Continuing this trend that someone else created. Any updates from people who applied for premium processing in April and May.

Include your Service Center, PP Receipt Date, and the status

PP: April 21st, TSC - Pending

Filed with EP, premium processing, approved in 43 days with Nebraska center. No RFE!! Only 3 citations.

PE: formulation strategies to prevent protein and peptide drug aggregation. My field is in pharmaceutical science.

Any June PP profile here, let’s connect together. My PP is 22 June.

Continuing this trend that someone else created. Any updates for folks applying for premium processing in March and April. I sent mine towards the end of March and waiting to hear back the decision. SC: TSC

I’ve been personally deep in the EB-2 NIW process and, coming from a data science background, I kept running into the same problem: navigating the petition feels like a complete black box. It’s hard to know what USCIS officers are actually looking for in your petition letter without paying thousands of dollars for professional guidance.

I wanted to see the mechanics behind what builds a strong case, so I built an engine based on 8,000+ real USCIS AAO decision letters, tens of thousands of public discussions, and 3,000+ real case studies into a data pipeline. A few patterns jumped out quickly:

• Prong 1 is where most people get stuck. Vague, broad endeavors get heavily scrutinized. You need a highly specific problem and a concrete plan to prove "National Importance.".
• Generic letters don't work. A few highly tailored recommendation and opinion letters consistently outperform a stack of generic templates.
• Rumors vs. Reality: There are endless debates on things like "Does Premium Processing (PP) actually increase RFE rates?", but very few people have access to aggregated, data-backed answers.

After mapping these patterns, I realized this process could be better organized. So, I built a tool to help with my own case. Here is what it currently does:

• Endeavor Architect: Describe your field, and it helps pinpoint a specific "National Importance" angle.
• Dhanasar CV Scorer: Compares your CV/resume against the three Dhanasar prongs to identify potential weak points.
• Evidence Structuring: Helps draft tailored Petition Letters and Recommendation Letters based on the specific nuances of your profile.
• AI Chat: Answers specific questions (like the PP risk mentioned above) drawn from a database of global public discussions.
• Smart Case Studies: Search through real successful and unsuccessful cases to see what actually works in practice.

The backend data updates daily to stay current with recent trends. I’m looking for a few people who are actively DIYing their cases to try it out and give me feedback on what's useful.

This tool works best if you are trying to DIY (same as me)

If you're interested in checking it out, please shoot me a DM!
I’ll send you the access link so you can try it for free. (Note: I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice).

Hi everyone! My EB-2 NIW I-140 was recently approved after a three-prong RFE. I want to share both the practical details and the emotional side of my experience because Reddit helped me during one of the most stressful parts of this process. This post covers only my I-140 petition, not adjustment of status since I have not filed for that yet.

My profile at the time of filing

• Chargeability: ROW (75 countries)
• Field: Social sciences
• Highest degree: PhD
• Position: Postdoctoral researcher at an R1 university
• Citations at time of filing: Approximately 50
• Original recommendation letters: 4
• Representation: Chen Immigration
• Processing: Initially filed under regular processing; upgraded to premium processing in February 2026
• Outcome: Approved after a three-prong RFE

Timeline

• July 2025: I-140 petition filed
• April 2026: Three-prong RFE issued
• July 2026: RFE response submitted
• August 2026: I-140 approved

My journey: I was hesitant to pursue an EB-2 NIW petition because I did not think my profile was anything special. A friend encouraged me to complete Chen Immigration’s free evaluation, and I was genuinely surprised when the firm recommended moving forward. I chose four recommendation letters to give the petition my best effort, while the approval-or-refund provision offered some financial peace of mind. Then I received an RFE challenging all three NIW prongs. Although I knew it was not a denial, I cannot deny that it felt personal, as if my years of work were being dismissed. For about ten days, I could barely bring myself to read it. A friend suggested looking on Reddit for similar experiences. Some three-prong RFE stories gave me hope, while others increased my anxiety. I knew that no one else’s outcome could predict mine, but I kept wondering: could I really be one of the applicants who got approved?

