National Interest Waiver Success: Danny – Private Security Expert
NIW Success: Danny – Private Security Expert
Danny, from Manchester, England, spent over 10 years working in the Private Security Industry in war-torn countries, including Iraq and Afghanistan. As a quality assurance and compliance manager, Danny’s job involves making sure that when corporate oil and gas executives and personnel travel to war-torn areas to check on their facilities, they are safe. Protecting our access to oil and gas supplies internationally is a vital national interest. In order to make sure that all staff and security forces followed exact ISO 9001 protocols, Danny was tasked to audit the entire operations as all of the interested facilities to make sure that they were in full compliance. Danny’s job and how he performed it has life of death (or capture) of American personnel consequences.
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After examining Danny’s experiences in the Private Security Industry, it became clear that he could qualify for the National Interest Waiver Green Card option, as his skills served a valuable United States interest.
National Interest Waiver Green Card
NIW Green Card, also known as the “National Interest Waiver,” is designed to allow Aliens of Exceptional Ability who’s skills provide a significant benefit to the national interest of the United States to apply for a Green Card. The NIW is a self-sponsored Green Card application, which means you do not need a US employer to sponsor you. Instead our focus is on helping you demonstrate that your particular set of skills can benefit the United States in a wider sense, as outlined above in Danny’s case, as opposed to having just a local impact.
Below are the areas where Congress has determined your skill set may be of National Interest:
- Ability to improve the US economy
- Ability to improve wages and working conditions of the US workers
- Ability to improve educational and training programs for the US
- Ability to improve healthcare
- Ability to provide more affordable housing
- Ability to improve the environment and natural resources
- Admission is requested by an interested US government agency
Once you have determined one of the above area in which you can provide improvement for the US, you will also be required to satisfy three of the following categories:
We now have Jacqueline who heads up our Intake department and over recent months has managed to double her team, and the number of new clients we are able to screen, approve and take on has broken all-time records. We have Judith, who has over 20 years in the legal profession, and she is in-charge of final legal quality control before, my personal sign off. Yes, I have always and still do personally sign off on every single case before it leaves the office, this is my primary role.
We have Annie as our Case Manager. Annie works with our lawyers and paralegals to help them better manage their caseloads, before the work is reviewed by Judith. Annie has been with the law firm for several years and prior to joining us worked for the international news organization, Tompson Reuters, for seven years.
To round out our management team we have Jackie who serves as our General Manager of the entire law firm. Jackie overseas the entire law firm, looking after our staff in multiple countries. Jackie reports to me, but basically to keep me inline.
We have an awesome dedicated management team that is delivering record breaking results and I could not be prouder of them. It’s clear to me, the best is yet to come.
I also want to give the most heartfelt shout out to all our clients we have worked with during the pandemic years. Whilst we have won more cases than I can count over the last two years, this has been an extremely turbulent time for our clients. They had to endure, the law firm losing staff, and having new staff take over their cases: they have had to deal with the staffing difficulties within USCIS and their erratic adjudication policies as waves of new USCIS were being hired to replace those that were lost, not to mention the job uncertainties our clients have had to endure as they were either facing job loss, relocation or both.
What I love most about this story is that during the worst times of our lives we’ve continued to see a steady number of cases being approved, which means we have had the joy and privilege to see one family and after another daily, weekly and monthly, see their American Dream come true. We still have many clients who have had their cases approved months ago still waiting for their consular interviews around the world due to lingering Covid issues. It must be hard for them, and we certainly stand with them as they wait to clear this final hurdle.
This September marks my 19th year as an Immigration Attorney. I am thankful every day for the work I can do in changing the lives of so many people for the better. I often think about many of the families we have helped, and I love getting thank you emails even years after we won their case, as some clients love to just stay in touch and have become dear personal friends, none more so than our General Manager Jackie, who came to us as a client with her family. Who knew many years later she would not only join the law firm having previously been a Barrister, but that she would go on to become its General Manager; one of life’s ironies, I guess.
LOCMI is an inspired law firm. Our clients challenge us and inspire us every day. We live to change lives and we work as hard as we can to ensure that as many of our as clients as possible get the visa or green card they so obviously deserve so they can play their role in contributing to this melting pot of immigrants called America.
If you have any questions about the above, please do not hesitate to send us an inquiry.
- Official academic record showing that you have a degree, diploma, certificate, or similar award from a college, university, school, or other institution of learning relating to your area of exceptional ability; [More…]
- Letters documenting at least 10 years of full-time experience in your occupation; [More…]
- A license to practice your profession or certification for your profession or occupation; [More…]
- Evidence that you have commanded a salary or other remuneration for services that demonstrates your exceptional ability; [More…]
- Membership in a professional association(s); [More…]
- Recognition for your achievements and significant contributions to your industry or field by your peers, government entities, professional or business organizations; [More…]
- Other comparable evidence of eligibility is also acceptable. [More…]
Danny’s NIW Story
Danny had never lived in the United States before, but had visited numerous times while working with the British Army. During one of his visits, Danny participated in conducting the largest joint US/UK exercise replicating the World War II invasion in North Carolina.
It is clear that Danny’s desire to move to the United States was in the national interest of the US; Danny ‘s skill set qualified him to work with a number of US government agencies.
In Danny’s case, organization was key. In his testimonial, Danny stated that “ensuring your data is in order first and foremost makes the process easier. It is not an easy process by any means, but if you want it enough, it is thoroughly worth it.”
Achieving Green Card Status
According to Danny, “the experience was very good all round, [but] it is a nervous period of time because once we submitted [the application], I had tried miserably to put it to the back of mind and carry on with life as normal but that is very hard to do.” Many of our clients experience this anxiety, and it is completely normal. However, once you receive that approval notice, it all becomes worth it.
When Danny received the approval notification he was elated. For him and his family, it was the Christmas present they were waiting for. When Danny received the approval notice “printed out the official approval notice…and put it in a envelope for a Christmas present” for his wife to open on Christmas Day.
Below is what Danny wrote to us after he’d been to the Embassy:
“We have just got back from our London embassy interview and all approved. They did say that they couldn’t find our medical records but the medical company has just let us know that the embassy now has them.
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