A National Interest Waiver lets you self-petition for an EB-2 green card without an employer and without PERM labor certification. You must first qualify for EB-2 through an advanced degree or exceptional ability. Matter of Dhanasar then sets three prongs: the proposed endeavor has substantial merit and national importance, you are well positioned to advance it, and waiving the job offer benefits the United States on balance.
The National Interest Waiver (NIW) is a pathway within the EB-2 immigrant visa category that lets foreign nationals self-petition for a green card without an employer-filed PERM labor certification. Either an employer or the beneficiary can file Form I-140; PERM is waived if the proposed endeavor serves the U.S. national interest under the controlling framework.
Matter of Dhanasar (AAO 2016) sets the three-prong test: (1) the proposed endeavor has substantial merit and national importance; (2) the petitioner is well-positioned to advance it; and (3) on balance, it would benefit the U.S. to waive the job-offer and labor-certification requirements. USCIS issued additional policy guidance in January 2022 elaborating on STEM endeavors and again in January 2025 with refined direction on entrepreneurs and on advanced-degree STEM petitioners working in areas of national priority (including AI and critical and emerging technologies). The 2025 update is the most consequential NIW policy shift in years.
At Locke Immigration Law, every NIW case is built around a specific proposed endeavor and an evidentiary record that maps directly onto the three Dhanasar prongs. We treat the second and third prongs—where most NIW petitions are weakest—as drafting priorities, not afterthoughts. Recommendation letters are sourced from independent experts because adjudicators discount letters from collaborators and personal contacts. We do not file template petitions, and where the Dhanasar fit is borderline, we evaluate EB-1A and EB-2 with PERM as alternatives before recommending NIW.
The NIW waives the PERM labor-certification requirement and allows self-petitioning—the rare green-card path that needs neither an employer sponsor nor a job offer. The merit bar is real; the gating constraint is Dhanasar fit, not raw credentials.
Researching whether the NIW fits your situation? Our complete EB-2 NIW guide covers the three-prong test, evidence, processing times, USCIS approval data, and profession-specific analysis. Read the EB-2 NIW guide →
Final Action Dates — the queue an NIW (EB-2) petition joins
Locke Immigration Law estimate: an India-born applicant filing an EB-2 petition (including a national interest waiver) today sits behind roughly 712,720 people. At recent visa-supply rates that implies a wait on the order of 55–174 years — decades to a lifetime. This is a firm estimate derived from USCIS approved-petition backlog counts (Jun 2026) and State Dept annual visa supply, not a published date; it assumes today’s supply and backlog hold.
Because a national interest waiver is an EB-2 petition, an NIW applicant inherits the EB-2 backlog above. Worldwide EB-2 tracks close to current, but India- and China-born petitioners face the multi-year — for India, multi-decade — waits shown. If your evidence can also support EB-1A (extraordinary ability) or EB-1B, that category rides years ahead.
Source: U.S. State Dept Visa Bulletin (travel.state.gov), Final Action Dates. “Current” is plotted at the filing month; “Unavailable” periods are drawn as gaps. Educational, not legal advice — check the current bulletin. Data as of 2026-10-22.
The petitioner must first qualify for EB-2—either by holding a U.S. advanced degree (master's, Ph.D., or professional degree) or its equivalent (a bachelor's followed by at least five years of progressive experience in the specialty), or by demonstrating exceptional ability under the EB-2 regulations. Once EB-2 eligibility is established, the three-prong Dhanasar analysis controls whether the labor-certification requirement is waived.
Advanced degree (or qualifying equivalent) or exceptional ability under 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(k)
Prong 1: The proposed endeavor has both substantial merit and national importance
Prong 2: The petitioner is well-positioned to advance the proposed endeavor (education, skills, record of success, plan, financing or interest from end users)
Prong 3: On balance, it benefits the U.S. to waive the job-offer and PERM labor-certification requirements
Schedule a consultation with Loren Locke to see if this visa is the right fit.
Schedule a ConsultationWe define the specific proposed endeavor in writing before drafting begins. Vague or generic endeavor framing is the single most common Dhanasar weakness—petitions that describe a person's profession rather than a specific endeavor routinely fail prong 1's national-importance analysis.
We assemble independent recommendation letters, evidence of past achievements, evidence of national importance (impact metrics, adoption, citations, end-user interest), and—critical for prong 3—evidence that requiring labor certification would impair the national interest. Where USCIS's 2025 policy applies (STEM in priority areas, entrepreneurs), we frame the petition explicitly within the controlling guidance.
We file Form I-140 with USCIS. Premium processing is available for $2,965 with a 45-business-day response. The petition is filed with the petition brief, exhibits, recommendation letters, and a complete index. RFEs are common at prong 3 and we prepare for them in the initial filing.
After I-140 approval and when the EB-2 priority date is current under the visa bulletin, the petitioner files Form I-485 to adjust status if in the U.S., or processes the immigrant visa at a U.S. consulate abroad. EB-2 worldwide is generally backlogged; India- and China-born petitioners face significantly longer waits.
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