u/Background_Gene_179

My wife holds a Masters degree in mathematics, she is looking for job (Part time, full time) schools, day care, etc. she is also open to work in a clinic (if no exp. required), hospital, etc..

Basically, any leads would be helpful. Thanks

As long as I could find information that NIW petitioner doesn't require a permanent job:

"USCIS Policy Manual Vol. 6(F)(5) makes clear that a petitioner for a national interest waiver need not demonstrate a permanent job offer or permanent employment. The temporary nature of a postdoctoral appointment is therefore not legally relevant to Prong 2 eligibility. Postdoctoral research positions are the standard, recognized career stage for researchers in Dr. A's field between doctoral training and permanent independent positions, they are not evidence of impermanence of purpose but rather the established pathway through which researchers in chemical engineering advance their proposed endeavors. Matter of Dhanasar itself involved a researcher at a career stage comparable to Dr. A's.

Then why officer asked for this kind of evidence?

Officer quote: "According to the personal statement, you have been working as a postdoctoral researcher at X university since September 2024, and plan to continue in this position for the foreseeable future. In addition to progressing the proposed endeavour through your work at X University, you intend to continue to circulate your research in the field through peer-reviewed publications and conference presentation. However, you did not provide an employment verification letter which describes the terms of postdoctoral appointment and demonstrates whether you are working on temporary or permanent basis. Therefore, the possible impermanence of this position does not substantiate progress towards achieving your proposed endeavour. Please submit an employment verification letter from X university which specifies the terms and length of your postdoctoral appointment."

Recently I received RFE on prong 2, officer thinks I'm not well position to advance my proposed endeavour.

What my attorney included in the RFE response but I'm not sure is enough:

1. Attorney focused heavily on citation context
2. Attorney references original filing exhibits for PhD, publications, etc. rather than resubmitting (officer said don't resubmit what was already submitted)

What I think is missing from the response that I want to raise with attorney:

1. My doctoral research award for independent institutional recognition of my research in exactly this field
2. Peer review service: reviewed 41 articles across 13 journals (Post filing)
3. Industry interview invitations, officer literally asked for "interest of potential customers/relevant entities"
4. My phd work (lab work) and current work (Postdoc but scale up work) is same and proposed endeavour as well,

My main question: for those who received a Prong 2 RFE and got approved, what evidence made the biggest difference? Did the interview invitations / industry interest letters help? Did the attorney's legal framing (Matter of Chawathe preponderance standard, Dhanasar citation comparison) carry more weight than the actual evidence?

Also curious whether anyone successfully argued that post-filing evidence (current job performance, recent industry interest) is valid for RFE response even though officer said evidence should reflect conditions at filing date.

Thanks.

Can we do unpaid postdoc for short period of time e.g. 4-6 months? if yes then how to manage insurance? university offer cheap insurance or we have to buy somewhere else and how much it will cost? Thanks.