sustained EB-2 NIW Case: Medicinal Chemistry

U.S. Department of Homeland Security 
20 Mass. Ave., N.W.. Rrn. A31342 
Washington, DC 20529 
U. S. Citizenship 
and Immigratiorl 
Services 
FILE: EAC 02 295 50999 Office: VERMONT SERVICE CENTER Date: I!GG 1 2 loOJ 
IN RE: 
PETITION: Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker as a Member of the Professions Holding an Advanced 
Degree or an Alien of Exceptional Ability Pursuant to Section 203(b)(2) of the Immigration 
and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. 5 1 153(b)(2) 
1 
ON BEHALF OF PETITIONER: 
INSTRUCTIONS: 
This is the decision of the Administrative Appeals Oftice in your case. All documents have been returned to 
th ,originally decidedyour case. Any further inquiry must be made to that office. 
L, 
Robert P. Wiemann, Director 
Administrative Appeals Office 
EAC 02 295 50999 
Page 2 
DISCUSSION: The Director, Vennont Service Center, denied the employment-based immigrant visa petition. 
The matter is now before the Administrative Appeals Office on appeal. The appeal will be sustained and the 
petition will be approved. 
The petitioner seeks classification pursuant to section 203(b)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act), 
8 U.S.C. 5 1153(b)(2), as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree. At the time he filed the 
petition, the petitioner was a graduate student at Brandeis University. The petitioner asserts that an exemption 
from the requirement of a job offer, and thus of a labor certification, is in the national interest of the United States. 
The director found that the petitioner qualifies for classification as a member of the professions holding an 
advanced degree but that the petitioner had not established that an exemption from the requirement of a job offer 
would be in the national interest of the United States. 
Section 203(b) of the Act states in pertinent part that: 
(2) Aliens Who Are Members of the Professions Holding Advanced Degrees or Aliens of Exceptional 
Ability. -- 
(A) In General. -- Visas shall be made available . . . to qualified immigrants who are members of 
the professions holding advanced degrees or their equivalent or who because of their exceptional 
ability in the sciences, arts, or business, will substantially benefit prospectively the national 
economy, cultural or educational interests, or welfare of the United States, and whose services in 
the sciences, arts, professions, or business are sought by an employer in the United States. 
(B) Waiver of Job Offer 
(i) . . . the Attorney General may, when the Attorney General deems it to be in the 
national interest, waive the requirements of subparagraph (A) that an alien's services in 
the sciences, arts, professions, or business be sought by an employer in the United 
States. 
The director did not dispute that the petitioner qualifies as a member of the professions holding an advanced 
degree. The sole issue in contention is whether the petitioner has established that a waiver of the job offer 
requirement, and thus a labor certification, is in the national interest. 
Neither the statute nor the pertinent regulations define the term "national interest." Additionally, Congress did 
not provide a specific definition of "in the national interest." The Committee on the Judiciary merely noted in its 
report to the Senate that the committee had "focused on national interest by increasing the number and proportion 
of visas for immigrants who would benefit the United States economically and otherwise. . . ." S. Rep. No. 55, 
IOlst Cong., 1 st Sess., 1 1 (1989). 
Supplementary information to the regulations implementing the Immigration Act of 1990 (IMMACT), published 
at 56 Fed. Reg. 60897, 60900 (November 29, 199 I), states: 
The Service [now Citizenship and Immigration Services] believes it appropriate to leave the 
application of this test as flexible as possible, although clearly an alien seeking to meet the 
[national interest] standard must make a showing significantly above that necessary to prove the 
"prospective national benefit" [required of aliens seeking to qualify as "exceptional."] The 
EAC 02 295 50999 
Page 3 
burden will rest with the alien to establish that exemption from, or waiver of, the job offer will be 
in the national interest. Each case is to be judged on its own merits. 
Matter of New York State Dept. of Transportation, 22 I&N Dec. 2 15 (Comm. 1998), has set forth several factors 
which must be considered when evaluating a request for a national interest waiver. First, it must be shown that 
the alien seeks employment in an area of substantial intrinsic merit. Next, it must be shown that the proposed 
benefit will be national in scope. Finally, the petitioner seeking the waiver must establish that the alien will serve 
the national interest to a substantially greater degree than would an available U.S. worker having the same 
minimum qualifications. 
