EB-2 NIW Business Plan: What USCIS Says It Has to Prove
No statute or regulation asks for a business plan in an EB-2 National Interest Waiver petition, and the USCIS Policy Manual says a plan should be backed by independent evidence. On the waiver, 8 CFR 204.5(k)(4)(ii) asks for "evidence to support the claim that such exemption would be in the national interest". The manual, current to 2 October 2026, says business plans "should be supported by other independent evidence". The founder must first qualify for EB-2, as an advanced degree professional whose occupation is a profession or as a person of exceptional ability. USCIS fees for a self-petitioner are $1,015 on paper or $965 online; premium processing adds $2,965. Filing fees are generally non-refundable.
This is general information, not legal advice, and we are not immigration attorneys. Whether and on which basis you qualify for EB-2, which labor certification form to attach and how to file are questions for qualified immigration counsel. We write the plan and financial model; this page is about what USCIS says it has to prove.
Is a business plan required for EB-2 NIW?
No. Nothing in the statute or the regulation names one. 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(2)(B)(i) leaves the waiver to discretion. 8 CFR 204.5(k)(3) sets the initial evidence for EB-2 classification itself; on the waiver, the regulation's only evidence instruction is one sentence in 8 CFR 204.5(k)(4)(ii), which asks for a labor certification form "as well as evidence to support the claim that such exemption would be in the national interest".
The form that sentence names, Form ETA-750B in duplicate, is not the one USCIS's EB-2 page names: NIW petitions "must be accompanied by a completed Form ETA-9089, Appendix A and a signed Form ETA-9089, Final Determination". The Policy Manual says the petitioner may submit "either the Form ETA 750B or Form ETA 9089". Which to attach is counsel's call.
Compare EB-5, where 8 CFR 204.6(j)(4)(i)(B) names a comprehensive business plan. For the NIW a plan is one factor among several: Dhanasar lists "a model or plan for future activities", and the Policy Manual's second-prong factors include "Evidence of a detailed proposal or plan that the person developed, or played a significant role in developing".
Does USCIS accept a business plan as evidence for NIW?
Yes, but not as proof on its own. Policy Manual, Volume 6, Part F, Chapter 5, Section D, under the second prong:
Business plans or other similar descriptions of the person's plans, while useful in explaining the person's objectives, should be supported by other independent evidence
The entrepreneur subsection lists evidence "to substantiate any business plans" under nine headings: ownership and role in the U.S. entity; degrees, certifications, licenses and letters of experience; investments; incubator or accelerator participation; awards or grants; intellectual property; published materials; revenue, revenue growth and job creation; and third-party letters.
It also warns: "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 for a national interest waiver". So the plan's job is to point each claim to the document that supports it.
Can an entrepreneur or startup founder qualify for EB-2 NIW?
Yes, but before the three prongs the founder has to qualify for EB-2 itself, as an advanced degree professional or as a person of exceptional ability. Where the person does not, the Policy Manual says USCIS "may request additional evidence or issue a Notice of Intent to Deny, as appropriate, or issue a denial without reaching the national interest waiver determination". Each basis has its own test, in guidance added on 15 January 2025.
Advanced degree professional. Beyond the degree, the occupation through which you will advance the endeavor must be a profession, defined in 8 CFR 204.5(k)(2) as "one of the occupations listed in section 101(a)(32) of the Act, as well as any occupation for which a United States baccalaureate degree or its foreign equivalent is the minimum requirement for entry into the occupation".
USCIS's own example is a bakery. A person with a master's degree or Ph.D. in engineering proposing an engineering endeavor may qualify, but "a similarly educated person who intends to start a bakery may have difficulty establishing that they are an advanced degree professional". "The occupation underlying the endeavor is determinative".
Person of exceptional ability. The test is at least three of the six criteria in 8 CFR 204.5(k)(3)(ii), then a final merits determination, and the claimed area of exceptional ability "must also be directly related to the person's proposed endeavor". USCIS "considers whether the area of exceptional ability and the proposed endeavor share skillsets, knowledge, or expertise".
On either basis "the petitioner must clearly describe in a straightforward manner the person's occupation and proposed endeavor", so the plan should set out the founder's actual occupation and the specific endeavor. Which basis fits, and whether you meet it, is counsel's call.
What are the three Dhanasar prongs, and what should the plan include for each?
