EB-2 NIW 2026: Green Card for AI and Robotics Professionals — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00If you work in AI, robotics, or advanced
2. 0:02manufacturing and are considering your
3. 0:04US immigration options, you're in a
4. 0:06field that has been publicly identified
5. 0:09as critical to US national interest.
6. 0:12Supply chains, defense capability,
7. 0:15technological leadership, these areas
8. 0:18are extremely important to the future of
9. 0:20the United States. So, here's the
10. 0:22question. If you work in one of these
11. 0:24fields, are you a strong candidate for
12. 0:27obtaining a green card through the EB-2
13. 0:30National Interest Waiver without the
14. 0:32need for an employer [music] sponsor?
15. 0:35The short answer is yes. But, that's
16. 0:38where most people go wrong.
17. 0:40Being in a critical field gives you an
18. 0:42edge. It doesn't build your case for
19. 0:45you. Stay with me and I'll show you the
20. 0:47difference.
21. 1:01I'm attorney Carlos Colombo. I'm the
22. 1:03founding partner at Colombo & Hurd. For
23. 1:06over two decades, our firm has worked
24. 1:08with thousands of highly skilled
25. 1:10professionals like you across the EB-2
26. 1:13NIW, EB-1A, and other pathways. And I
27. 1:17spend a lot of time looking at what
28. 1:19actually gets approved in this
29. 1:20environment.
30. 1:22The reason I'm making this video is
31. 1:24straightforward. Your field has a
32. 1:26distinct advantage right now.
33. 1:29Everyone was talking about AI. But, that
34. 1:31advantage only matters if the case is
35. 1:34built correctly. An EB-2 NIW petition
36. 1:37has to answer a few core questions. The
37. 1:40first is whether your proposed endeavor,
38. 1:43the work you're planning to do in the
39. 1:44US, has substantial merit and national
40. 1:48importance. The second is whether you'll
41. 1:51be you're well-positioned to advance
42. 1:54that work uh based on your background
43. 1:57and your experience. And finally, you
44. 1:59must demonstrate that waving the job
45. 2:02offer requirement makes sense for the
46. 2:05United States. In most fields, the first
47. 2:08question, substantial merit and national
48. 2:10importance, is where the government is
49. 2:13most aggressive.
50. 2:15You're building an argument from scratch
51. 2:17that your work actually matters to the
52. 2:20country.
53. 2:21Here's what's different in your field.
54. 2:24The government has already said
55. 2:27that it cares about AI-enabled
56. 2:29manufacturing, robotics, domestic
57. 2:31production
58. 2:32capacity. These are documented national
59. 2:35priorities. But here's the critical
60. 2:38part. That doesn't mean that you
61. 2:41automatically qualify. It's not about
62. 2:43the field, it's about your proposed
63. 2:46endeavor, the specific work you're
64. 2:48planning to do.
65. 2:50That has to be defined clearly, and how
66. 2:53it connects to those priorities.
67. 2:55If it were just the field, everyone here
68. 2:58would get approved in these fields. They
69. 3:00don't. What we're seeing is in
70. 3:02successful cases, it is clearly
71. 3:04articulated proposed endeavor, what
72. 3:07you're actually going to work on, what
73. 3:09problem it solves, why that problem
74. 3:12matters in the US context right now.
75. 3:15When that's built correctly, officers
76. 3:17see how your work aligns with what the
77. 3:19government says it needs.
78. 3:22That's where the advantage of your field
79. 3:24actually becomes a strength in the
80. 3:26petition.
81. 3:28The proposed endeavor, your background,
82. 3:30and how they connect, that's where the
83. 3:32case lives.
84. 3:34You have to show that your specific
85. 3:36skills, your track record, the problems
86. 3:38you're actually solving, these position
87. 3:41you to advance this particular work in
88. 3:44the US. Not in the abstract, but
89. 3:46concretely. That evidence has to be
90. 3:49organized around what USCIS immigration
91. 3:51actually evaluates. What matters most is
92. 3:54how that evidence is presented. How it
93. 3:57all points to the same conclusion.
94. 4:00That's the work that we do. That's also
95. 4:02where representation from counsel makes
96. 4:04a real difference. We want to
97. 4:06authentically bring out the strongest
98. 4:09version of what you've already
99. 4:11accomplished. Organize in a way that
100. 4:13shows immigration exactly what they're
101. 4:16evaluating.
102. 4:18The third question follows logically
103. 4:21from there. Why would it serve in the
104. 4:23United States to waive the normal job
105. 4:26requirement offer?
106. 4:28When the first two pieces are solid,
107. 4:30that usually answers itself. But it
108. 4:32needs to be stated directly.
109. 4:34Here's what's different in the current
110. 4:36environment. The surge of EB-2 and NIW
111. 4:40applications over the last few years
112. 4:42created a backlog. And USCIS responded
113. 4:45by being more careful about the
114. 4:47standard. The result is that the weak
115. 4:50cases get worse outcomes, and strong
116. 4:53cases get better ones. The gap is wider
117. 4:56than it's ever been. What's succeeding
118. 4:58are cases built with strategy and care.
119. 5:01Cases where the proposed endeavor is
120. 5:03specifically defined, not generic. Cases
121. 5:07where the evidence is organized around
122. 5:09the legal standard. Or cases where
123. 5:12someone's background is connected to a
124. 5:14specific area of need. Not just a praise
125. 5:17of the work or a description of what
126. 5:19their resume is, but a real legal
127. 5:22argument.
128. 5:23What's struggling in 2026 is the
129. 5:26templates approach. Boilerplate
130. 5:29language, proposed endeavors so generic
131. 5:32they could apply to anyone in your
132. 5:34field. USCIS has adjudicated enough of
133. 5:36these to recognize the pattern. So, if
134. 5:39you're in AI, robotics, or advanced
135. 5:41manufacturing, and you've been thinking
136. 5:44that filling out your green card
137. 5:46application, you have a genuine
138. 5:48advantage. The national interest piece
139. 5:51is clear, but that's the starting point,
140. 5:54not the finish line. The question is
141. 5:56whether the rest of your case, your
142. 5:58specific background, your achievements,
143. 6:01your positioning is built to match the
144. 6:04strength of the field.
145. 6:06That's where strategy and representation
146. 6:09matters.
147. 6:10Many professionals in your space have no
148. 6:13idea whether they have a strong case
149. 6:16because they've never walked through
150. 6:18their background with someone who
151. 6:20actually does this kind of work.
152. 6:23That's what our team does. We're not
153. 6:25interested in filing cases for the sake
154. 6:27of filing and filing them. We're looking
155. 6:30at whether there's a real foundation,
156. 6:33and if there is, we build the strongest
157. 6:35possible argument around it.
158. 6:38If you want to know where you stand, the
159. 6:41first step is a professional evaluation.
160. 6:44Our team at Colombo and Hurd offers a
161. 6:46free review. No commitment, just a real
162. 6:49conversation about your background and
163. 6:52whether the EB-2 NIW or an EB-1A makes
164. 6:55sense for you in 2026.
165. 6:58If that's something you're interested,
166. 7:00click at the link below and fill our
167. 7:01questionnaire to get started.
168. 7:04Thanks for listening.