{"id":1807,"date":"2024-02-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-07T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eaganimmigration.com\/how-you-can-expand-your-restaurant-business-into-the-u-s-with-the-eb-2-niw\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T15:27:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T20:27:39","slug":"how-you-can-expand-your-restaurant-business-into-the-u-s-with-the-eb-2-niw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eaganimmigration.com\/en\/how-you-can-expand-your-restaurant-business-into-the-u-s-with-the-eb-2-niw\/","title":{"rendered":"How You Can Expand Your Restaurant Business into the U.S. with the EB-2 NIW"},"content":{"rendered":"\nby Natalie McQuilkin<\/strong>\n\nAre you a foreign national interested in expanding your restaurant business to the United States? Or do you have a plan for starting a new restaurant chain in the United States? One way you can get the ball rolling on fulfilling your American Dream is through the <\/span>EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW<\/span><\/a>) \u2013 <\/span>an<\/span><\/b> employment-based petition that allows you to self-sponsor and obtain a green card upon approval.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>\n\nAll employment-based green cards are divided into <\/span>five preference categories<\/span><\/a>, starting with EB-1 (first preference) which accommodates those with extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics; outstanding professors and researchers; or multinational managers and executives. <\/span>The second category is EB-2:<\/span><\/b> professionals holding advanced degrees or people of exceptional ability. <\/span><\/b>This is followed by the third preference EB-3 (skilled workers, professionals, and \u201cunskilled\u201d workers), fourth preference EB-4 (<\/span>certain special immigrants<\/span><\/a>), and fifth preference EB-5 (immigrant investors). At the start of every fiscal year (October 1<\/span>st<\/span>), 140,000 employment-based visas are made available to these preference categories, according to the <\/span>U.S. Department of State<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\n\nThe EB-2 NIW, which we\u2019re discussing in today\u2019s blog, is a second-preference, employment-based green card.<\/span><\/b> The EB-2 NIW differs from the general EB-2 green card because it requires a National Interest Waiver. We discuss this more below.\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span>\n\nLike the general EB-2 category, the EB-2 NIW petition extends to three groups of people:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\n