EB2 NIW Necessary and Optional Documents

[Serhio]

Hello,

I am postdoctoral medical researcher currently living outside of the U.S. and I am preparing to start collecting documents for NIW petition in a couple of days.

Couple of immigration law firms have already evaluated my case and all of them concluded that I have a strong case for NIW petition and very high probability for approval.

Here are my basic credentials:
- seven years of full employment as postdoctoral medical researcher in a university and in couple of clinical research organizations
- four full-length, peer-reviewed publications and 33 citations (out of which 32 are independent)
- 18 oral presentations and 12 poster presentations on international conferences
- couple of achievement awards
- membership in 19 international medical and scientific organizations
- one position as scientific reviewer
- I can provide several recommendation/reference/testimonial letters from both inner circle and outer circle peers (supervisors, principal investigators, international organizations representatives, scientific journal editorial boards, and governmental institutions).

In the country where I am working currently, years of education, years of practice and experience, as well as knowledge, skills and previous contribution are not very significant factors with an influence on earnings level, and salaries are usually not proportional to these characteristics. Therefore, salaries of majority of skilled workers here are pretty low. My current salary is slightly above the overall average, but it certainly can not be considered as competitive, due to the above mentioned reason.

Therefore, should the competitive salary as a requirement be considered as completely necessary in my case, taking into consideration the fact that it does not represent one's ability and contribution in the country where I am currently?

Any opinion will be greatly appreciated.

I also have three additional questions:

1. Do MD, MSc, and PhD degrees must have official evaluation certificate or translated and notarized foreign certificate would be sufficient and which factor it depends on?

2. Is there a limit to the number of testimonial letters and reference letters which can be submitted for NIW pettition?

3. Would it be beneficial for the purpose of NIW petition to obtain employment interest letter from some U.S. employer, considering the public charge rule, and in which phase of petition process would it be the most appropriate to obtain and submit such document?


Thanks.

[dk05]

1. Do MD, MSc, and PhD degrees must have official evaluation certificate or translated and notarized foreign certificate would be sufficient and which factor it depends on?
-> You do need to translate all your foreign language documents in English. As long as the English translation is fluent and accurate, it should be fine.

2. Is there a limit to the number of testimonial letters and reference letters which can be submitted for NIW pettition?
-> I think most people submit 3-5 recommendation letters. Not sure if there's any limitation set by USCIS.

As you mentioned in your post, your credential has been evaluated by many law firms and the results are all positive. I will suggest you to use one of the firms you trust and the lawyer can give you more precise advice. Good luck!