|
Employment
Based National Interest Waivers
Both
professionals with advanced degrees and people with exceptional
ability may seek waivers of the job offer requirement if their
immigration could be deemed in the "national interest." Waiver
of the job offer means the applicant is exempt from obtaining
a labor certification and does not need an employer in the
United States to file a petition. Since the national interest
waiver is filed by the applicant, and not by the employer,
it is his or her sole property and remains valid regardless
of the applicant's employment status.
The Immigration and Naturalization Service regulations do
not define the term "national interest." The introduction
to the employment-based immigrants regulations expressly say
that the term "national interest" is flexible. In a number
of AAU decisions, the INS has said that the following criteria
may be used to determine national interest, but not all of
the criteria need to be met:
-
Improving the U.S. economy;
-
Improving wages and working conditions of U.S. workers;
-
Improving education and training programs for U.S. children
and under-qualified workers;
-
Improving health care;
- Providing
more affordable housing for young and/or older, poorer U.S.
residents;
- Improving
the environment of the United States and making more productive
use of natural resources; or
-
Request from an interested U.S. Government Agency.
The
more factors that an applicant may prove, the better are his/her
chances of having the petition approved. One must also show
that he/she will be working in the United States in the sciences,
arts, professions or business. National Interest does not
connote benefiting the nation as a whole, a benefit to a locality
is sufficient.
|
