My NIW I-140 Approval Journey (Long post)
My I-140 just got approved. I would like to share my experience in this post. Long post btw. Priority Date: 07/02/2024 Approved Date: 05/22/2026 Status: F1-OPT, F1-STEM OPT Profile: Physics PhD, 10 peer-reviewed journals (3 first author), ~150 citations (kind of forgot the exact number), 2 recommendation letters (2 dependent). Timeline: Nov 2023: Sent CV to Wegreened for Free Evaluation: https://www.wegreened.com/Free-Evaluation Nov 2023: Received reply and signed contract for NIW EB-2. (Visa bulletin PD was around Jan 2022 back then). Feb 2024: Started filling out the I-140 petition questionnaire. Apr 2024: Finished the draft. After some back-and-forth feedback, prepared supporting materials (citation evidence, etc.) and search for recommenders. Jun 2024: I-140 package was ready. By that time the USCIS processing time says 12 months, and my STEM OPT expires in Aug 2026, so I decided NO Premium Processing (PP). --- Then, USCIS processing times just kept getting longer and longer --- Se...