刘宗坤律师专栏
从近期批准案例看NIW与EB-1A申请的选择与取舍
在EB-2和EB-3漫长排期的影响下，近期申请EB-1A的人数大幅增长。虽然移民局2008年财政年度的各类移民申请数据尚未公布，但从本所收到的EB-1A咨询和递交的EB-1A案件数量看，这类申请比以往有较大增长。
从申请人的情况看，EB-1A申请主要有两种：一种是单独提出EB-1A申请。第二种是在递交NIW（国家利益豁免）的同时，提出EB-1A申请。从本所处理的案件来看，第一种情况比较少，第二种情况比较多。主要原因在于，EB-1A对申请人的学术成就要求比较高，要至少符合十项条件中的三项才能申请。要求越高，申请成功的机率就相应越低。所以，为了降低风险，许多EB-1A申请人会同时申请NIW，作为后备。因为NIW对申请人学术贡献的要求比EB-1A要低许多，所以即使EB-1A不幸被拒，NIW仍然有很大机会批准。当然，如果EB-1A被批准，则不需要等待排期，可望很快拿到绿卡。
既然同时申请EB-1A和NIW具有这样大的优势，想通过这种途径申请绿卡的人自然就多。不过，从我们处理这类申请的经验来看，即便这样做存在巨大优势，这种做法并不适合每个申请人。申请人必须根据自己的具体情况来安排申请策略，而不能削足适履。
在本文中，我们选取本所近期批准的五件有代表性的EB-1A和NIW案例来分析，在何种情况下，申请人应当同时递交EB-1A和NIW。我们之所以选择这几个案例，是因为这几位申请人的学术条件比较有代表性，既不是特殊强，也不是特别弱。他们符合了NIW和EB-1A的基本条件。在这种情况下，在NIW与EB-1A之间，如何选择与取舍就变得尤其重要。符合了EB-1A的基本条件只是决定是否应该申请EB-1A的一个因素。更重要的是，达到基本条件后，还要看申请人是不是能提出强有力的证据，支持已经符合的每一项条件。证据的强弱，这是决定申请EB-1A成败的关键问题。
在以下案例中，每个申请人都达到了申请EB-1A的基本要求，即满足了至少三项条件。不过，在这三项条件中，申请人能够提出的证据强弱程度不同。比如说，有几位申请人的文章数量和被引用的次数，作为证据足以充分支持“创造性贡献”和“发表文章”两个条件。而第三条，作为审稿人审阅同仁的文章，因次数不多，就不算特别强。当然，对于客观或直接证据不是特别充分的地方，申请人就需要提供专家意见或间接证据，来尽量强化所达到的条件。即便如此，在以下案例中，EB-1A申请并没有绝对把握可以得到批准。从另一方面看，申请人现有的条件完全可以支持很强的NIW申请。在申请人有条件申请EB-1A，但是能够提出的证据强弱参差不齐的情况下，同时提出EB-1A和NIW申请最为稳妥，又最符合申请人尽快拿到绿卡的利益。
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Case #1
Case Type: Eb-1A/Eb-2NIW
Field of Research: Mechanical Engineering
Major Credentials: Ph.D. from a US University
Published 40 journal papers and conference proceedings
Cited approximately 140 times by other researchers
Frequently invited to review papers for journals
Supporting Letters: 5 including 3 independent experts
Filing Date: April 24, 2008
Approval Date: Eb-1A was approved on December 2, 2008
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Case #2
Case Type: Eb-1A/Eb-2NIW
Field of Research: Wireless Network
Major Credentials: Ph.D. from a US university
Published 32 Chinese and English journal papers
One first authored paper was cited over 100 times
Frequently invited to review papers for journals
Supporting Letters: 6 including 3 independent experts
Filing Date: July 24, 2007
Approval Date: Eb-1A was approved on December 1, 2008
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Case #3
Case Type: Eb-1A/Eb-2NIW
Field of Research: Genetics
Major Credentials: Ph.D. from a US University
Published 10 journal papers
Cited approximately 200 times by other researchers
Invited to review papers for journals a few times
Supporting Letters: 5 including 3 independent experts
Filing Date: December 7, 2007
Approval Date: Eb-1A was approved on November 10, 2008
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Case #4:
Case Type: Eb-1A/Eb-2NIW
Field of Research: Physical Chemistry
Major Credentials: Ph.D. from a foreign university
Published 30 journal papers
Cited approximately 300 times by other researchers
Invited to review the work of others for 9 journals
Supporting Letters: 6 including 4 independent experts
Filing Date: November 9, 2007
Approval Date: Eb-1A was Approved on October 30, 2008
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Case #5
Case Type: Eb-1A/Eb-2NIW
Field of Research: Physical Chemistry
Major Credentials: Ph.D. from a foreign university
Published 26 journal papers
Cited approximately 80 times by other researchers
Invited to review papers a few times
Some brief reports
Supporting Letters: 6 including 3 independent experts
Filing Date: April 17, 2008
Approval Date: Eb-1A was Approved on October 8, 2008
