What is National Interest Waiver?

A National Interest Waiver is an exemption from the labor certification process and job offer requirement for advanced degree/exceptional ability workers applying for an EB-2 Visa for Immigration into the United States.

EB-2 petitioners can avoid the PERM Labor Certification process by presenting as a ‘national interest waiver’. NIW requires the foreign national to ‘self-petition’ so that he/she can file the I-140 form on his/her own behalf without involving any labor certification or a sponsoring employer.

The processing time for the NIW green cards usually varies from 3–9 months. This depends on the service center and the adjudicating officer assigned by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to each petition.