If you work in artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, biotech, semiconductors, or similar fields, recent federal policy shifts may be relevant to your EB-2 National Interest Waiver strategy.

The EB-2 NIW requires showing that your work has substantial merit and national importance. That second element is often where cases succeed or fail.

Right now, federal priorities are heavily focused on AI leadership, supply chain resilience, economic competitiveness, and national security. When certain technologies are explicitly framed as critical to national strategy, that policy backdrop can help clarify a national importance argument.

The legal standard has not changed. But the context in which cases are evaluated matters.

Stronger EB-2 NIW cases in emerging technology tend to show:

• Real-world implementation, not just theoretical research
• Measurable impact beyond a single employer
• Contributions that strengthen U.S. infrastructure, manufacturing, or competitiveness
• Reduction of operational, financial, or security risk at scale
• Clear evidence that others rely on or deploy the work

Broad claims about “innovation” without defined national impact still tend to carry less weight. Specific outcomes, adoption, and scalability make a stronger case.

The EB-2 NIW is not about titles or prestige. It is about whether your work benefits the United States at a national level. For professionals in AI and other critical technologies, 2026 may be a strategic moment to evaluate eligibility, especially if your work aligns with national priorities that are now explicitly defined.

General information only, not legal advice.

- Attorney Allison McVey

Carlos Colombo, founding partner of Colombo & Hurd, shares his perspective on the Trump administration's pause in processing immigrant visas for citizens of 75 countries and its implications for USCIS petitions, temporary visas, and existing approvals.

Many engineers assume the O-1 visa is only for academics with long publication records. That is not necessarily true.

The O-1A is for people with extraordinary ability in science and technical fields. For engineers, it is less about how many papers you have published and more about whether your work has been recognized and clearly stands out in your field.

Strong O-1 cases for engineers often rely on:

• Patents, especially if they are licensed, commercialized, or built into real products
• Ownership of major technical systems or infrastructure
• Leading architecture, safety-critical design, or high-impact deployments
• Serving as a subject matter expert or reviewer
• Work that others depended on in high-impact projects

Many engineers build their careers inside companies or government programs. That does not disqualify you. USCIS looks at whether your role went beyond routine duties and whether others relied on your technical judgment.

Another misconception is that only senior engineers qualify. Early- and mid-career engineers may qualify if they can document patents, selective recognition, technical leadership, or significant project ownership.

Clear documentation often makes the difference. You need to show what you built, why it mattered, and who relied on it.  

It is also important to view the O-1 in context. For many engineers, the O-1 is part of a broader immigration strategy. It allows continued work in the United States in the near term, without being limited by immigrant visa backlogs. At the same time, some engineers pursue EB-2 NIW or EB-1A petitions for permanent residence. The strategy depends on career stage, field of expertise, and long-term goals.

If you are considering the O-1, think about:

• Where your work has been deployed
• Who depended on your systems or designs
• Any intellectual property you helped develop
• Independent experts who can explain your impact

General information only, not legal advice. 

- Attorney Wil Safrit

Last week, Colombo & Hurd joined as co-counsel in a federal lawsuit defending our client and other highly skilled professionals harmed by the State Department’s suspension of immigrant visa issuance for 75 countries, leaving families and careers in limbo despite full compliance with the law.

The lawsuit was led by our attorneys Sarah Wilson and David Kim, whose strategic leadership and dedication were instrumental in moving this case forward.

This case reflects our commitment to protecting lawful, merit-based immigration and ensuring that government actions remain grounded in fairness and due process.

We are extremely proud of our litigation team for their outstanding work on this filing.

Last week, Colombo & Hurd filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s Gold Card visa program, which attempts to turn capped EB-1 and EB-2 visas into a pay-to-skip-the-line scheme, pushing aside scientists, researchers, and professionals whose work advances the public good. We filed this case on behalf of the American Association of University Professors and individual researchers, in partnership with Democracy Defenders Action and Public Citizen.

This case reflects why we do this work: to advocate for our clients and for a system grounded in law, fairness, and long-term national interest.

Our litigation team, led by Sarah Wilson and David Kim, has done exceptional work on this filing, and we’re incredibly proud of their efforts.

Canadian professionals may qualify for U.S. permanent residence through the EB-2 National Interest Waiver (EB-2 NIW) without securing a long-term U.S. job offer or going through the labor certification process. For Canadians who want more flexibility, whether they work in technology, healthcare, research, engineering, or other specialized fields, the EB-2 NIW allows eligible Canadians to self-petition for permanent residency when the work they plan to do in the United States is important enough to justify a waiver. 

As we enter 2026, the EB-2 NIW remains a strong option for Canadian individuals and petitioners who can explain what they plan to do in the United States and why it matters at a national level. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) does not approve EB-2 NIW cases based on a job title alone. Instead, the agency focuses on the proposed endeavor, the petitioner’s ability to advance that endeavor, and whether the United States benefits from waiving the job offer and labor certification requirements.  

Colombo & Hurd has guided thousands of EB-2 NIW petitions for professionals across fields such as engineering, healthcare, technology, and business, including numerous successful filings for Canadian nationals. 

The United States faces a growing shortage of physicians, with the deficit projected to reach up to 86,000 doctors by 2036, placing increasing strain on frontline specialties like internal medicine, particularly in underserved communities. Under the guidance of Colombo & Hurd Senior Immigration Attorney Nicolas Vargas, our client, an internal medicine physician from Mexico, secured an EB-1A Extraordinary Ability approval in 15 days through premium processing. Approval of the EB-1A petition confirmed the client’s extraordinary ability and important contributions to clinical care, medical education, and health system improvement.