It must be noted that, while the national interest waiver hinges on prospective national benefit, it clearl:y must be 
established that the alien's past record justifies projections of hture benefit to the national interest. The 
petitioner's subjective assurance that the alien will, in the future, serve the national interest cannot suffice to 
establish prospective national benefit. The inclusion of the term "prospective" is used here to require future 
contributions by the alien, rather than to facilitate the entry of an alien with no demonstrable prior achievements, 
and whose benefit to the national interest would thus be entirely speculative. 
In an introductory letter submitted with the petition, the petitioner describes his work: 
I am a fifth year Ph.D. candidate, majoring in synthetic organic and medicinal chemistry at 
the Chemistry Department of Brandeis University. . . . 
After my graduation, I will join Professor [Eric R.] Jacobsen's group in the de artrnent of 
chemistry and chemical biology at Harvard University as [a] research scientist. 0 is 
regardedas one of the world's leaders in the development of new synthetic met o s t at are - 
particularly important to both the discovery and manufacturing of drugs.' Specifically, his 
research interests focus on two themes: the invention and development of new catalytic and 
asymmetric reactions for the preparation of pharmaceutical interest compounds, and the 
application of these new reactions to the efficient synthesis of bioactive natural products and 
drugs. . . . 
My study in Professor Deng's group has been focused on the development of new and 
practical catalytic asymmetric alcoholysis (AA) reactions for the preparation of chiral 
hemiesters, which are fundamentally important versatile intermediates for the preparation of 
many pharmaceutically important compounds and/or drugs. . . . 
My contributions in drug discovery and development, in particular, have prospectively 
benefited the United States by improving research, development, and treatment of high 
cholesterol, coronary heart disease, septic shock, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), Crohn's disease, 
angina pectoris, thrombosis, asthma, hypertension, [and] spasticity as well as different 
cancers, including pepticular and gastric (stomach) cancer. . . . 
The method I have developed is regarded by world leading experts as "a signiJicalrt 
breakthrough discovery in this area." . . . To produce optical active hemiesters in a catalytic, 
I The petitioner offers no evidence to 
concluded in 1998, immediately prior t 
professorship) at Brandeis. 
EAC 02 295 50999 
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practical, efficient and highly enantioselective fashion is a long-standing problem in organimz 
synthesis because optically active hemiesters are fundamentally important intermediates for 
both the drug development and manufacturing. The method I have discovered is a new and 
practical solution towards this problem. . . . 
My current research project is the total synthesis of tumor necrosis factor (TNF- ) 
production inhibitor natural product: trichodimeriol, by using our newly developed 
asymmetric cyano addition method as key reaction. Trichodimeriol showed inhibitory 
activity against production of TNF- and, consequently, is considered to be a potential lead 
for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), septic shock, inflammatory bowel disease 
(IBD), Crohn's disease and atherosclerosis. 
The petitioner submits several witness letters. All of the witnesses are either on the faculty of Brandeis 
~nivkrsit~, or they worked at Brandeis either as doctoral students or postdoctoral researchers while the 
petitioner was studying ther ho has supervised the petitioner's doctoral studies, states: 
[The petitioner] has successfully and independently completed a large body of very importarit 
research work on the preparation of chiral hemiesters. . . . Because prior synthetic methods 
for the preparation of these chiral hemiesters were expensive, wasteful and time consuming, 
development of a highly efficient catalytic asymmetric method is a highly desirable, yet a 
challenging goal in the field of organic synthesis. 
[The petitioner] devoted himself full-time to this challenging project. He first discovered a 
new class of highly efficient catalysts for this reaction. The method is also very important for 
commercial manufacturing of drugs because the catalysts discovered by [the petitioner], 
made from abundant natural products, are highly accessible, inexpensive and fully recyclable. 
[The petitioner] has also developed a new method for the preparation of chiral succinates 
through a highly efficient parallel kinetic resolution (PKR) process . . . paving the way for the 
discovery of more effective therapeutic reagents [with] less side effects. . . . 
Each piece of [the petitioner's] work represents an important advancement in organic 
synthesis. . . . 
