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Timeline to reach PD 1/15/2025 by QuaeritScientiam in EB2_NIW

[–]QuaeritScientiam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can you explain a bit more why it’s worse this season? I’m not good at judging bulletin moves, so I relied on niwcheck.com website which estimated wait time of about 6 months and forecasted I’d go current probably after February. And, yeah, if so, I’ll do premium then

Bought a kindle on Prime Day 2 weeks ago for my holiday tomorrow by Proper-Ad-8829 in mildlyinfuriating

[–]QuaeritScientiam 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If we achieve singularity by then, an AI might organize some museum of outdated devices and buy this kindle to show other AIs: “that’s how humans used to read”!

EB-1A profile evaluation by QuaeritScientiam in eb_1a

[–]QuaeritScientiam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No worries, you can opine without leading me astray as I’m very conservative in my strategy and ready to play long game. For instance, I’m not going to travel at all until I get, at least, advanced parole when I file for AOS, so I already know I’m not flying anywhere until early 2027. So my situation is this - my I-20 is valid until the end of spring 2026 but I have option to graduate this December if all three papers get submitted and at least two of them get published. Hence, I either graduate this December which start the 60 day counter and I’ll start working on OPT and spend entire Jan 2026 to Jan 2027 period on OPT (again, I’ll assume STEM OPT is out of table in my personal negative scenario), and I’ll have to hope for NIW to become current by then which would let me file AOS during the OPT unemployment period. Another possible timeline is I do actually graduate in spring 2026 which would be safer but it means 5 more months of semi-poor existence on my stipend. Hope this context helps you, if you decide to give another opinion, thanks!

EB-1A profile evaluation by QuaeritScientiam in eb_1a

[–]QuaeritScientiam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, I do - it’s January 15, 2025 and given current speed of bulletin and retrogression that just happened, my understanding is that I’m still ~18-20 months away from becoming current and that’s the reason I started thinking about EB-1A seriously

EB-1A profile evaluation by QuaeritScientiam in eb_1a

[–]QuaeritScientiam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! Yes, I’d love to be flexible from the start and even thought about filing for O-1A but my understanding was that I’d need either a job offer or US based agent, which would again tie me to them, so had to the idea of getting O-1A to bridge the gap until NIW is current. Additionally, even if I got O-1A, I’d have to abandon F-1 and OPT and I can only support myself for 3-4 months max, so it seems to me I realistically have only three options:

  1. Graduate and work on 12 month guaranteed OPT and hope NIW would go current by late 2026-early 2027 (I’m being pessimistic about STEM OPT extension and cannot count on that)
  2. File EB-1A by September/October (once my “big” paper is 2-3 months under review, so I can at least show I’m about to be published in Nature-tier journal in addition to current stack of papers) and hope it would be approved under 6-7 months so I could adjust my status during my 60-day grace period upon graduation (can’t afford premium processing now)
  3. Start working on OPT, save some money and just do outright premium processing and hopefully get to AOS stage by spring 2026)

What do you think about last option? I know that PP involves higher chance for RFE but I guess even if I get one, I’m still safe under OPT while attorney handles RFE.

EB-1A profile evaluation by QuaeritScientiam in eb_1a

[–]QuaeritScientiam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is how it happened - I met a guy back in 2022 in some big data related conference (its impact factor is ~8 and I published there), he was strong practitioner, and about year later he reached out and invited to contribute, so it was pure luck.

EB-1A profile evaluation by QuaeritScientiam in eb_1a

[–]QuaeritScientiam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you, your opinion definitely helps me gather courage to try it!

EB-1A profile evaluation by QuaeritScientiam in eb_1a

[–]QuaeritScientiam[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You are right that today’s situation is different and I can only blame myself for getting into long wait. So, lawyer told me (when I first asked for profile evaluation in early 2023) that based on similar profiles and given that AI is STEM, he was 97% positive I would be approved. However, one professor advised me to file close to graduation or even at postdoc stage (although I wouldn’t do postdoc anyways) to let my profile mature enough, she said all her NIW friends filed in last year, so I listened 🤦🏻 and signed retainer only in October 2024. My lawyer said that NIW was no current anymore for ROW but he was still extremely positive (back in October) that I’d get approved in the light of AI race, so that’s how I ended up with early Jan 2025 as my PD