Three tests set by the Administrative Appeals Office in Matter of Dhanasar on 27 December 2016. USCIS may grant the waiver if the petitioner shows:
(1) that the foreign national's proposed endeavor has both substantial merit and national importance; (2) that the foreign national is well positioned to advance the proposed endeavor; and (3) that, on balance, it would be beneficial to the United States to waive the requirements of a job offer and thus of a labor certification
Even then, "USCIS may approve the national interest waiver as a matter of discretion".
| Prong | What the plan has to carry |
|---|---|
| 1. Substantial merit and national importance | The specific endeavor, not the industry; jobs and economic effect sized against the named area, with its data. |
| 2. Well positioned | The founder's record tied to the plan; steps taken; customer or investor interest; market size, jobs and revenue with sources; capital required and its source. |
| 3. On balance | Why a job offer is impractical for a founder; the U.S. jobs the business provides. |
Prong 1. The manual's example of what fails is a standard industry section: evidence about "the car dealership industry" overall "will not demonstrate that a person seeking to start a car dealership satisfies the national importance prong". What can count is jobs and economic effect measured against "the population and economic circumstances of the relevant area".
Prong 2. "Strong petitions would discuss how the person's record of success would translate to a proposed plan or forecast for continued success", and USCIS "would also welcome probative evidence to support how the person has anticipated relevant metrics such as market size and share, job creation, and revenue growth". Dhanasar does not "require petitioners to demonstrate that their endeavors are more likely than not to ultimately succeed", but the manual says "unsubstantiated claims would not meet the petitioner's burden of proof", so an honest risk section fits the standard and unsupported projections do not.
Prong 3. USCIS's filing tips say "it may be impractical for an entrepreneur or self-employed inventor to secure a job offer from a U.S. employer", and the manual adds that "where the petitioner establishes or owns a business that provides jobs for U.S. workers, there may be little benefit from the labor certification".
What does an EB-2 NIW petition cost in government fees?
For a self-petitioning founder, $1,015 on paper or $965 online; with premium processing, $3,980 or $3,930. Sources: 8 CFR 106.2 and Form G-1055 Edition 10/07/26, re-issued on 7 October 2026.
| Item | Paper | Online | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Form I-140 filing fee | $715 | $665 | 8 CFR 106.2(a)(11); $50 less online, 8 CFR 106.1(g); both amounts in Form G-1055 |
| Asylum Program Fee, self-petitioner | $300 | $300 | 8 CFR 106.2(c)(13)(ii); G-1055: "If filing as a Small Employer or self-petitioner"; no online discount, (c)(13)(iii) |
| Subtotal, standard processing | $1,015 | $965 | $715 + $300; $665 + $300 |
| Premium processing, Form I-907 (optional) | $2,965 | $2,965 | "will increase from $2,805 to $2,965" from 1 March 2026 (FR Doc. 2026-00321); no online discount, 8 CFR 106.2(a)(58) |
| Total with premium processing | $3,980 | $3,930 | $1,015 + $2,965; $965 + $2,965 |
The $2,965 buys time, not an answer. For NIW the window is 45 business days (8 CFR 106.4(e)(18)), and USCIS says "we guarantee that we will take adjudicative action on the case within the time periods described below, or we will refund the premium processing fee". A denial counts as action, and a request for evidence stops and resets the clock.
For the other fees, 8 CFR 103.2(a)(1)(v) says "Filing fees generally are non-refundable regardless of the outcome of the benefit request", with any refund "at the discretion of USCIS". The sentence is older than its paragraph number, which dates from the interim final rule on e-filing of 11 August 2026.
Online with premium processing? Two current USCIS pages disagree. The Form I-140 page (24 July 2026) says "If you are submitting Form I-140 together with Form I-907 to request premium processing, you must file by mail". The Forms Available to File Online page (7 October 2026) says Form I-907 "can be filed concurrently with" a "Form I-140 if being filed by a self-petitioner, petitioner, or attorney or accredited representative". We show both; confirm with counsel and at uscis.gov/i-140 before filing. The fiscal year 2027 inflation notice of 1 October 2026 does not change these three fees.
How many EB-2 NIW petitions does USCIS approve and deny?
In the first nine months of fiscal year 2026 USCIS denied more NIW petitions than it approved, 9,585 against 9,238, though in the third quarter alone approvals led, 3,835 against 3,103. These are USCIS counts of petitions decided in a period, not an approval rate: a petition decided in one period may have been received earlier, and one person can file more than one. There is no entrepreneur-only figure.
| FY2026, first three quarters (1 October 2025 to 30 June 2026) | Approved | Denied | Pending at period end |
|---|---|---|---|
| National Interest Waiver (NIW) | 9,238 | 9,585 | 96,297 |
| Professionals with Advanced Degrees (E21), the non-NIW EB-2 row | 38,835 | 1,258 | 8,644 |
What does an EB-2 NIW business plan cost to write?