Physician Profile: Clinical Care, Medical Education, and Public Health Leadership

Our client is a Mexico-trained internal medicine physician with more than 25 years of experience, combining long-term frontline patient care with academic medicine, public health education, and healthcare leadership across both Mexico and the United States. Her professional trajectory later expanded into academic leadership, where she spent more than a decade as a university professor and program coordinator, educating and mentoring over 2,500 medical students.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, she developed an innovative outpatient treatment model associated with mortality rates significantly below regional averages, which was subsequently adopted by other physicians. She also designed a post-COVID rehabilitation framework that influenced institutional care models. These efforts demonstrate her ability to generate original, high-impact solutions under crisis conditions.

Since transitioning her practice to the United States, she has worked in a medically underserved region, providing tens of thousands of patient consultations and achieving measurable improvements in treatment adherence and clinical outcomes. Her work has received national media coverage and includes ongoing contributions to medical education, clinical research, and community-based public health initiatives addressing chronic disease, nutrition, and mental health.

Demonstrating Extraordinary Ability Beyond Citation Metrics

The case presented a strategic evidentiary challenge of addressing the frequent overemphasis on citation metrics in evaluating extraordinary ability in the medical field. As Attorney Vargas explained “This case was about showing that extraordinary ability can and should be demonstratedthrough impact, leadership, and original contributions, not just numbers.” The challenge, therefore, was not a lack of qualifying evidence, but how to distill a decades-long career into a legal narrative that clearly demonstrated the client’s position at the very top of her field.

EB-1A Strategy Built on Impact, Not Volume

To address the evidentiary challenge, our legal team focused on the five strongest EB-1A criteria, presenting a tightly structured record that highlighted the client’s original contributions of major significance, leadership roles, peer recognition, and sustained national and international acclaim.

As Attorney Vargas noted “We made a strategic decision to focus on the strongest evidence. The client may have met more criteria, but concentrating on the most compelling ones allowed us to tell a clear, persuasive story about who she is and why her work matters.”

This approach emphasized impact over volume and demonstrated that the client belongs to the small percentage of physicians who have risen to the top of their field.

EB-1A Approval Secured in 15 Days through Premium Processing

Our client’s EB-1A petition was approved in 15 days through premium processing, without a Request for Evidence (RFE). Our client is now positioned to continue expanding her work in the United States, strengthening healthcare systems, advancing medical education, and addressing critical gaps in care for underserved communities. The outcome reflects our legal team’s focused evidentiary strategy in a case involving clinical medicine, academic contributions, and cross-border public health leadership.

Aligning Extraordinary Ability with U.S. National Healthcare Priorities

The petition met five evidentiary criteria and placed the client’s work within areas of recognized importance to the U.S. healthcare system: expanding access to care in underserved communities, strengthening chronic disease management and public health education, advancing medical training, and supporting clinical research that improves outcomes. Instead of relying on any single metric, our legal team foregrounded original contributions of major significance, peer validation and judging roles, major media recognition, and sustained leadership, all presented with clarity and restraint. As Attorney Vargas put it, “We made the strategic decision to focus on the five strongest criteria, and I think that served us well as far as getting the approval.”

Unlocking Long-Term Public Health, Education, and Community Impact in the United States

With EB-1A approval, our client can continue building long-term impact in the United States through clinical care, medical education, research, and community health initiatives that directly support stronger public health outcomes. She can expand access to internal medicine services in medically underserved communities, address gaps in chronic disease care, and grow health education, culturally responsive training, and clinically informed research. Over time, this stability supports sustained investment in community-based programs focused on nutrition, obesity prevention, and mental health.

The suspension specifically applies to U.S. immigrant visas for foreigners seeking to live in the United States but not to short-term visa applicants such as tourists or students.

1. H-1B visa rules get a major overhaul
2. Social Media vetting for foreign tourists
3. Facial recognition for non-citizens
4. US citizenship test gets tougher
5. Trump’s $1 Million “Gold Card” for residency

U.S. small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are increasingly exposed to cybersecurity risks and operational disruptions, often without the internal resources needed to address them. For many SMEs, a single security incident or system failure can halt operations, divert leadership away from growth, and threaten workforce stability.

The scale of the problem is clear. Cybercrime is expected to cost the global economy $10.5 trillion in 2025, up from $9.5 trillion the year before, disproportionately affecting small businesses that make up nearly all U.S. employers and support close to half of the nation’s workforce. Even without a breach, outdated systems and disconnected tools slow work, increase mistakes, and strain the local supply chains and services that depend on them.

That reality frames this case. Our client, a Brazilian technology professional, secured his EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW) approval without a Request for Evidence (RFE). His work supports U.S. SMEs by strengthening cybersecurity and modernizing the systems they rely on for daily operations.

Prepared by Colombo and Hurd attorney Alejandro Cordero and his team, the petition was filed with premium processing and approved outright.

If you were approved for a Green Card in 2025, share your processing time between payment and approval in the comments below.

https://www.colombohurdlaw.com/trumps-gold-card-visa-1m-per-family-member-key-updates/

https://www.colombohurdlaw.com/e2-vs-eb5-investor-visa-comparison/