EB-2 NIW: Seeking advice on proposed endeavor, substantial merit and national importance

[Drtech 0]

Hi all,

 

A question for those with experience in EB-2 NIW petitions. I’m preparing to apply for EB-2 NIW and have drafted my personal statement. Could you please take a look and share your thoughts on its specificity, depth, sufficiency, and overall persuasiveness? Any additional suggestions are more than welcome in terms of substantial merit and national importance.

 

Document is attached.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Best

Personal Statement.pdf

[appleblossom 4,899]

30 minutes ago, Drtech said:

Hi all,

 

A question for those with experience in EB-2 NIW petitions. I’m preparing to apply for EB-2 NIW and have drafted my personal statement. Could you please take a look and share your thoughts on its specificity, depth, sufficiency, and overall persuasiveness? Any additional suggestions are more than welcome in terms of substantial merit and national importance.

 

Document is attached.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

I would remove your statement, it's got far too much personal info in it and makes you VERY identifiable! 

 

But do you need a personal statement? I didn't for my EB application. I had 5 references (3 from people within the US), plus a very good case (hundreds of pages) put together by my lawyer, I didn't write any of it myself at all. 

[Boiler 47,931]

Which Law Firm are you using, some of them seem to specialise in NIWs and have money back guarantees

 

I could not tell how you intend to achieve your endeavor, who is funding this, who are you partnering with. A lot of mention of AI, so I assume you have some sort of IT partnership.

[Coco8 1,058]

Background: 

- I think the fact that you don't have any experience in a university in the US is a negative here. That's from a credentials point of view. You don't even have a postdoc in the US

- You don't explain why your expertise is in the need in the US. You could do ESOL outside of the US. There is no need of English as a second language in the US. 

- You don't mention publications, citations, international grants (sorry, but a grant from Estonia when you work in Estonia is not enough)

 

From context, today: Wanting to do ESOL in K-12 in the current political climate is just bad. That said, there are already schools doing that. In multiple states, there are Spanish classes for Spanish speakers, so that kids that grew up speaking Spanish can learn to read and write, for instance. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Drtech 0]

15 hours ago, Coco8 said:

Background: 

- I think the fact that you don't have any experience in a university in the US is a negative here. That's from a credentials point of view. You don't even have a postdoc in the US

- You don't explain why your expertise is in the need in the US. You could do ESOL outside of the US. There is no need of English as a second language in the US. 

- You don't mention publications, citations, international grants (sorry, but a grant from Estonia when you work in Estonia is not enough)

 

From context, today: Wanting to do ESOL in K-12 in the current political climate is just bad. That said, there are already schools doing that. In multiple states, there are Spanish classes for Spanish speakers, so that kids that grew up speaking Spanish can learn to read and write, for instance. 

 

 

 

Thanks for your detailed reply. In terms of US experience, yes, you are right. I do not have any.

 

However, I am pretty sure that my background is more than sufficient to advance proposed endeavor, with around 300.000 USD of national and international of grants so far (mostly, PI, it is quite challenging in social sciences), around 100 citations, 15 publications, around 40 editorships/reviewership roles mostly for SSCI Q1 journals, and so on).

 

My only problem for now is finding an effective endeavor within the field of applied linguistics (focusing on language pedagogy) that would have substantial merit and national interest to the US. It might be a good idea to include technology integration into education, as I also have some studies focusing on this. I will try my best. 

15 hours ago, Coco8 said:

 

 

[Drtech 0]

On 9/13/2025 at 4:19 AM, Boiler said:

Which Law Firm are you using, some of them seem to specialise in NIWs and have money back guarantees

 

I could not tell how you intend to achieve your endeavor, who is funding this, who are you partnering with. A lot of mention of AI, so I assume you have some sort of IT partnership.

Thanks for your reply. I am not using any. Each law firm I have contacted so far has offered full refund, but I will self petition. The only big issue I am currently having is finding an endeavour of substantial merit and national importance. 

[Boiler 47,931]

Seems to me you desperately need legal help.

[Drtech 0]

On 9/12/2025 at 11:54 PM, appleblossom said:

 

I would remove your statement, it's got far too much personal info in it and makes you VERY identifiable! 

 

But do you need a personal statement? I didn't for my EB application. I had 5 references (3 from people within the US), plus a very good case (hundreds of pages) put together by my lawyer, I didn't write any of it myself at all. 

Thanks for your response. I believe yours was approved. Congratulations! Regarding mine, I will self petition (with no lawyer) and also have an expert opinion letter from the US. Personal statement is not a compulsory factor to include but I want to support my endeavor's substantial merit and national importance. First of all, I want to find an effective endavor. Compared to STEM areas, this is the  main problem for non-STEM areas (like mine). In STEM, it is pretty straigthforward, explaining exonomic impact, sustainability, increasing productivity, supporting health services and saving billions of dollars, etc. However, for us, it is less concrete. 

[Drtech 0]

8 minutes ago, Boiler said:

Seems to me you desperately need legal help.

Thanks for your suggestion. I definitely know that this visa is worth the expenses but attorney fees (starting around 5-6k excluding legal costs) is too much for most people to be able to afford, particularly those from certain countries with low income. I will give it a try on my own.  

[Boiler 47,931]

You did not answer how this is being funded, from what I know of such endeavours 5 k would be a rounding error.

[OldUser 10,400]

31 minutes ago, Drtech said:

Thanks for your response. I believe yours was approved. Congratulations! Regarding mine, I will self petition (with no lawyer) and also have an expert opinion letter from the US. Personal statement is not a compulsory factor to include but I want to support my endeavor's substantial merit and national importance. First of all, I want to find an effective endavor. Compared to STEM areas, this is the  main problem for non-STEM areas (like mine). In STEM, it is pretty straigthforward, explaining exonomic impact, sustainability, increasing productivity, supporting health services and saving billions of dollars, etc. However, for us, it is less concrete. 

I'm not convinced you have a case for NIW, unfortunately. Especially if you don't know yourself what the endavor is.

Depending on your country of birth, DV lottery may be an option to try.

Edited Sunday at 04:47 PM by OldUser

[appleblossom 4,899]

1 hour ago, Drtech said:

Thanks for your response. I believe yours was approved. Congratulations! Regarding mine, I will self petition (with no lawyer) and also have an expert opinion letter from the US. Personal statement is not a compulsory factor to include but I want to support my endeavor's substantial merit and national importance. First of all, I want to find an effective endavor. Compared to STEM areas, this is the  main problem for non-STEM areas (like mine). In STEM, it is pretty straigthforward, explaining exonomic impact, sustainability, increasing productivity, supporting health services and saving billions of dollars, etc. However, for us, it is less concrete. 

Mine was non STEM too, there’s absolutely no way I would have attempted it without a good lawyer. Your application will be hundreds of pages and you’ll need very strong evidence that your experience and area of expertise are going to be of national interest. A lawyer will know best how to put the best case together. It’s just not something to DIY IMO. The whole move will cost you tens of thousands of dollars, so lawyer fees are a worthwhile investment. 
 

Best of luck.