Life

US Immigration Journal - H1B to EB2 NIW

This post records my EB2 NIW journey, as I mailed out my petition package on April 7, 2026. If you understand what the title says, I feel sorry for us.

My H1B stamping interview

Following my last US Immigration Journal article, I scheduled an in-person H1B interview in Shanghai. The summer of 2024 in Shanghai was brutal, with temperatures averaging around 38°C. Two good things happened then: 1) the interview went smoothly and my visa was approved, and 2) the Ritz-Carlton next to the Shanghai U.S. Consulate was only $250 per night.

At the Shanghai consulate, H1B applicants have their own window. While the B1/B2 lines were long, the H1B line was short. When I arrived, only three people were ahead of me. Interview times varied; some took 10–20 minutes. When it was my turn, the officer asked who I worked for, what I did, and whether I was faculty. It was fast and surreal. Definitely one of the best moments of my life.

I had scheduled four weeks of PTO in case of administrative processing, but it never happened. Instead, I got three weeks to spend with my family in my hometown and with my partner in Shanghai.

My ongoing EB2 sponsorship is gone

Interestingly, after my non-cap H1B was approved and my visa was stamped, namely I was officially locked into non-profit jobs, the College of Engineering at UM decided to turn down my EB2 sponsorship.

My department was very supportive. When I asked about EB2 sponsorship, HR recalled that she had done this before. Things were moving with SOP, a lawyer was hired, and meetings were set up.

Then on July 29, 2025, I was told the College of Engineering would not support my case. The reason was that my situation was not “sufficiently unique or exceptional” under their guidelines. After some follow-ups, I was told it wasn’t about title or seniority. Engineering staff simply weren’t considered “sufficiently unique or exceptional.”

The irony is top-notch. I graduated from this college. The skills I use were trained here. I work for this college. Yet the work I do isn’t considered “sufficiently unique or exceptional.” My work directly supports the robotics education the college provides. Maybe helping students just isn’t “unique or exceptional.”

It is what it is. I decided to pursue NIW myself.

So what is EB2?

EB2 stands for Employment-Based Immigration: Second Preference EB-2. You may be eligible if you are a member of the professions holding an advanced degree or its equivalent, or a person who has exceptional ability.

Long story short, if you have a master’s degree or above and a job, this is one way to get a green card, your employer can apply for you. The steps:

  1. Labor Certification (PERM) - the PERM filing alone is taking around 16+ months as of 2026, and the full PWD + recruitment + PERM process can take longer.
    1. First you need to get a Prevailing Wage Determination (PWD) from the Department of Labor (DOL).
    2. Then your employer need to do Recruitment (Job Posting): prove no minimally qualified U.S. workers are available.
    3. Then your employer can file the PERM, Priority Date (PD) is established.
  2. Immigrant Petition (I-140) - once PERM is approved, file I-140 to USCIS.
    • If your I-140 get approved, your priority date (PD) is secured.
    • If you change jobs, your new employer must redo PERM (~14 months again). Your PD stays with you, but you need a valid immigration application to use it, a new PERM, or NIW, or EB1 case.
    • 180 days after I-140 approval, you can extend H1B beyond six years and apply for H-4 EAD for your spouse.
  3. Adjustment of Status (I-485)
    • After I-140 approval, you wait until your PD becomes current. This timeline is unpredictable. If USCIS is processing 2025 and your PD is 2026, that does not mean you’ll get a green card in a year. No one knows the wait time.
    • Once current, you file I-485 and wait again. Every step has an unknown timeline.

Now, let’s talk about how nonsense and broken this system is. The three steps in a nutshell:

  1. PERM: “We have a position. We need to hire someone. We think this position should be allowed to hire a foreign worker, so we ask DOL to certify it.” Technically, PERM is about the position, not about you personally. In real life, yes, the job description is often written around you. But on paper, PERM is the employer asking whether this position can be filled by a foreign worker.
  2. I-140: “This PERM position did not find a qualified U.S. worker. We found a foreign worker we want to hire. USCIS, can you confirm this person qualifies for the position?” This is the part where the foreign worker finally enters the picture.
  3. I-485: “USCIS says this foreign worker qualifies for the job. Now we are asking to adjust this person’s status in the U.S. so they can get a green card and start working in that permanent role.” If the person is outside the U.S., they go through immigrant visa processing instead, usually through NVC and then a U.S. consulate.

The funny part is that I-485 is still tied to a future job. When you file I-485, your current day-to-day job may have nothing to do with the PERM job connected to that I-140. On paper, the green card is for a future permanent position. In reality, no employer wants to spend years on this unless you already work for them or they really want to keep you. The system is backwards. People don’t get green cards to work; they work to get green cards.

It gets worse. In PERM, the job requirements usually cannot include skills you developed in your current job with the same employer, unless the new sponsored position is meaningfully different or the employer can justify why training someone is no longer feasible. So if your employer won’t promote you or create a clearly different role, the PERM job posting may have to reflect who you were when hired. After three years, your job description can still look like a new grad posting. It’s absurd.

Self-petition EB2 NIW

NIW stands for national interset waiver. It falls under EB2 but waives the PERM requirement and does not rely on an employer.

So regular EB2 was no longer an option. I reconnected with a middle school friend who is now a successful immigration lawyer in California. After talking with her on August 11, 2025, I started my NIW petition.

My department remained very supportive throughout, helping with verification and recommendation letters. My boss and colleagues were great. I have nothing but good things to say about my department. After five rounds of rewriting my petition letter, I submitted my application online on March 25, 2026.

It got rejected the next day.

Rejection is different from denial. Denial means they reviewed your case and said no; rejection means they never reviewed it because something was wrong with the submission. I confirmed with Chase that the payment went through and resubmitted three times, but each one was rejected the next day. USCIS would not show the reason online, and two weeks later the mailed notice said: invalid payment. After digging around, we figured out it was likely an online portal issue, so I switched to mailing the application, because apparently I love printing 200+ pages just so they can scan them and turn them back into an electronic version again.

And how much it costs me?

Name Filing Fee
I-140 $715
Asylum Program Fee $300
I-907 - Premium Processing $2,965

I am not applying for asylum, but USCIS still charges an Asylum Program Fee for I-140 petitions. Basically, DHS created this fee to help fund asylum processing, and employment-based applicants like me get to help pay for it.

As for premium processing, the idea is simple: if everyone else pays for PP and you don’t, then you are the one getting sucked into the black hole.

Now I wait. Life sucks but we roll with it.