It is generally advised to obtain 4 to 10 letters of recommendation from independant experts working in the same field as the applicant (editors of journals, scientists citing one of the publications, peer who collaborated with the petioner or attended one of his talks, or expers from industrial associations, professional or scientific societies, or government institutions). The more prestigious the experts and their institution, the better. It is also best if they come from different places and if a few of them are in a foreign country to show the national / international impact of the applicant. It is also good to have some letters from people who have never worked with the applicant as they will judge him exclusively on his work.
Additionally, a petitioner can also have letters from your company or boss (current and/or former employers) describing your work and its national importance but it is probably not a substitution to the letters of the experts. This letter can:
describe the job position and how it is of national interest
show why the applicant is a critical member of the team and better than his peers (through his abilities and unique set of experience)
discuss what are the benefits that the petitioner is bringing
confirm that the applicant already has substantial impact on the field through examples of his achievements
explain how the project would be jeopardize without his/her expertise
Do NOT use the "shortage of US workers" as an argument for national interest for the National Interest Waiver application. If this is the case, then the application should probably go through a labor certification.
The letters should explain with proofs/examples why they believe that the applicant work in a field of substantial intrinsic merit, why his work is national in scope, and why his work would benefit the national interests.
A short curriculum vitae of each expert should be attached with their recommendation letter. The letters should contain an introduction, explain how the recommender knows the petitioner, the background of the recommender and a detailed description and appraisal of the applicant's work.
Examples of sentences for the some sections of the letter:
RE:
Dear...
► Dear Madam/Sir,
► Dear USCIS Officer:
► Dear Immigran Officer:
► TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
► Dear Sir or Madam:
Introduction:
► This letter is to convey my strong support for Dr. ______’s application for a National Interest Waiver.
► I write this letter in support of Dr ______’s petition for immigration to the United States, in the category of EB2 NIW (National Interest Waiver). Dr ____ made significant scientific contributions to the field of_________. This work on __________ is especially timely because of impacts on health
► This letter serves to express my unreserved support regardind Dr._____'s application for Permanent Residency in the National Interest Waiver Category. As an expert in ______, I am glad to provide my support and write an evaluation of her research experience in the field of ____________
Recommender's background
Appraisal of the petitioner's work
► Due to her innovative approaches, she was invited to give oral presentations and present her work in ___________. The fact that her works have received wide interest and acceptance by other researchers demonstrate clearly that she is an expert in her field.
►
► I am very impressed with Dr.____’s continuing research in the field of ________
► Her results thus far are quite intriguing
► He has not only brainstormed difficult conceptual problems in _________ but has also developed state-of-the-art knowledge regarding complicated instrumentation: he designed image ______ helping the ________ and participated in__________
► Dr .______'s research work aims to tackle the problems of____
► Dr. ________ has conducted in-depth research to study the ________ that could explain _______ . These data represent a gold mine of information for _______
►The development of automated tools achieved by Dr _____ has been extremely important because it has improved the speed of _____, by it has also enhanced the reproducibility, a very critical parameter in biological experiments.
► The project in which Dr ___________ was _________ was founded by _________ and aimed at dramatically reducing the costs and lessening the time it takes to _______.
► This result is a significant finding in the field. It not only greatly enhances our understanding of the ___________, but also provides very critical information for the ____ which in turn will certainly help us better understand the _____________ .
► She also carried out first-rate studies on the unique_______. Her novel discoveries have provided a better understanding of _________
► She has several publications in top journals
► His work has been cited _________ times which is ______
► She has made the milestone discovery that ____
► He has made presentations at _____ , a major forum for the discussions of _____-related research
► He produced several important publications, as first and second author, in major international scientific journals like ________
► The________ plays a pivotal role in the process of_____. Dr ___ has conducted in-depth research that has been fundamental to show __________.
► ________ have been the least studied _________, and yet, are the most common drug targets for ______. Thus, __________ work is of vital importance to modern drug design.
► The research group of which Dr _____ is a vital part, is one of the leading teams in__________________.
► The ongoing work on ______ has an enormous positive impact on the American economy because incidents of __________ are very expensive to treat, and not enough is yet known to prevent it
► The ____ and tools developed not only reduce significantly the time needed to complete _________, but it also reduces the costs generated by such experiments
► ______ is an outstanding and exceptionally skilled scientist whose groundbreaking research work is of vital importance to our country's ______ efforts and improvement of public health in national scope
► These medical conditions affect up to _______% of the U.S. population
► The potential clinical applications are _____
► The potential clinical application to these conditions of Dr. ______’s research is truly in the interest of the United , and promises to greatly improve health care, as well as reducing health care cost
► Cost should decrease because _____
► After studying and evaluating Dr. ____’s research work, I noticed that it (potentially) provides answers to the following questions, which are being hotly debated at the present time: ___
► What is learned from his research project is critically important for development and application of new drugs targeting at ________, including ___________
► The results of his research benefit all kinds of _________ and, as such, Dr ___’s ongoing role will unquestionably have a positive impact on healthcare in the United States.
