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Hi Peter,

I'll finish my PhD in ECE around May 2018 and look for employment in the Bay Area. Do you think I should apply for NIW (I have over 300 citations and 10+ peer reviewed publications) or go through the process with H1B?

My wife and our son are on F2 visa right now. My wife is a computer engineer and was not allowed to work on F2 visa during my PhD. Can she work as an H1B dependent? Do you think it is worth to spend $10K to obtain NIW?




I would need to know more but it sounds like you would have a strong EB1A extraordinary ability green card application so I would just go this route. And the NIW route is very slow and the law oftentimes misapplied by USCIS so it's not necessarily an easier standard to meet.


Thank you for your response!

I have actually contacted an immigration attorney and she said that I would have a strong case for NIW EB2 (not EB1) application.

However, I'm still not sure if I should go the OPT->H1B-> permanent resident route or apply to EB2 for a faster outcome.

I know that companies have lost interest in employing foreigners so the EB2 might come handy in the job search.


I don't want to take issue with your attorney's assessment because she knows your background better but oftentimes people underestimate their EB1A qualifications and go down the wrong path.


I see! Actually, her assessment was preliminary so I will research further into EB1. Who knows :)

Thank you very much for your time and response. Have a great day!


Best of luck.




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