the client to bring out the unique aspects of her vision and principle that would help make her endeavor stand out to the USCIS officer among many other endeavors that are related to empowering small businesses through providing tailored guidance to these businesses with the goal of supporting the broader economy and help us show to the officer that her endeavor is more than providing services to these small businesses,” said Ms. Kwon, outlining her strategy for addressing this RFE.
To demonstrate that the client is well-positioned, we provided evidence of the client’s expertise, financial support, and network. This evidence included independent letters of recommendation from esteemed professionals attesting to the client’s position and expertise in the field, as well as an economic impact analysis and letters from food industry leaders showing their interest in using our client’s services to develop strategies for their companies.
In order to show that the client’s proposed endeavor has national importance, we provided a more detailed description of the client’s proposed endeavor and why it is nationally important.
Ms. Kwon explained her strategy for demonstrating national importance: “To do so, we focused on highlighting not just the economic impact but the community-level social impact that she will have through her endeavor. Specifically, we highlighted that her strategies focus on fostering local partnerships. By doing so, she aimed at boosting the economic growth and vitality on the local level.”
We explained that the client’s work ensures that Latino-owned small and medium-sized businesses have the necessary assistance and technical tools to grow, thrive, and position themselves competitively in the U.S. business landscape, aligning with national initiatives and policies.
“Another aspect of her strategies was to help restaurants adopt ethical practices and develop products and services that are not only profitable but also address social or environmental challenges such as food insecurity and sustainability, fostering a more inclusive food culture in the local community,” said Ms. Kwon, explaining that the client’s work will reduce food waste and drive environmental sustainability within the U.S. food industry.
Finally, we emphasized the benefits to the United States of waiving the requirements of a job offer and labor certification. We explained how the client’s self-employment would not harm U.S. workers and that the labor certification process would be impractical due to the dynamic nature of her endeavor, which includes technical aspects of the strategic management consulting in conjunction with executive skills. We also explained that the endeavor is urgent to national interest due to the current excessive cost of food, causing more and more Americans to go into debt to satisfy their food needs.
Based on our strategy and the new evidence, the USCIS granted our client NIW approval. By demonstrating national interest and showcasing the client’s position in the field, Ms. Kwon and her team successfully overcame this RFE and enabled the client to receive her National Interest Waiver.
“I believe the key factors that contributed to the approval are the specific vision and principle that served as the foundation of her strategies for empowering small businesses in the food industry,” said Ms. Kwon, celebrating her team’s success in this case.
This success story showcases our expertise in navigating complex immigration applications, overcoming obstacles, and achieving favorable outcomes even when faced with challenges. We congratulate our client on achieving NIW approval and look forward to more approvals in 2025!