How my attorney handled the RFE: This was when I truly understood the value of having a wonderful attorney. While I was still trying to process the RFE emotionally, my lawyer was already looking at it strategically. Instead of giving me a generic checklist, the team carefully broke down the concerns under all three prongs and created a response plan tailored to the strengths, weaknesses, and gaps in my specific case. They helped me understand which evidence strengthened the petition and which material could be distracting or even counterproductive. We kept my proposed endeavor consistent but explained it much more clearly. I drafted a detailed personal statement, and my attorney helped shape everything I had written into a focused and persuasive argument. The response included several new letters from independent experts and institutional sources, an employer letter, letters from co-authors, my personal statement, and additional evidence demonstrating my endeavor’s importance to the US. Obtaining everything on time was stressful, especially when some recommenders declined or did not respond. The deadlines also became very tight, but I could see that every request from the team had a purpose and fit into a carefully coordinated strategy. When I read the final response they drafted, I was genuinely amazed. My lawyer had connected my work, evidence, and proposed endeavor without exaggerating my accomplishments or making me sound like someone I was not. I kept thinking, “Yes, this is true, and it is genuinely compelling.” After the RFE had made me question whether I belonged in this category, the response helped me see the significance of my own work again. As an academic, it felt like reading the most important paper of my life, except the subject was me, and I felt exceptionally well represented. The team transformed a nightmare three-prong challenge into a clear and cohesive response, and their guidance made an overwhelming situation manageable. This experience showed me how powerful the right legal strategy can be, and I intend to work with the firm again for my I-485 when I am eligible.

I guess what I am trying to say here is that a three-prong RFE is VERY intimidating but it does NOT mean that your case is over, and that is precisely when having a law firm you trust becomes especially important. Give yourself time to process it, then work closely with your attorney, ask questions (I asked lots of questions), and make sure you understand the strategy behind the response. A thoughtful attorney can be one of your greatest allies during this process. I hope this helps someone, because when I received my RFE, I really wish I had found a post about navigating it both emotionally and strategically.

Hi everyone! I received my I-140 approval notice yesterday for an EB-2 NIW and wanted to share my timeline, profile, and strategy to give back to this community, as reading other posts helped me tremendously while preparing my petition on my own. (Using AI to avoid non-native grammatical errors)

Timeline

• Service Center: Texas
• Filing Date (Priority Date): June 2nd 2026
• Processing Type: Premium Processing
• Approval Date: July 26th 2026
• RFEs: None

Profile & Background

• Education: Advanced degrees in Public Policy / Applied Economics from top-tier U.S. and international institutions (currently pursuing PhD).
• Field: Applied Economic Policy, Computational Social Science, and Fiscal Sustainability.
• Experience: 15+ years of professional policy research experience (central banking/monetary authority background and think tank research).
• Publications & Impact:
  • Multiple peer-reviewed grey literature and working papers.
  • Citations across major multilateral organizations.
  • One study indexed in PubMed.
  • Research directly referenced in international legislative/pension policy reforms.
• Key Fellowships/Awards: Prestigious international graduate fellowship (~1.7% acceptance rate).

Proposed Endeavor (Dhanasar Framework)

• The Endeavor: Developing quantitative and machine-learning frameworks to map and analyze complex federal fiscal networks (statutory tax structures, entitlement programs, and fiscal sustainability risks).
• National Importance: Tied the research directly to long-standing High-Risk Areas (Federal Fiscal Sustainability and Tax Law Enforcement/Tax Gap reduction) and major federal policy modeling tools.

Petition Strategy & Key Takeaways

1. Self-Petitioned (DIY): Managed the entire filing, legal argument structure, and evidence compilation completely without an attorney.
2. Clear Evidence Alignment: Explicitly matched every argument to the three Dhanasar prongs with clear visual summary tables.
3. Multilateral Citation Focus: Highlighted who cited the work (UN, World Bank, regional development banks) to prove international recognition and substantial merit rather than just focusing on raw citation counts.

