I-140 approved
I wanted to share my EB-2 NIW timeline in case if it helps anyone.
My background:
- PhD Student in Civil Engineering at State School
- U.S Masters Degree in Civil Engineering (Water Resources Engineering)
- 9 publications and 77 citations at the time of filing.
- Texas Service Center
- Attorney: Chen Immigration Law Associates
- Proposed PE included: Wildfire-Watershed, Flood, Groundwater, Compound Hazard
Timeline:
- USCIS received petition: April 21, 2026
- Upgraded to PP: May 8, 2026
- i 140 approved: June 30, 2026
Experience with Chen:
Overall very positive experience. They drafted most of the things themselves. We had some back and forth at the PE initially about the impact of my work (They are related to hydrology, wildfire-watershed, groundwater, and compound hazards). I am kind of open source researcher and I wanted to put that into PE and Chen did excellent job on going through github repos and putting the necessary stuffs in the PE. Apart from that, they prepared the PE as per the information I provided. Some people have said the petition was too generic but I didn't find that in my case. I say they understood my background, publications and goals pretty much well. They respected the initial timeline they offered meaning the response was great and the preparation time was as per they said initially. It was a good experience working with known legal team after all.
Also, I would like to thank this reddit community as well. Reading other timelines and experiences helped me a lot through out the process. Hope this also helps someone else who is waiting for their case.
Suggestions to all:
- I think real impact should reflect on the PE on the most common words with some technical hint (Chen did a very good job on that I would say)
- Be patient during preparation. Don't try to be fast during the preparation. Take your time. It is a lot of money that you are putting into.
- Update CV, citations regularly as it matters.