► The nationwide impact of this research is evident from the fact that it has been supported by a generous grant from the National Institute of Health and the results of her studies have been presented at numerous conferences and published in several premier scientific journals
► The ____ is heavily supported by __________, reflecting the national importance of the research conducted
► It is clear that Dr ____’s work is enormously critical for improving U.S. medical research and health care.
► Dr. ______ has built up a remarkable track record with high impact science and I eagerly await his next scientific moves. Taking into account his age, his scientific maturity and his unequivocal ascending career it is my opinion that his continued presence in the United States is on the national interest.
► His outstanding contributions to the scientific community and its benefits to U.S. national interest have been recognized nationally and internationally as shown by ________
► Dr. _____ is not only an expert in his field, but also an obvious candidate for leadership positions where scientists, policy makers, administrators, and the public intereact to take ________ to the next level.
► Because the research conducted by _______ is helping to unravel a number of key issues on very important medical problems, her contributions are expected to be widely applicable to the development of treatments for ______, disease that affect _______ of Americans.
► His presentations at international conferences have been highly attended
► His accomplishments to date have far exceeded those of the vast majority of his peers as evidenced by his productive publications in premier scientific journals and frequent citations of his works by other researchers
► Dr. ____ conducts his research using the cutting edge techniques for __________ , in which only a few selected scientists have gained proficiency to date.
► Developing and using techniques to achieve ___________ is extremely challenging and very few people stand as both a developer and a user as Dr. ______: it requires a deep understanding of the many techniques involved as well as a lot of experience.
► Dr._____’s experience in ______ allows him to cover the wide of abilities absolutely necessary to conduct such work
► Working with___________ can be very tricky and the _________ a person usually handles in his career is limited. The number of experiments supervised by Dr. _____ is absolutely astounding. The statistics and results presented in ________ prove that
► Her degree of expertise is significantly above that ordinarily encountered in the _______ field
► Dr. _______ also conducts her research on ______, a cutting edge technique in which only a few select scientist have gained proficiency to date.
► ____’s citation record is substantial relative to his peers – remarkably high number of first and second author papers and a large number of citations for the field.
► His work has been cited over ______ times by the researchers and scientists around the world in his field. This achievement is impressive and noteworthy
► The petitioner is significantly superior to most other scientists with a similar professional record and has made great contributions to solve the problems inherent to dealing with _________ . His ability to push the field forward is a great asset to the United States of America as it ultimately serves understanding the mechanisms involved in many disorders frequent in this country (_____, ________, etc).
► His research works are well-recognized nationally and internationally as indicated by a large number of citations (more than ________) of his papers by other researchers in this field.
►________'s significant accomplishments are far above what is expected from her peer group and have established her as a nationally and internationally outstanding researcher in the field of _______.
► Dr ____ is an irreplaceable member of the community because of his extensive expertise in the fields of ________. He plays an important role in the development of the hardware / software that is so essential to those specific applications and are often one of the keys to the overall success of the project
Conclusion:
► If granted, it will allow him to continue his fundamental research work on ______.
► It is my professional opinion that her research work and skills are and will greatly benefit the field of _________ research, as well as scientific research in general.
► His research is doubtlessly in the national interest of the United States. I believe that _________ will be very productive in his research efforts, and I fully support and recommend that his petition of EB2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) be granted
►Dr ____ must be allowed to continue his outstanding research work here in the United States to aid ________ analysis and the subsequent drug developments which depend on it.
► In the U.S. and around the world, millions of human lives are affected by diseases directly related to __________. Under these conditions where delays may jeopardize the health of U.S. citizens, the labor certification process should be waived and _____ should be granted a National Interest Waiver. I strongly urge that he be granted this waiver.
►I am definitively confident that Dr. ______'s work is going to have a lasting influence in ________. She brings together this combination of great aptitudes to reach the top of the field. Therefore, I respectfully suggest the C.I.S. to grant her petition for lawful permanent residence so that the United States may continue to benefit from her expertise in the future.
► In summary, I believe that Dr _____ is a talented investigator who has made, and will continue to make, substantial contributions in United States and its health system, and his work is in U.S. national interest. I endorse Dr____’s application for U.S. permanent residence status strongly and without reservation. I will be pleased to provide any additional information that might be helpful in your evaluation and approval of this petition.
Bye...
► Sincerely,
► Yours truly,
► Sincerely yours,
► Respectfully yours,
► Best regards,