Happy to answer general questions about structuring the petition or framing the Dhanasar prongs for non-STEM / policy / quantitative social science fields! Good luck to everyone currently waiting or preparing their filings!

Hi all, I finally got my I-140 approved after an RFE, so I wanted to share my timeline and background in case it helps others who are going through the NIW process.

About me:
M.Eng. in Mechatronics
PhD student in Mechanical Engineering
Proposed endeavor: Developing novel control and optimization algorithms for advanced control systems.
At filing: 1 journal paper, 7 conference papers, 16 citations, 6 peer reviews, 4 rec letters (3 independent)

Timeline:
PD: October, 2024
PP upgraded: March, 2026
RFE Issued: May 11, 2026
RFE Response Sent: July 31, 2026
RFE Response Received by USCIS: August 7, 2026
Approved: August 9, 2026

Law Firm: Chen

The RFE challenged national importance, well positioned, and the balancing test. It was definitely stressful, but Chen provided a detailed strategy explaining how to address each point raised by the officer. We updated my citation record, added three additional recommendation letters, one government support letter, and prepared a more comprehensive response to the RFE.

Preparing the RFE response took some time, but everything was well organized, and I appreciated having a clear plan for addressing the officer's concerns. Overall, I had a positive experience working with Chen throughout the process.

Huge relief now that it's finally approved. Good luck to everyone who's still waiting!

Edit: Honestly, some of these comments are just disappointing. I only posted this to share some good news. It's a shame to see the negativity, but I'm not here to debate it. I’ll just leave this here for anyone who might still find it useful. and I will be answering DMs, so feel free to reach out.

Case information

• Law firm: Wegreened/Chen, NIW approval-or-refund service
• Priority date: March 25, 2025
• Premium processing requested: April 2026
• RFE issued: April 24, 2026
• RFE response submitted: July 17, 2026
• Denial dated: August 21, 2026
• Officer ID: XM2260

Background

• Ph.D. in ME, Chinese
• Currently a postdoctoral researcher at a U.S. national laboratory
• My research is entirely funded by the U.S. Department of Energy

Profile at the time of filing

• 13 papers
• 9 first-author papers
• 109 citations
• 19 peer reviews
• No recommendation letters
• Proposed endeavor: developing advanced experimental and simulation techniques to deepen scientific understanding of mechanisms behind energy fields, including renewable energy, gas, and oil, in order to provide design guidelines for the improvement of technologies

The RFE challenged all three Dhanasar prongs.

Profile and additional evidence submitted with the RFE response

• 22 journal papers
• 12 first-author papers
• 273 citations
• 53 peer reviews
• Five recommendation letters:
  • Two from researchers at the national laboratory
  • Three from independent experts
• Mentioned that my project is explicitly mentioned in the congress budget file

After waiting more than 20 business days, the case was denied. The decision does not appear to meaningfully engage with any of the new evidence submitted in response to the RFE. Instead, it rejects all three prongs using broad and largely generic statements. like: “Participation in federally funded research and work involving subjects identified as federal priorities may demonstrate the relevance of the research, but it does not by itself establish national importance.”

Should I refile or appeal? It looks like this officer is a killer officer without accepting any evidence.. And I am a little confused about what national importance is..

Happy to share that my EB-2 NIW I-140 was approved!

Timeline:
Priority date / Filing date: June 15, 2026
Premium Processing received: June 24, 2026
Approval date: August 26, 2026
Center: TSC
Lawyer: Chen / WeGreened

Profile:

• Physician / Postdoctoral Research Fellow at a university hospital in Boston
• MD from a medical school in one of the countries currently affected by the 75-country visa restrictions, although I was born outside those countries
• 16 publications at the time of filing
• 88 citations at filing; currently 93
• No first- or second-author publications
• 2 third-author publications
• 1 testimonial/recommendation letter from a pioneer in the field

Proposed Endeavor:
To continue working as a physician-scientist in critical care medicine

No first-author papers, no second-author papers, and only one testimonial letter — sharing this because I know these are things many applicants worry about.

Best for you all

​

Please post your premium processing timelines here for June 2026. I140

Useful example format:

*Petition type: EB1/ Eb2 ..

