Unlocking the National Interest Waiver: Winning Strategies for Immigration Petitions Under Changing Policies
| Live Event Date: 05/29/2025 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Format | Length | CLE Eligible |
| Web Seminar | 90 min. | Yes |
Understanding how U.S. government agencies define “national interest” is critical when filing immigrant visa petitions that request a waiver of the labor certification requirement. Expert panelists will explore and offer insights into the evolving standards and priorities of what is in the national interest under the current administration through a review of executive orders and changes to USCIS policies and practices. They also will provide legal strategies and practical guidance on crafting persuasive arguments, addressing agency challenges, and navigating potential shifts in adjudication criteria to maximize success.
Featured Topics:
- Defining “national interest”: understanding the legal and policy framework behind waivers of the labor certification requirement
- Policy priorities and trends: analyzing the current administration’s approach to national interest determinations
- Reframing the proposed endeavor to craft a persuasive petition: presenting evidence, building a compelling case for a national interest waiver
- Common challenges: addressing Requests for Evidence (RFEs) and other hurdles in the adjudication process
- Sector-specific considerations: exploring how national interest evaluations may vary across industries (e.g., energy, healthcare, technology, and academia)
AILA Membership Benefit – Access to Free Seminar Recordings (CLE Credit Available for $35)
Enjoy access to free seminar recordings (from October 2020–present) as an AILA Member. AILA encourages live attendance for those wishing to ask the speaker questions. CLE credit is included with purchase for live participants.
Recordings will be available approximately two weeks after the live event date. AILA members can access these seminars, with no CLE credit, for free. Recordings are CLE eligible in most jurisdictions and an administration fee is required to obtain CLE credit.
Contact us at cle@aila.org or visit AILA’s Web Seminar Recordings page for more information about receiving CLE credit for a web seminar recording.
Eligible participants can receive up to 1.8 CLE credit hours. AILA will administer CLE credit only to individuals who register and log into the web seminar. AILA cannot verify your attendance and participation in this program unless you register directly for the web seminar and use your name to log in to participate in the program. Therefore, persons who log in or listen in on the web seminar as part of a group will not be able to obtain CLE credit.
Please note that your jurisdiction may limit the amount of distance learning credit you can earn. To view details on your jurisdiction's credit restrictions and CLE requirements, visit the CLE Center.
AILA has filed for CLE and specialized credit in all jurisdictions with mandatory CLE requirements. For details about specific approvals, contact us at cle@aila.org.
- AILA applies for accreditation upon attorneys’ request after participation for the following states: AR, DE, IA, ID, KS, KY, LA, ME, MN, MS, OR, TN and WY. Programs are typically approved.
- Florida and Rhode Island - Attorneys must apply on their own for approval of seminars in FL and RI. Programs are typically approved.
- The OnDemand Recording format does not qualify for CLE credit in the following jurisdictions: MO and PR. Please note that your jurisdiction may limit OnDemand credit based on the date of the original presentation. View the OnDemand Downloadable Expiration Chart for more details.
To receive CLE credit for the live event, attorneys must record web seminar attendance and the CLE code provided within one week of the web seminar date via webCLE.
Contact us at cle@aila.org or visit AILA’s Web Seminar Recordings page for more information about receiving CLE credit for a seminar recording.
Rinku Ray (DL), Sugar Land, TX
Rinku Ray is the Founder and Managing Attorney of Ray & Fahys, PLLC, a firm focusing on EB-1A and NIW Self-Petitioned Green Cards. She is a member of the AILA Distance Learning committee, a member of the Houston Bar Journal editorial board, and co-author of Business Immigration Law: Strategies for Employing Foreign Nationals. Ms. Ray received her JD from the Rutgers-Camden University School of Law (1995).
David J. Wilks, AILA Board of Governors/USCIS HQ (Benefits Policy) Liaison Committee, Rochester, NY
David J. Wilks co-leads the Immigration Practice Group at Hodgson Russ LLP in Rochester, New York. He represents a wide variety of business immigration clients. Mr. Wilks currently serves as an Elected Director on the national Board of Governors of the American Immigration Lawyers Association’s (AILA). His articles have appeared in Bender’s Immigration Bulletin, ILW.com, National Law Review, and in various AILA publications, including: Immigration Options for Investors and Entrepreneurs, 4th Ed. Mr. Wilks is also the 2019 recipient AILA’s national Joseph Minsky Young Lawyer Award, and the AILA Upstate New York Chapter’s 2018 Mark T. Kenmore Mentor of the Year Award. Mr. Wilks is a Graduate of Cornell Law School.
Amy Maldonado, AILA Business Section Steering Committee, East Lansing, MI
Amy Maldonado is the Managing Attorney at the Law Office of Amy Maldonado LLC in East Lansing, Michigan. Her practice is concentrated in high-end business immigration. Ms. Maldonado is a commentator on immigration legal issues in the media, and has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, NBC News, and NPR as well as quoted in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the New York Times, and many other outlets. She is an active member of AILA, as well as the American Bar Association, the Hispanic National Bar Association, and the Federal Bar Association.
Henry Lindpere, Tucson, AZ
Henry Lindpere is the Managing Attorney at Lindpere Legal, a virtual immigration law firm serving STEM professionals, business executives, and entrepreneurs. He received his JD from the University of Arizona (2020) and is admitted to the State Bar of Arizona.