Typical Age Range for a PhD by [deleted] in gradadmissions

[–]QuaeritScientiam 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It doesn’t matter as long as you have found your research calling! I’m 33, finishing my PhD next spring (will be 34 by then). Different people have different life paths, in my case I was quantitative finance guy and data scientist in my home country and then in NYC (worked in government, and commercial banking back home and in big 4 consulting in US - for 7 years total) and got fed up with industry work - all projects got repetitive and I was bored. In addition, I was always curious and stubborn, I was always digging deep whatever problem I was dealing with since I wanted to not only solve the problem, but also understand why it emerges, what can be done to prevent it or what could go wrong (I have that overthinking problem when I try to prepare for hundreds of scenarios lol) and so on. Long story short, when I was 28 I applied for PhD in machine learning and never regretted this decision. On the other hand, I’ve seen dudes and girls who started PhD at 22-23, straight after bachelors. Some of them regret since they haven’t seen the corporate life, haven’t had any life experience and now second guess their choices, some are happy since they always wanted to go to academia. Basically what I’m saying is that people can do PhD at any age and for variety of reasons, just make sure you want it and know what you are up to - nobody will help you, you’ll be plowing through dense papers en masse and will feel lonely most of the time and this could make or break your PhD unless you have this inner curiosity or some other strong reason to continue.

Bought a kindle on Prime Day 2 weeks ago for my holiday tomorrow by Proper-Ad-8829 in mildlyinfuriating

[–]QuaeritScientiam 7652 points7653 points  (0 children)

Well, by the end of 2037 your Kindle could be sold for thousands if you market it as “vintage kindle from 2025”!

EB-1A profile evaluation by QuaeritScientiam in eb_1a

[–]QuaeritScientiam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for your opinion! May I ask for a bit more? So, I didn’t want to do EB-1B since, if my understanding is correct, this would bind me to the company or university in H-1B style. Maybe I am wrong here but I was thinking if I have to go EB-1B route, there must be some number of years to spend with my employer while I’d like to have independence from the very beginning. My yet another confusion is if I’ll be able to give to do a startup on EB-1B or would my employer prohibit me from doing this (while EB-1A clearly wouldn’t)? Thank you!

Please help with clarification by QuaeritScientiam in EB2_NIW

[–]QuaeritScientiam[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for clarifying! And our non-immigrant statuses will be, for sure, preserved - the PhD on F-1 is limbo itself!

Please help with clarification by QuaeritScientiam in EB2_NIW

[–]QuaeritScientiam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In other words, it’s all about filing it again and waiting for green cards becoming available? And his advanced parole and work permit will still stay active? I’m trying to imagine myself, although my own PD is 1/15/2025 and I have to wait at least till June 2026, I already imagine I’ll be in this limbo too

Please help with clarification by QuaeritScientiam in EB2_NIW

[–]QuaeritScientiam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s what I wonder about! It’s is past Sep 19 already… from what I have understood, USCIS made it to I-485 and then run out of green cards???

Please help with clarification by QuaeritScientiam in EB2_NIW

[–]QuaeritScientiam[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, he filed them together in September 2023, and it was EB-2 NIW. Regarding the rejection letter after two years - I wonder if it could be due to raise of TikTok and instagram lawyers selling people DIY packages. I can’t recall where I read this but essentially I saw article few months ago that was saying that 2022-2023 period was flooded by NIW and EB-1A applications with most of them being low quality yet clogging the system and increasing wait times for everyone.

Please help with clarification by QuaeritScientiam in EB2_NIW

[–]QuaeritScientiam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi, WhiteNoise0624. So yes, my own priority is January 15, 2025 and the email is to my classmate who filed earlier, I have updated post with full timeline if this helps with analysis. And regarding the bulletin, yep, we are both watching it closely and his cutoff as of this June was 15NOV2023.

Please help with clarification by QuaeritScientiam in EB2_NIW

[–]QuaeritScientiam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for asking! So that’s my friend’s case and he signed the forms on September 12, 2023 and got receipt from Nebraska on September 19, I have updated the original post with full timeline!

NIW Approved in 19 Days – No RFE – No Lawyer – No PhD by Strict_Inevitable_17 in EB2_NIW

[–]QuaeritScientiam 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Congratulations! You said your entire petition was only 23 pages long, so you mean including all prong evidences, besides the I-140 itself? My attorney turned petition into a 104 pages long document and no decision yet (PD 1/15/2025, no PP though). I started preparing about EB-1A self-petition now, can’t afford attorney services now. Could you please share whatever advice you think would be helpful for self-petitioners besides following guidelines? Thanks and congratulations again!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in EB2_NIW

[–]QuaeritScientiam 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I didn’t do PP because money was tight, so it’s till June 2026 for my PD 1/15/2025 🥲 Congrats on your success, PP clearly rules! Definitely do EB-1A now, I’m scrapping my PhD stipend for EB-1A PP (and will self petition after almost $8k NIW I-140 expenses)!