Our immigration business plans are published at $1,900 Essential, $2,400 Standard and $3,200 Premium, fixed; our pricing page puts EB-2 NIW in Standard. We never charge a percentage of anything you borrow, invest or raise. See every price we charge. Attorney fees are separate; we have not surveyed them.
No primary source sets a page count, forecast horizon or job number for an NIW plan. The manual's factor is a plan the founder developed or played a significant role in developing, so we build it from your facts with you involved at each stage, with the financial model and market sizing footnoted to sources your attorney can exhibit, and an exhibit index tying each claim to its document. See also our E-2 visa business plan guide and immigration business plan overview.
Business Plan Firm is the US practice of Avvale, a London consultancy. We have written 1,000+ plans for 500+ founders across 30+ countries, and our clients have raised $500M+.
How we verified this
Every quotation was checked character for character against raw source text, last on 10 October 2026.
- 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(2) at the Legal Information Institute; 8 CFR 204.5(k), 103.2, 106.1, 106.2 and 106.4, 2025 annual edition, at govinfo.gov: waiver, definitions, evidence, fees, refunds.
- Matter of Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. 884 (AAO 2016), Department of Justice PDF: the three prongs.
- USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 6, Part F, Chapter 5, "Current as of October 02, 2026", at uscis.gov, with Policy Alert PA-2025-03 and the USCIS EB-2 page: EB-2 eligibility, entrepreneur guidance, filing tips.
- Form G-1055 Edition 10/07/26, the Form I-140 page, the Forms Available to File Online page and the premium processing page: fees, filing options, the premium guarantee.
- Federal Register: FR Doc. 2026-00321 (premium fees, 12 January 2026), FR Doc. 2026-16313 (interim final rule on e-filing, 11 August 2026) and FR Doc. 2026-20187 (fiscal year 2027 inflation notice, 1 October 2026).
- USCIS Form I-140 counts by fiscal year, quarter and case status, FY2026 Q3, published only as a spreadsheet; we read the summary sheet values from the downloaded file.
Left out because we could not verify it: any required length, section list, job count or forecast horizon; any claim that officers expect or request a plan; any entrepreneur-only or RFE figure; attorney fees; standard processing times; and Visa Bulletin dates, which we could not retrieve from the State Department.
Frequently asked questions
Is a business plan required for an EB-2 NIW petition?
No. Neither 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(2) nor 8 CFR 204.5(k) names a business plan for an EB-2 NIW petition. Dhanasar lists a plan as one second-prong factor, and the USCIS Policy Manual says business plans should be supported by other independent evidence.
What should an EB-2 NIW business plan include?
Going by Section D of the USCIS Policy Manual's EB-2 chapter, an EB-2 NIW business plan should cover the founder's occupation and specific endeavor, the founder's record, steps already taken, market size and share, job creation and revenue growth with sources, the capital required, and jobs sized against the named area. No primary source sets a page count.
Can an entrepreneur or startup founder get an EB-2 NIW?
Yes, but the USCIS Policy Manual says not every entrepreneur qualifies. The founder must first qualify for EB-2 as an advanced degree professional, whose occupation must be a profession, or as a person of exceptional ability in an area directly related to the endeavor. Otherwise USCIS may request evidence or deny without reaching the waiver.
What are the three Dhanasar prongs?
Under Matter of Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. 884 (AAO 2016), the petitioner must show that the proposed endeavor has both substantial merit and national importance, that the petitioner is well positioned to advance it, and that, on balance, waiving the job offer and labor certification would benefit the United States. Approval then remains discretionary.
How much does an EB-2 NIW petition cost in USCIS fees?
For a self-petitioner, Form I-140 costs $715 on paper or $665 online, plus the $300 Asylum Program Fee: $1,015 or $965 under 8 CFR 106.1 and 106.2. Premium processing adds $2,965 for adjudicative action within 45 business days, not approval. Under 8 CFR 103.2(a)(1)(v) filing fees are generally non-refundable; USCIS says it will refund the premium fee if it misses the window.
This page summarizes 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(2), 8 CFR 204.5(k), 8 CFR 106.2, Matter of Dhanasar and the USCIS Policy Manual as checked on 10 October 2026. It is general information, not legal or immigration advice, and no attorney-client relationship arises from reading it. Retain qualified immigration counsel and confirm current requirements and fees with USCIS before filing.