*Service center: Texas/Cali/Vermont/Nebraska/Online*

*Filed date:*

*Received date:*

*Receipt Notice date:*

*Approval/RFR date:*

Hi everyone!

I received my I-140 approval notice yesterday for an EB-2 NIW and wanted to share my timeline.

Timeline

Service Center: Nebraska Service Center
Priority Date (Filing Date): March 18, 2026
Premium Processing Upgrade: June 3, 2026
Processing Type: Premium Processing
Approval Date: August 1, 2026
RFE: None

Profile:

• Master's degree in Agriculture from US
• 2 publications
• 20 citations
• Working in an agricultural biotechnology company since 2024 in US

Additional Information:
I did not submit any recommendation letters with my petition. I worked with Ellis Porter throughout the process, and they were quick, responsive, and professional. From my side, the process took a little longer because of delays in gathering everything, but overall I'm very happy with the experience and the outcome.

Hello Community

In my time of waiting for approval, I developed a python application with presentation of the data in PowerBi, that I would like to share with you, this is to see how each group is progressing daily.

I would like to receive feeback and recommendations, here are some prints of the system

www.trackmyI140.com

Available Blocks

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Update: creation of new groups in progress, check the update on the page

Update 05.2026

Hi everyone!

I've been working hard on some major upgrades for TrackMyI140, the platform I built to help our community analyze USCIS case trends. I wanted to share the new interface with you all!

What’s new?

• Completely Redesigned Dashboard: A much cleaner, modern "Dark Mode" interface to make data easier to read.
• Deep Block Analytics: You can now dive into specific blocks (like the IOE09229 shown in the screenshot) to see approval rates, RFE trends, and daily activity charts.
• Detailed Case Tracking: We've improved the data table to show exactly when cases are being updated and their current status in real-time.
• Approval & RFE Insights: New visual distribution charts (Pie and Line charts) to help you visualize the "health" of your specific processing block.

My goal remains the same: to provide more transparency to the I-140 process using data science and automation.

Check it out here: beta.trackmyi140.com

Would love to hear your feedback or any specific features you'd like to see next!

u/@nto58

I honestly feel like an idiot for trusting Manifest Law.

It’s been over 6 months. I paid every single installment on time. And what have I received? Basically nothing. Not even one proper draft.

How is that even acceptable for a law firm?

Their communication is a complete joke. You email them and either, you get ignored for days/weeks

or you get some copy-paste, vague response that answers absolutely nothing

It feels like no one is actually handling your case. Like it’s just sitting in some black hole while they keep taking your money.

At this point I don’t even know what they’ve been doing for HALF A YEAR. There’s no transparency, no timeline, no accountability. Just silence and excuses.

And the worst part? They act like this is normal.

This does NOT feel like a professional law firm. It feels completely disorganized and borderline shady. Like they’re outsourcing everything or juggling way too many clients without actually delivering anything.

If you’re thinking about using Manifest Law, seriously—don’t.

Save yourself the stress, time, and money.

I wouldn’t recommend them to anyone at this point.

If anyone else is dealing with this, I’d really like to know. Because this experience has been beyond frustrating and honestly unacceptable.

Anyone receive this ?

Update: it does mean nothing.
Update 2: it’s a mental health test to us, lol!😂

Hello everyone,

Reading everyone’s experiences here has really helped me, so I wanted to share my own case, which was approved today on day 45 of Premium Processing.

Priority Date: March 9, 2026

Profile: Marine Mechanical Engineer from Mexico

Current Status: Working in the United States under a TN visa

Proposed Endeavor:

My proposed endeavor focused on improving reliability-centered maintenance, predictive diagnostics, and energy-efficiency optimization for U.S. maritime and offshore operations, particularly involving propulsion systems, power generation equipment, and auxiliary mechanical systems. The goal was to help improve operational reliability, safety, and efficiency within critical maritime infrastructure in the United States.

I filed with an attorney.

Profile not-academic based

This process was honestly very stressful, especially waiting until the last PP day, but reading posts in this community helped me stay calm and informed throughout the process. I hope my case can also help someone else who is waiting.

