What is National Interest Waiver (NIW)?

A majority of employment based immigrations are employer sponsored, which require, among other things, a permanent job offer from U.S. employer. One exception to this general rule is National Interest Waiver. To put it in a simple way, National Interest Waiver allows an alien to apply for green card without permanent job offer from U.S. employer by establishing that granting him/her permanent residence is in the U.S. national interest.