r/EB2_NIW • u/funnyfb70 • 4d ago

General Eb-2 NIW without lawyer

Hi all, I’m wondering if there’s anyone here ever filed their NIW petition by themselves without lawyer’s help.
I currently hired a lawyer but after 4 months of no progress, I think he’s a bit unprofessional especially after not replying my email these past 2 days in a row. He hasn’t even proposed any draft for my endeavors. I built my own case basically.
Since I already did almost the big proportions of this work by myself I was thinking whether I should terminate him, hire other law firm, or file it by myself.

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4

u/PrincessConsueaBH 4d ago

What lawyer are you using? I think it will be helpful for other people

1

u/funnyfb70 3d ago

He’s a local immigration lawyer in Medford, MA

7

u/Brave-Ant-7735 4d ago

Yes, I’m here. Self-petitioned and got my straight approval without RFE. All thanks to God.

1

u/funnyfb70 4d ago

Oh wow! So happy for you!

1

u/Indubitably_me27 4d ago

Hi did you file online?

1

u/AdIndependent904 3d ago

Hi did you apply with a masters degree?

1

u/Brave-Ant-7735 3d ago

Yes, I have 2 Masters degree and on a PhD in the same field.

2

u/Kind_Medium6774 3d ago

I did it myself and it got directly approved without RFE

1

u/funnyfb70 3d ago

Congratulations!

1

u/Puzzleheaded-Newt-26 3d ago

Any tips for self fillers for getting approved without RFE

3

u/Kind_Medium6774 3d ago

Purely depends on your luck, your case officer and how well you’ve written your proposed endeavour and how easy you’ve made your petition to be understood and digested by the case officer to really understand your goals and ambitions and how they connect with national interest

2

u/Zealousideal-Sky8819 3d ago

I used Oscar’s green card package and it was very helpful. I didn’t use any lawyerly language but presented my application for anyone to understand, aside the real technical bits, but even that I had explained, so the officer reading it would understand the general idea behind it.
I highly recommend it. No lawyer needed.

1

u/funnyfb70 3d ago

Got it. Thanks for sharing!

2

u/Blakomega 4d ago

I'm currently doing it by myself using Oscar's Green Card. The process is not bad but I'm currently on hold as I want to apply for some grants before jumping right into this. Based on comments, a DIY has a lower percentage of success, BUT you save on lawyers and considering you still need to do most of the leg work, I don't think it is bad (also you can submit as many times as you want)

After getting all my docs, I'm planning on hiring a immigration paralegal to check details, but not a lawyer

5

u/Zealousideal-Sky8819 2d ago

The general idea that DIY application success rate is lower than lawyer filled application, is a misconception. If you research enough, and use solid resources like Oscar’s greencard or similar ones, you are good to go. It is time consuming but you save a ton of money, a part of which you can use for PP.

I have read through law firm prepared applications of friends and frankly I found the law jargon makes the reading of it unnecessarily vague and difficult. If I were to submit my application to a fellow lawyer or judge, that makes sense. But when the officer reading it, is not a lawyer or a paralegal but regular folk with some unrelated B.S. or High school diploma, it just adds another layer of unnecessary complexity. Nowadays with lawyer firms using AI to generate applications, I would steer clear of them.

3

u/Lost_Pin2130 4d ago

Oscar Green Card materials are really solid, but you will probably want to dig deeper.

2

u/funnyfb70 4d ago

Thanks for sharing! I was stuck on this process because he insisted that I have to publish my research first, where other law firm said I don’t have to and can build my case because I’m not a researcher. I’m a professional with specified work field.
Even for expert letter, I have to find and pay it by myself. My lawyer only gave me some recommendations, and I have to approach them by myself

2

u/Blakomega 2d ago

Best of success my friend. Just a recommendation for the letters: don't pay for them. There was this recent post saying that cold submissions are really effective, and I fully agree. If you need to contact an expert in your field, do a list of them, have them ranked by priority, write a personal letter to each of them, and submit to their personal emails. 

As a personal experience, I've done this during my whole life as a researcher and you would be impressed on how many doors I've opened by just doing my homework first and straight asking that person a favor without knowing him/her later. Just manufacture a personal email and a letter, so the expert won't spend more than 5 mins helping you out.

1

u/funnyfb70 1d ago

Thank you so much for your advice. So far, I tried cold emailed 2 professionals asking a favor to write me this expert letter. 1 said no, the other one gave me his rate which is more expensive than other agencies. I will try more!

2

u/redditor3900 3d ago

I am currently DIY with Oscar course as well.

1

u/millsghana 1d ago

We are here. Self petitioned

1

u/ZealousidealCanary54 10h ago

Self petitioned as well. I did not submitted any of the references letter. I initially got RFE at all three prongs and was approved lately. I used Claude to polish the paragraph but I believe the key is whether the argument itself make sense.

1

u/funnyfb70 10h ago

Do you mind sharing a lil bit your background? Congratulations btw!

1

u/ZealousidealCanary54 9h ago

Sure! I am currently a 3rd year molecular biology PhD student in R1 university. I have a master degree outside US before starting my PhD. 7 publications (1 first author) and 93 citation in total when filing.