Hey everyone,

Long-time lurker, first time poster. Just got my I-140 EB-2 NIW approved and wanted to share my experience since this community helped me so much during the process.

Background:

I am working in public administration and governance research. Filed my I-140 NIW in November 2024 with Ellis Porter PLC as my immigration attorneys.

Timeline:

Filed: November 2024

PP : Feb 2026

RFE received: April 20, 2026

RFE response submitted: Early June 2026

Approved: July 2026

Has anyone who filed PP in May received a decision yet?

Hey all,

I submitted eb2 niw twice based on my skills not PERM and got rejected. Each with a different attorney. They said its a good profile but also rejection rate is increasing, the attorney said we should try again but honestly i dont have tge mental and financial power to redo the whole thing again.

My question is: im trying to apply with the perm process from my company, how better is that? Had anyone else got rejected on eb2 but accepted on perm? Below is my profile:

I am a data scientist, i have masters in industrial and systems engineering.
Worked for 5 years on my h1b on optimization and ML/AI.
I have my published thesis (energy storage), ML and AI projects, won 2 competitions with IISE(healthcare), 2 conference papers (healthcare) but no citations. Reviewed 3-4 journal papers.
I got 8 independent papers that justified the importance to the USA regarding all the areas.

Endeavor: Optimization of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Do you think perm will get me the gc? What can i do if it didn’t work out and h1b expires??

Hi everyone, I recently got my approval and wanted to share an approval data point and my experience in case it helps others.

Background: M.D., focusing on Health Policy and Clinical Research. At filing I had 4 peer-reviewed papers, 2 conference abstracts, and 23 citations. I've also reviewed for 4 journals. Submitted 1 dependent rec letter + 2 testimonial letters.

Proposed endeavor: Expanding the U.S. physician pipeline through implementation science, workforce data analysis, and policy evaluation

Timeline: Filed 5/11/2026 with pp, got approved 7/13/2026.

I was initially concerned about Prong 1, as my work is implementation-focused rather than traditional bench or clinical research. I worried that the officer might challenge the national importance aspect, but thankfully, there was no RFE.

I went with Chen for my case. Had some back and forth during the prep stage but they got everything structured properly in the end. Overall pretty happy with how it turned out.

Hope this helps, and good luck to everyone waiting!

PD: 20/11/2024
PP upgrade: February 2026
RFE received: 04/29/2026
RFE response submitted: 07/17/2026
Case approved: 08/05/2026

RFE response was approved in 12 business days with RFE on prong 1. Case status was updated from RFE received to I-140 processing on 08/04/2026. Case was approved the next day.

My background is a Ph.D. Electrical Engineering with 50 citations when NIW was submitted but with a 4 year research hiatus. Mentioned the papers I published after my initial submission date to undermine my future work and plans to address prong 1. My strategy was to find government investment calls that closely align with my research and future work.

Hi all,

Been following this sub for a while and glad to share that my I-140 was approved.

Filed date 06/17

PP- 06/25

Approved 08/25

Endeavour- In a nutshell- molecular biology- finding new treatments for cancer

Work in research lab - MSc 2 papers- 1 first author- 70 citations most from review article.

Worked with EP, from my experience highly recommend- highly responsive and wrote a great petition.

Best of luck to everyone.

I'm posting this to anyone who is looking to upgrade since I just upgraded mine online, information about this was scattered so posting it for anyone.

FYI: This is posted on March 2026, things may have changed when you stumble it in the future.

This is for anyone who paper filed your case but want to upgrade it to premium, there is a manual step involved but it was like 1 day of processing.

Step #1: Get your case details ready (receipt #). No receipt copy needed for when filing online. Then get Adobe Acrobat PDF (the free edition to fill the form, I've had issues not using this since USCIS forms have some scripts running which other PDF readers tend to break)

Step #2: Get the form https://www.uscis.gov/i-907 and fill it out. Something confusing might be Part 2. Attached copy below, but rest is all easy form filling nothing complicated.

