Recently, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officially released the I-140 immigration petition data for the fiscal year 2024 (1 October 2023 to 30 September 2024). We are focusing on EB-1A immigrants with exceptional ability and NIW national interest waivers.

EB-1A for highly talented individuals: stable approvals!

In FY2024, EB-1A approval rates remain stable. EB1A received 20,166 new petitions, approved 12,231, denied 4,703, and pending 10,586. Approval rates from the first quarter to the fourth quarter were 73%, 71%, 70%, and 75%, respectively, with an average approval rate of 72% for the year!

NIW National Interest Waiver for Immigrants: sudden drop in approval rate!

The NIW special category in EB-2 received a total of 63,549 applications, of which 27,526 were approved, 11,256 were denied, and 44,093 were in a pending status. The NIW approval rate averaged 70.98% for the year, but the approval rate slipped all the way from 77% in the first quarter to 61% in the fourth quarter.

This figure is well below the approval rate of up to 90 per cent for the whole of 2023. It is worth noting, however, that there has been an advance in the NIW scheduling period, which has come to 1 April 2023

Pointing out that the NIW will be approved at a lower rate?

1. With the wave of layoffs in various industries in the United States, more and more college graduates are facing difficulties in finding employment and obtaining legal status to stay in the United States through the work route. As a result, many college students with a focus on STEM majors have begun to move to the U.S. through the NIW, an immigration route that does not require employer sponsorship.

2. Adjustments to U.S. immigration policy have had an impact on NIW approval rates, for example, for talents in high-end industries such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), who are more likely to achieve their immigration goals through the NIW. This policy direction has raised the NIW application threshold to a certain extent, and for recent graduates who only have a degree but lack work experience and relevant achievements, the success rate of applying for NIW directly is lower.

   Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

If you are interested in immigrating to the U.S. through EB-1A and NIW, you should pay attention to the current trend, and should combine your actual situation with mediation to formulate an immigration plan that suits your needs.