The NIW for Entrepreneurs and Founders

Why the NIW Works for Founders

An employer-sponsored green card needs a job offer and a labor certification, and USCIS notes that Department of Labor rules generally make labor certification unavailable in self-employment. The national interest waiver removes the job offer requirement and with it the labor certification, so an entrepreneur "may self-petition." The decision that set the current test, Matter of Dhanasar, was written with founders in mind: the AAO said the old test had "proven particularly ill-suited" to self-employed people such as entrepreneurs, and designed the new one "to apply more flexibly to circumstances of both petitioning employers and self-petitioning individuals."

Dhanasar also gives founders a direct argument under the third prong: "because of the nature of the proposed endeavor, it may be impractical for an entrepreneur or self-employed inventor, when advancing an endeavor on his or her own, to secure a job offer from a U.S. employer."

What USCIS Says Will Not Be Enough

The January 15, 2025 Policy Manual update is blunt: "not every entrepreneur qualifies for a national interest waiver," and "broad assertions regarding general benefits to the economy and potential to create jobs will not establish an entrepreneur's qualification." Owning a company, the Manual adds, rarely establishes eligibility on its own. USCIS weighs all of the evidence together, and no single item on its list establishes eligibility by itself.

The threshold rules apply to founders as to everyone. You must first qualify for EB-2 through an advanced degree, a bachelor's degree plus five years of progressive experience in the specialty, or exceptional ability, and the degree, experience or ability must relate to the endeavor. A founder with a finance degree proposing a biotechnology company, for example, has to show how the two connect.

Defining the Startup Endeavor

The endeavor is the company's specific work: the product or service, the problem it solves and for whom. "Running a business" is an occupation. Dhanasar says merit can be shown in "business, entrepreneurialism, science, technology, culture, health, or education," and gives two routes to national importance that fit startups. One is an undertaking with "national or even global implications within a particular field." The other is economic: an endeavor "that has significant potential to employ U.S. workers or has other substantial positive economic effects, particularly in an economically depressed area."

The 2025 guidance means the economic route has to be specific. Hiring projections and general claims about growth are the "broad assertions" USCIS says will not establish qualification. What works is evidence: jobs created so far and the documentation for them, revenue, contracts, investment on terms, customers in a defined market, and an explanation of why the problem the company solves matters nationally.

The Evidence USCIS Lists for Entrepreneurs

The Policy Manual sets out, under nine headings, the kinds of evidence an entrepreneur may submit. They map onto the Dhanasar factors of record, plan, progress and the interest of others.

• Ownership and role in the U.S. entity. Formation documents, the capitalization table, and evidence of your position and duties. USCIS's entrepreneur guidance describes a founder who holds an ownership interest and plays "an active and central role."
• Degrees, certifications, licenses and letters of experience. The EB-2 threshold evidence, tied to the endeavor.
• Investments. Funding received, from whom and on what terms; investor interest is itself a Dhanasar factor.
• Incubator or accelerator participation. Selection by competitive programs and what they provided.
• Awards or grants. Including government research grants and competition awards.
• Intellectual property. Patents, applications, licenses and their use.
• Published materials about you or the company. Independent coverage of the work.
• Revenue generation, growth in revenue and job creation. Documented, not projected.
• Letters and statements from third parties. Customers, partners, investors and experts with first-hand knowledge, supported by other evidence.

Business plans and projections

A business plan is useful to explain the endeavor and the model, but the Manual says plans "should be supported by other independent evidence." Dhanasar does not require proof that the venture will succeed: "many innovations and entrepreneurial endeavors may ultimately fail, in whole or in part, despite an intelligent plan and competent execution." What you must show, by a preponderance of the evidence, is that you are well positioned to advance the endeavor, and the plan is one factor among the record, the progress and the interest of others.

Your Role in the Company

USCIS's guidance for entrepreneurs describes a petitioner whose knowledge, skills or experience will significantly advance the endeavor and who has an active and central role in the U.S. entity. It also recognizes that founders "often do not follow traditional career paths" and that startups vary in structure, so other kinds of evidence may be submitted. A co-founder with a smaller share can qualify; the evidence has to show that the company's progress depends on what you do.

Status, Work Authorization and Timing

Filing the I-140 does not by itself change your current status, and whether you may work for your own company while the petition is pending depends on the status you hold, which we review before filing. Once a visa number is available and Form I-485 is filed, you may apply for a work permit ($260 under the fee schedule of October 16, 2026) that allows work for any employer, including your company. After the green card you may work for anyone, including yourself.

Founders born in India or mainland China should plan around the EB-2 wait: in the October 2026 Visa Bulletin the EB-2 Final Action Date was November 1, 2013 for India and October 1, 2021 for China. An approved NIW fixes a priority date that carries over to a later EB-1A petition if the company's success builds that record. See NIW versus EB-1A and the main NIW page for the full snapshot.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I work for my own company on an NIW?

The NIW is a self-petition, so your own company does not need to sponsor you, and USCIS's guidance for entrepreneurs is written for founders with an active and central role in their U.S. entity. Whether you may work for the company while the petition is pending depends on your current status. After Form I-485 is filed you may apply for a work permit, and after the green card you may work for anyone, including yourself.

Does my startup need revenue or customers to qualify?

No single item is required; USCIS evaluates all of the evidence together. Revenue, growth and job creation are on its list of entrepreneur evidence, and so are investment, accelerator selection, awards and grants, intellectual property, published coverage, your plan and your progress. An early-stage company can qualify on the strength of the problem, the plan, the progress and the interest of investors and customers, but general claims about future jobs and growth will not.

Does venture funding help?

Yes. Investments are one of the nine kinds of evidence USCIS lists for entrepreneurs, and the interest of investors is one of Dhanasar's factors for whether you are well positioned to advance the endeavor. The terms, the investors and what the funding enabled all matter.

Is job creation required?

No. Dhanasar says an endeavor with significant potential to employ U.S. workers may have national importance, which makes job creation one way to show it, not a requirement. The 2025 guidance adds that broad assertions about potential job creation will not establish qualification; documented jobs and other evidence do the work.

I am a co-founder with a small ownership share. Does that matter?

Ownership and role are considered together, and owning a company rarely establishes eligibility on its own. What the evidence has to show is that you play an active and central role and that your knowledge, skills or experience will significantly advance the endeavor.

Can my company sponsor me for an employer-based green card instead?

USCIS notes that Department of Labor rules generally make labor certification unavailable in self-employment, which is why founders turn to the self-petition categories, the NIW and EB-1A. Which fits depends on your record; see our comparison of the two.

Working With Our Firm

Harry Asatrian handles EB-2 National Interest Waiver petitions, including initial filings, responses to requests for evidence, and appeals after a denial. The firm represents researchers, physicians in underserved areas, engineers, entrepreneurs and public health professionals in NIW petitions, and Harry's approach is to document a client's achievements in full and frame the petition around a specific endeavor, in fields from academic research and medicine to technology, the arts and athletics.

Call (973) 735-2716 or use the contact form. Our office is at 72 South Maple Avenue, 1st Floor, Ridgewood, NJ 07450; NIW petitions are filed with USCIS, so the firm works with clients anywhere in the United States and abroad. Start with the EB-2 National Interest Waiver overview for the full picture of eligibility, the Dhanasar test, fees and visa timing.

Attorney Advertising. Nothing on this page is legal advice for your situation, and reading it does not make you a client of the firm. Results depend on the facts of each case, and prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Government fees, forms and visa dates change; the figures here are a dated snapshot with links to the official sources.