The EB-2 NIW processing time can be from 6 months to a few years. The I-140 portion of the process can take between 3 months to 2 years, depending on the moment of submission. This can be reduced to 45 days using Premium Processing, which is available for I-140 in the EB2 NIW category since January 30, 2023. The I-485 adjustment of status portion of the process is highly variable. It depends on the date and especially, on the country of origin of the petitioner.  

These time estimates do not include preparation of the application package, which will add a couple more months.

In this article, we break down the timeline to a successful EB2 National Interest Waiver submission. In sum, you will learn all about the NIW processing time. 

Preparation time for EB-2 NIW submission

The timelines above do not include the necessary time to prepare the submission. However, if you are preparing the application package yourself, you will need to account for multiple hours of dedication in the key areas I describe below.

If you hire attorneys do realize that you are not fully in control of the timeline. In addition, their turnaround time may depend on how busy that particular firm is at that time. For example, they tend to get busier during H1B lottery season and some of them may slow down work on other visa types. 

My personal experience was that the attorneys were slower than myself when it came to preparing a Green Card application. I worked on EB1 with lawyers and EB2 NIW by myself, and I ended up submitting earlier than the lawyers.

Understand the EB2 National Interest Waiver process

This website and other resources can help you cut down on the time you need to fully understand the USCIS criteria. Depending on the individual, this may be a few days to a few weeks of research

Complete your profile and make your case stronger

Sometimes you may want to strengthen your profile before submitting your application, so you can increase your chances. For example, I decided to delay my own application until I completed a few extra reviews in scientific journals. I knew those would help make my case stronger. 

This step greatly depends on the applicant and their specific situation. Consequently, this time may vary from zero (no extra time required) to a few weeks.

Strategize on what your case will look like

Before you start writing, you will need to lay out the strategy for your case. This depends on your profile and background. 

I started by re-drafting my Curriculum Vitae to populate every little detail of my experiences over my complete career. 

Then, I selected which experiences and skills needed to be highlighted in my I-140 petition. That way I could understand what evidence I needed to gather to support my case. With this, I also knew who I wanted to contact to get reference letters and what the recommenders would touch on. This strategy portion may take 1 to 2 weeks depending on the person.

Contact potential recommenders 

Do keep in mind that these people (typically senior professionals) are quite busy and they may take a while or multiple reminders to get back to you. I would budget 1 to 3 weeks to get confirmation that they agree to serve as your recommender. If you want to read more about reference letters, check out this guide we put together.

Draft recommendation letters for your case and get them signed

Let’s be honest: most of the time the recommenders will not draft the letters themselves. You may write drafts for them and, of course, they can make the edits they consider fit. Although some may volunteer to write the letters from scratch, this is not very common. Allow 2-4 weeks to draft the letters and to obtain the signature of all of them.

Draft petition cover letter and gather all the necessary evidence to attach to your petition 

The cover letter is the central piece of the I-140 submission and what articulates the case and brings all the evidence together. This includes letters of recommendation, citation performance (for researchers), evidence of national importance, future plans… Allow 2 to 6 weeks of work to get this done.

Review your final petition draft, make corrections, and prepare for mail

It is very important that you proofread every step of the way. Additionally, you will need a final review to ensure you clean the final document of typos or mistakes. Share it with people in your circle or anyone that has gone through this process for an extra set of eyes. Finally, prepare the dossier for submission, by printing and organizing it appropriately. This should take 2 to 7 days.

Conclusions to Preparation time

As you can see, the preparation of I-140 petitions can take quite a bit of effort and time. In my opinion, it will take anywhere between 1 and a half months to 5 or 6 months to get everything ready for submission. 

In conclusion, the preparation time is variable depending on the number of hours you have available. Moreover, there are external factors, such as the responsiveness of potential recommenders. Remember that working with attorneys may not necessarily shrink your timeline – in fact, it could be the opposite!