r/EB2_NIW

My I-140 application was recently approved after an RFE. I am now preparing for my I-485 application. I am thinking of applying by myself without any lawyers. I am looking for reliable templates, DIY packages, or even somebody's accepted application package (without any personal information, of course) available for download so that I know what a successful petition looks like. Anything (recent enough) would help. I really don't want to hire a lawyer since it seems like you have to do almost 90% of the work anyway.

Here are some details of my case:

1. Current visa status: F1 OPT
2. Dependents: Wife (F2), no kids
3. Work status: I am not currently working in my field of proposed endeavor (involved in a relative field) because for the life of me, I am not getting any job offers. I have probably sent out 1000s of job applications. My plan is to explain in my personal statement that my current job is a means to sustain myself while I look for a better job that matches my PE, which is the truth.

Thanks!

My I-140 petition was denied after the RFE response, and I’m looking for suggestions. The officer number was XM0852.

Background:
M.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
Publications: 8 journal papers, 8 conference papers, 4 abstracts, and 3 preprints.
Citations: 322 at initial filing, 825 at RFE response, including 771 independent citations; OpenAlex showed citation impact around the top 2% and research productivity around the top 3% in the field.
PE: using machine learning for biomedical data to improve early diagnosis and treatment.

Timeline:
Initial Filing (PD): August 2025
Service Center: TSC
PP upgrade: April 2026
RFE received: June 2026
RFE response submitted: 9/8/2026, which is the deadline
Denial: 9/28/2026
Lawyer: Ellis Porter

The RFE said USCIS was not convinced that my specific endeavor had broader national impact. They also questioned whether I had a concrete plan to continue the work in the U.S. and whether I had shown enough outside interest or support to establish that I was particularly well positioned to advance the endeavor.

For the RFE response, we added 3 support letters, an updated personal statement with more detailed future research plans, independent citation evidence, additional examples showing how other researchers used my work, and updated citation data.

The denial accepted Prong 1, including national importance, but still denied Prong 2 and Prong 3.

For Prong 2, USCIS said there still wasn’t enough concrete evidence of U.S. interest or support, such as a statement of interest from a U.S. institution, potential funding, or similar commitments. They also felt my future employment plan was still too general.

For Prong 3, USCIS said I had not sufficiently shown why the job offer/labor certification requirement should be waived, despite acknowledging that I was highly capable in my field.

Overall, I was pretty underwhelmed by how Ellis Porter handled things. The initial petition felt pretty template heavy, and they sat on the RFE response until right before the deadline, leaving very little time for review. Just something to keep in mind if you're considering them.

After waiting more than a year, the denial was really frustrating. I’m hesitant to spend even more time on an appeal, so I’m leaning toward taking the refund, switching firms, and refiling. Any advice would be appreciated.

Hi everyone,

For those with recent EB-2 NIW cases under Regular Processing, how long is USCIS taking these days to make a decision?
My case details:
Receipt number starts with: IOE093719
Receipt date: June 10, 2026
EB-2 NIW (I-140)
Regular Processing
Has anyone with a similar IOE receipt number or a filing date around May–June 2026 received an approval, RFE, or any update yet?
I’d especially appreciate hearing from people with cases close to my receipt block.
Thanks!

I want to discuss my scenario because it is really confusing to me.

So until September 2026 I was current being from ROW and from 10/1 my filing dates got retrogressed.

My attorney filed my PNIW early in September and I got the receipt number. Later in mid September we filed AOS to get EAD n AP.

However my I-485 got rejected because of incompletely filled by attorney (apparently they forgot to check on one question to which they already answered in box)

Attorney resent the paper file package but it got rejected too and we got to know by 9/29/26. This time it got rejected because medical exam was not included (keep in mind medical exam is not needed because I filed eb2 pniw which requires 5 years of service and there is a separate USCIS page that clearly tells that medical is needed towards end of 5 years of service). So basically it got wrongly rejected by USCIS.

On 9/29 my attorney decided to file i-485 online and she was able to pay the fee but next day on 9/30 it got rejected again (and we are assuming same reason that no medical exam was included)

On 9/30/26 around 9 pm EST my attorney filed i485 online again and this time she included uscis policy that tells that no medical is required for me at this time and payment went through.

The problem is on my USCIS account I-485 pdf file date is showing as 10/1/26 instead of 9/30/26 because my attorney filed it around 9 pm EST which is 1 am UDT time for filing.

Can anyone guide me how to deal with this scenario? In my situation, USCIS has erroneously rejected proper application package twice and third time although it is in process and not accepted yet but since it is showing 10/1 as filing date, i am not hopeful now

Can anyone guide me what to do?

This all started from initial attorney mistake

How long after your biometrics appointment did your i-485 get approved? And how long after that did you get your greencard?
(EB-2 NIW)

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Hi all, hoping someone can help.

Our situation:

My husband is the principal on an EB-2 NIW (Rest of World). His I-140 was approved, priority date is June 2026.

He filed his I-485 online on September 30, 2026, the last day of FY2026, when EB-2 ROW was still Current. (He has the submission confirmation dated September 30.)

I'm his derivative spouse. I'm in the US on F-1. I did NOT file my I-485 with him, I was planning to file later.

The October bulletin retrogressed and EB-2 ROW is March 15, 2026 on that chart, which is earlier than our priority date.

My question is, since he already filed while we were current, can I file my I-485 now as his derivative, or do I have to wait until our priority date becomes current again?

Thanks in advance!