The legal standard for obtaining a "national interest waiver" in connection with a 2nd Preference Employment-Based (EB-2) immigrant visa petition has been revised and clarified after 18 years.
On December 27, 2016, the Administrative Appeals Office of USCIS handed down a landmark decision - Matter of Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. 884 (AAO 2016) - in which the agency's appeals unit pronounced a new legal framework for adjudicating NIW petitions:
"USCIS may grant a national interest waiver if the petitioner demonstrates:
(1) that the foreign national’s proposed endeavor has both substantial merit and national importance;
(2) that he or she is well positioned to advance the proposed endeavor; and
(3) that, on balance, it would be beneficial to the United States to waive the job offer and labor certification requirements."