[The petitioner] is a researcher of international renown. His accomplishments thus far in his 
career have already had a huge impact on the drug discovery and manufacturing. 
The other witnesses offer similar descriptions of the petitioner's work and its "great impact" on the field. 
These witness statements, by themselves, do not establish that the petitioner's work is known outside of the 
faculty and alumni of Brandeis University. To establish wider impact, the petitioner submits copies of over 
20 articles that contain independent citations of his published work (not counting self-citations by the 
petitioner's collaborators). Several of these articles cite more than one of the petitioner's articles. One of the 
citing articles indicates that the petitioner and his collaborators "reported on a very attractive alternative 
means for the desymmetrization of prochiral cyclic anhydrides." Another citation states: "a recent report by 
Deng and co-workers . . . appears to constitute a significant breakthrough in this field." The petitioner is the 
first author of the article thus described. These comments indicate that the petitioner's work has attracted 
some degree of attention beyond many of the other cited works. 
EAC 02 295 50999 
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The director denied the intrinsic merit of the petitioner's work but finding that it 
lacks national scope. The the petitioner had not shown that his "individual 
contributions as a researcher of any number of trained professionals in his 
field." The director stated citation of the petitioner's published work. 
The decision contains no the petitioner's work gained in some of 
the articles that did cite that work. 
The director, in denying the petition, concluded hat the petitioner has not shown that his work is national in 
scope. We have held, however, that medical and scientific research at major institutions is inherently national 
in scope, because the results are disseminate nationally (and internationally) through publicaf ions and 
conferences and because the findings of such re earch tend to apply universally rather than only locally. We 
therefore withdraw the director's finding that the petitioner's work lacks national scope. J 
On appeal, the petitioner submits materials to his achievements as a postdoctoral researcher at 
Harvard University. The petitioner had not work when he filed the petition, and therefore these 
materials cannot retroactively demonstrate eligible as of the filing date. A petitioner must 
establish eligibility at the time of filing; approved at a future date after the petitioner 
becomes eligible under a new set of facts. 14 I&N Dec. 45, 49 (Reg. Comm. 1971). 
For the purposes of the present to the petitioner's achievements as of 
the filing date, and the impact thereof. 
With regard to the impact of the petitioner's demonstrates on 
appeal that the number of citations of this three new 
letters on appeal. Unlike the letters new letters are from independent witnesses rather 
than individuals with close ties to University. Professor Alan C. 'Spivey of 
Imperial College, London, states with the petitioner's work, ancl that the 
petitioner "is clearly the leader in desymmetrizations." Prof. Spivey 
had commented positively on previously. Prof. Spivey 
adds that "other researchers work, showing that the 
petitioner's "contributions his own specialty. 
State University, states that the petitioner's "research 
this area" and "is a remarkable milestone in the area of 
cinchona alkaloid catalysis.' director of research at the National Center for Scientific 
for the petitioner's work. While the record lacked 
independent letters prior to the denial, we not the director never issued a request for evidlace, and 
therefore, prior to the denial, the director neve the petitioner that the lack of independent letters 
played a part in the denial of the petition. 
Between the citation of the petitioner's includes special mention of the importance of the 
petitioner's discoveries, and the on appeal, which show the extent to ,which the 
petitioner's work has attracted of collaborators, the evidence is persuasive 
that the petitioner's impact as to continue to be, of such a caliber as to 
justify a waiver of the job offer 
It does not appear to have been the intent of Cong ess to grant national interest waivers on the basis of the overall 
importance of a given field of research, rather t n on the merits of the individual alien. That being said, the 
materials in the record establish that the scienti c community recognizes the significance of this petitioner's 
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EAC 02 295 50999 
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research rather than simply the general area of research. The benefit of retaining this alien's services outweighs 
the national interest that is inherent in the labor certification process. Therefore, on the basis of the evidence 
submitted, the petitioner has established that a waiver of the requirement of an approved labor certification will be 
in the national interest of the United States. 
The burden of proof in these proceedings rests solely with the petitioner. Section 291 of the Act, 8 U.S.C. 5 136 1. 
The petitioner has sustained that burden. Accordingly, the decision of the director denying the petition will be 
withdrawn and the petition will be approved. 
ORDER: The appeal is sustained and the petition is approved.