What should be Included in a Recommendation Letter in EB1-A, EB1-B or NIW application?
by Liu & Associates, P.C. 03/05/2011
Qualifications of the Recommender
A recommendation letter should describe the person who wrote it. If a job has been offered, the employer should be introduced. When the writer comments on the foreign national's achievements or research, the letter should also establish that writer's qualifications to judge the applicant's work.
Helpful Testimonials from Experts Should Set Apart the Applicant from Other Persons in the Field
Expert testimonials about your accomplishments are crucial to your petition, but they must reinforce the legal standard: that you are among the few who have risen to the top of your field, that you possess exceptional ability as a researcher, or that you qualify for national interest waiver. Evidence showing only competence, or failing to set you apart from others in the field, carries little weight and may even be used to deny the petition.
Substantive Information
A good recommendation letter highlights the applicant's distinctive expertise. A letter from the applicant's employer or professor should describe the foreign national's responsibilities and the demands of the job. Although priority workers do not need a job offer, an employer's letter may cite one to show that very few people can fill it—only leading figures in the field, or those with exceptional ability, can perform its duties—and that the alien is one of them. Letters that review the petitioner's activities in general terms and call him or her knowledgeable, without explaining how the petitioner's contributions significantly and consistently influenced the field, are not sufficient.
To establish a foreign national's extraordinary ability for EB-1 purposes, for instance, the recommender must track the criteria in the regulations and may point to the categories of evidence those regulations list. Citing public policy is no substitute for documenting extraordinary ability. The government has also made clear that merely submitting evidence from the listed categories is not enough; the record must ultimately establish that the beneficiary is a foreign national of extraordinary ability. Given how much these letters matter, an applicant should invest the time to find the right recommenders and discuss the letter's content with them to improve the odds of approval.
About NIW (National Interest Waiver) Recommendation Letter
Strong reference letters are key to a successful NIW case. Our firm has seen how much reference letters contribute to an NIW approval, so we draft them for each client individually at no additional charge. Writing an effective reference letter requires a firm grasp of immigration law and USCIS regulations, which no template can replace.
Filing an NIW petition is a significant step and should not be taken lightly. Do not file an NIW petition just to "give it a shot." With processing times currently prolonged, a careless filing will substantially delay your green card. Moreover, although the law does not preclude repeated filing in the same category, if you file another NIW petition after a denial without a significant improvement in your credentials, your case will very likely be denied again.