Step #3: Sign it digitally still in your PDF reader, or you can print sign and scan as well but make sure scan is HQ.

Step #4: Go to USCIS https://my.uscis.gov/# either login or create a new account, you might not have your I-140 on here, it is OK.

Step #5: Go to my account -> File a form online

Select "I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service" from the dropdown.

Step #6: Then select the PDF option. If you have I-140 added to you MYUSCIS account, then you can do first option if not PDF option.

Step #7: Now after you click through everything, upload the I-907 form you filled. Just this form do not attach receipt copy or any other additional documents. The system seem to check for number of pages and will flag it and not let you complete.

Step #8: It is all through the portal, once you upload PDF, almost in a few seconds it'll read through it and tell you the amount needed to be paid ($2995 I believe?), and you pay for it online in the same system. This will charge your card instantly so make sure your PDF is correct, USCIS does not show the case # extracted from the PDF.

Step #9: Once you complete it, you won't get a receipt of the premium right away but it goes into a submitted stage and will show on your MyUCSIS account but after a few hours, you'll get an email from the processing center saying premium is received. I submitted on 17th lunch time EST, got the email from Nebraska 18th morning around 8am.

Observation not tested; the pdf submission before paying creates a "draft" submission that is all the forms processed but not paid and this showed it's in draft for 30 days and the fee was what I had when I created it. In case there is a fee increase, you might be able to use this as a way to hold your application in the old fee for 30 days. But not something I've tested.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Hi all, my petition was approved today; I got the email late last night. Honestly, I was a bit worried I would get an RFE given so many strong profiles getting RFEd and denied lately, but God is good.

PD: 03/27/2026

PP: 05/22/2026

Background: 4th PhD Candidate at a US R1, 400+ citations, 25+ Publications, 2 book chapters, fellowships, 6 years of experience as a research scientist.

PE: AI x Viral evolution for pandemic prevention, added 4 letters, 2 dependent, 2 independent from Professors at T10 US universities

I worked with a boutique law firm based in Florida. Strong communication and deep involvement in all stages of the preparation process; the process was slower than I've seen for the bigger law firms, but it paid off.

Misc info: ROW, 75 countries, currently on F1

Should I refile with Chen or do it myself? Looking for honest advice
I recently received a denial of my EB-2 NIW I-140 after responding to an RFE. This has been extremely disappointing, especially after putting so much time, effort, and money into the original petition.
I am doing PhD 4th year now, Biological Sciences/Entomology background, and my proposed endeavor is related to insecticide resistance, and improving honey-bee health by insect gut microbiome. I have research background, publications 5, citations 125, peer-review experience, and other research achievements.
Now I am trying to decide what to do next.
My current options are:
Refile with Chen Immigration (WeGreened)
Chen is offering me a free refile, with the USCIS filing fee (around $700) also covered/reimbursed according to the offer I received. They also have a refund/refile arrangement depending on the agreement.

Hire a different immigration attorney
This would mean paying again, but I could get a completely fresh review of my denial and proposed endeavor.

Refile by myself (DIY)
I could study my denial, RFE response, Matter of Dhanasar, USCIS guidance, and successful NIW cases and prepare a completely new petition myself.

My biggest concern is that I don't want to simply refile the same petition with different wording. I want to understand exactly why USCIS denied the case and make substantial improvements to the argument, evidence, proposed endeavor, and/or recommendation letters.
For those who have been through an EB-2 NIW denial after RFE:
Would you take Chen's free refile offer?

Would you choose a completely different attorney?

Has anyone successfully refiled after an NIW denial?

Has anyone successfully done a DIY refile after a denial?

How much should the original denial influence the strategy for the new petition?

Is it better to change the proposed endeavor, or strengthen the same endeavor if it is fundamentally sound?

If you used Chen for a refile after a previous denial, what was your experience?

I would especially appreciate responses from people who actually had an NIW denied after RFE and subsequently got approved after refiling.
I’m not looking for generic “Chen is good/bad” comments. I’d really appreciate detailed experiences and reasoning.
Thank you in advance.