US national interest green card for highly qualified specialists

Who can apply

The national interest green card belongs to the second employment-based category. You can apply with a master's or doctoral degree, or a bachelor's degree plus at least 5 years of progressive experience in the field, or with exceptional ability in science, the arts or business proven by at least 3 of the immigration service's 7 criteria.

Experience after the bachelor's degree must be genuinely progressive: roles with growing responsibility, leading projects, improving results. A degree obtained abroad qualifies once its equivalency is confirmed.

What national interest means

Beyond qualifications you must prove three things. First, what you will do in the US has substantial merit and national importance, for example in science, technology, healthcare, education, entrepreneurship or culture. Second, you are well positioned to advance the endeavour: education, experience, publications, results, expert support. Third, it benefits the US to waive the usual employer and labour market test requirements. A clear plan of work in the country is needed.

What the endeavour should look like

Immigration assesses not the profession as a whole but a specific endeavour: what exactly you will do in the US, for whom, and what effect it will have beyond a single employer or circle of clients. Endeavours in medicine, engineering, IT, energy, education and entrepreneurship work well when backed by numbers: deployments, users, investment, citations, jobs created. A doctor who will simply see patients or an engineer in an ordinary role are more often refused, while a researcher with a new treatment method or a founder with a plan to hire in the US have good chances.

What it costs

Timelines and the queue

With premium processing immigration decides the petition within 45 business days, otherwise usually within several months. But approval is not yet a green card: a queue by country of birth applies next. In the October 2026 visa bulletin, for most countries the final action priority date is 1 January 2025 and the date for filing is 15 March 2026. So the time from filing to a green card is now noticeably longer than the review itself.

Your place in the queue is fixed by the filing date, so it pays to file as early as possible. The queue is counted by country of birth, not citizenship: for those born in India and China it is noticeably longer.

Adjustment of status in the US or a visa via a consulate

Once the priority date is current, the green card is obtained in one of two ways. If you are lawfully in the US, you file for adjustment of status: the fee is $1,440, or $950 for a child under 14 filing together with a parent. While it is pending you can get a work permit for $260 and a travel permit for $630 on paper or $580 online.

If you are abroad, the family attends an interview at a US consulate. The immigrant visa fee is $345 for each family member, including children, and after the visa is issued and before entry the $235 immigrant fee is paid for producing the green card. The medical exam by a consulate-designated physician is paid separately at their rate. The consulate for the interview depends on your country of residence.

Budget for a family of three

The medical exam, translations, degree evaluation and our support are calculated separately: a consultant will give the cost in the chat.

Documents

• Degrees and proof of experience: employer letters, employment contracts.
• Evidence of achievements: publications, citations, patents, awards, projects, talks, press coverage.
• Recommendation letters from independent experts on the significance of your work.
• A plan of work in the US: what exactly you will do and why it matters to the country.
• Passports, birth and marriage certificates for family members.

Degree evaluation and translations

If your degree was not obtained in the US, the petition includes an equivalency evaluation from a specialised service showing which US degree your education corresponds to. Documents not in English are translated in full, and the translator signs a statement of competence in both languages and accuracy. For the consulate, adult family members also collect police certificates from the countries where they lived after age 16, following State Department rules.

Step by step

1. Assessing the profile and choosing the basis: advanced degree or exceptional ability.
2. Framing the endeavour and collecting evidence and recommendation letters, usually 1-3 months.
3. Filing the petition, with premium processing if desired.
4. After approval and once the priority date is current, adjustment of status in the US or an immigrant visa via a consulate.
5. Green cards for the applicant and family, and after 5 years an application for citizenship.

Why petitions are refused

• National importance is not shown: the endeavour is described as ordinary work in the profession.
• Weak evidence of qualifications or achievements, recommendations only from acquaintances.
• No concrete plan of work in the US.
• Experience is not progressive or not in the field of the degree.

In 2025 the approval rate fell sharply, to 35.7% in the last quarter, and by the third quarter of fiscal 2026 it recovered to 55.3%. So a strong petition matters more than ever.

If you receive a request or a refusal

If evidence is insufficient, immigration sends a request for evidence with a specific response deadline. After a refusal you can file an appeal or a motion to reconsider within 30 days for an $800 fee, or file a new petition with stronger evidence. A new petition is often faster, especially with premium processing, but it receives a priority date based on the new filing.

Who it suits and who it does not

The route suits scientists, physician researchers, engineers, IT specialists and entrepreneurs with measurable results who want to live in the US without depending on an employer. It does not suit those without a degree or outstanding results, those who simply want to change country without a plan for work in the US, or those who need a quick result: with the queue, the path currently takes more than a year.

Family

A spouse and unmarried children under 21 receive green cards together with the applicant. A spouse with a green card may work without restrictions, and children attend American schools and apply to universities as permanent residents. A child's age can in some cases be locked in at the filing date, so families with older children should file earlier.

Taxes and life with a green card

With a green card you become a US tax resident, pay federal tax on worldwide income plus state tax where applicable, and report foreign accounts. A green card is meant for living in the US: trips longer than six months raise questions, and an absence of more than a year without a re-entry permit can lead to losing status.

The path to citizenship

After 5 years of permanent residence with a green card you can apply for citizenship if you spent at least half of that time in the US and pass an English and civics test. The US does not require giving up previous citizenship, but check whether your current country expects you to report a second one.

What changes in 2026

From 1 March 2026 premium processing costs $2,965. From October 2026, the start of the new fiscal year, a queue again applies in the second employment-based category for most countries: the final action priority date is 1 January 2025. Approval rates are recovering after the 2025 slump, but requirements for evidence of national importance remain strict.

Alternatives

What we do

Murblz specialists assess your profile and chances, help frame an endeavour of national importance, collect evidence and recommendation letters, prepare the petition together with US immigration lawyers and support the path to a green card. A consultant will calculate the cost in the chat, and we fix the estimate in writing.

Every way to get residency in the US

This is one route. All the other grounds for residency in the US, with conditions, amounts in dollars and timelines, are compared on How to get residency in the US in 2026: every route.

Benefits of the national interest green card

How to get the EB-2 NIW visa: step by step

FAQ