General Field: Geotechnical Engineering

Position at the Time of Case Filing: Geotechnical Project Engineer

Country of Origin: Iran

Service Center: Nebraska Service Center (NSC)

State of Residence at the Time of Filing:  Washington

Approval Notice Date: November 18, 2013

Processing Time:  1 month, 22 days

Case Summary:

The remarkable client that Chen Immigration Law Associates had the pleasure of working with in this case was a Geotechnical Project Engineer from Iran working in the field of geotechnical engineering.  He had conducted research and professional service in a broad spectrum of specialized fields in geotechnical and civil engineering. His work had focused specifically on seismic stability and design procedures for reinforced soil walls and slopes, the response of innovative foundation systems for offshore platform in the energy industry, and offshore geohazards, as well as geotechnical analysis and design of transportation infrastructures and geostructures.  We demonstrated that his continued employment in the field would not only benefit those in his field, but the citizens of the United States at large. To achieve success in this case, we submitted extensive documentation proving our client’s highly significant contributions to the field of geotechnical engineering, including at least 3 peer-reviewed journal articles and numerous conference papers. His publications had been cited at least 106 times at the time of case filing, demonstrating that these publications are widely recognized and relied upon in the field of geotechnical engineering.  Regarding the significance of his accomplishments, one of his independent recommenders commented, “[His] work on understanding the triggering mechanisms of submarine landslides is crucial for the safety of people and industries around the world, so much so that his research was funded by an NSF Career grant.”  Through extensive documentation, we were able to successfully argue that our client would serve the national interest to a significantly greater degree than others with similar education and experience. His NIW application was approved in less than 2 months, which is much more quickly than the average processing time of 4-6 months for I-140s.

With this in consideration, it is important to emphasize that the processes and expertise practiced by Chen Immigration Law Associates. Not only do we develop the best possible strategies for each case, but we execute these strategies with the utmost effectiveness!

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The answer to where your I-140 will be filed depends upon whether you will be filing hard copies of the I-140 or whether you will be submitting it via e-filing and whether or not you will be requesting premium processing. If you are filing hard copies of the I-140, you are directed by USCIS to send it to TSC. But, we have found that cases under the jurisdiction of NSC paper-filed with TSC will then be re-routed to NSC. If you file the I-140 with an I-907, Request for Premium Processing, the service center for filing depends upon the state in which the beneficiary will work and the jurisdiction of the service centers. If the beneficiary will work in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, or Wyoming, the I-140 should be filed with the Nebraska Service Center (NSC). If the beneficiary will work in Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, or West Virginia, the I-140 should be filed with the Texas Service Center (TSC). If you e-file the I-140, the USCIS will automatically route it for processing to either the NSC or TSC, depending upon the jurisdiction of the service centers, as described above. So, it does not appear to be possible to avoid the NSC by paper-filing the I-140.

On April 3, 2013, the USCIS posted an update with processing time information for the NSC and TSC. As of February 28, 2013, with regard to I-140s, the NSC processing times depended upon the category the I-140, whereas the processing timeframes for TSC were listed as October 4, 2012, or five months, for all categories. The NSC processing timeframe varied by category from four months to six and one half months. For example, the NSC was processing I-140 petitions filed under the category of EB-2 NIW that had been filed on August 16, 2012, whereas the TSC’s processing timeframe for these petitions was October 4, 2012. However, the processing time for I-140 petitions filed under the category of EB-1A was nearly identical- the processing time for NSC was October 2, 2012 and October 4, 2012 for TSC. The NSC actually had a one month shorter processing timeframe than TSC for petitions filed under the EB-1 category of Outstanding Professor or Researcher. The NSC’s processing timeframe was also one month shorter for petitions filed under the EB-1 category of Multinational executive or manager.
In summary, if you will be working in a state that falls under the jurisdiction of the NSC, you may not be able to avoid having your case processed there. But, depending upon the category you file under, your petition may actually be processed faster by NSC, than if it had been filed with TSC.