Recently, a lot of people have asked me: How can you make your NIW petition stand out without blending in with everyone else?
This reminds me of a story from the investment world. Rick Rule, a legendary investor with 45 years of experience in natural resources, often says: "You're either a contrarian, or you will be a victim." In other words, blindly following the crowd often leads to failure — true success comes from independent thinking and evidence-based decisions.
Similarly, there’s the famous "shoeshine boy theory" in the stock market — when even the shoeshine boy is enthusiastically discussing stocks, it's often a sign that the market has reached its peak.
Lately, we’ve all been overwhelmed with nonstop tariff news. In finance, we're operating under constant tension every day.
It made me wonder: When USCIS officers see a flood of applications all claiming to be in AI, might they experience a similar kind of fatigue?
In my view, when one field becomes saturated with applications, it can actually create opportunities for those in other fields. That doesn’t mean AI isn't promising — I’m personally very optimistic about AI. However, from a NIW petition strategy perspective, differentiation is critical.
So how can we differentiate ourselves? Here are a few ideas:
First, if your Proposed Endeavor relates to AI, narrow it down and specialize even further.
For example, instead of broadly claiming "I work in AI," you could say "I focus on AI applications in the fintech sector, specifically in insurance technology (insurtech)," or "I specialize in AI-driven drug discovery for specific diseases."
The more specific, detailed, and unique you are, the more likely an officer will remember your case and recognize your national importance.
Second, you can frame your work as supporting AI infrastructure.
Not everyone needs to be building large language models directly. If your work indirectly supports the AI ecosystem, it still has significant national interest value.
For example, engineers designing and constructing data centers are laying the foundation for AI computing power. Or, as a finance professional, facilitating the financing of energy infrastructure projects — which enhances the stability of the power supply — also indirectly supports the deployment of AI technologies at scale.
This kind of indirect support for AI offers a unique angle and makes your petition stand out among more typical applications.
In short, preparing a strong NIW petition is a lot like investing: you need independent thinking and a clear differentiation strategy.
Especially when everyone is rushing into the same space, it's crucial to think carefully about how to uncover and highlight your own unique value.
I hope today's sharing gives you a fresh perspective for your PL (Petition Letter) preparation!