The EB-2 National Interest Waiver is the US green card people ask about constantly, because it needs no US employer: you can petition for yourself. But there are two separate questions, and they get mixed up constantly. Do you qualify? And can the process actually finish from Pakistan right now?
What the National Interest Waiver is
EB-2 is the US employment-based green card category for people with an advanced degree — a degree above a bachelor’s, or a bachelor’s plus five years of progressive experience — or with exceptional ability, which USCIS defines as expertise “significantly above that ordinarily encountered” in the sciences, arts or business.
Normally EB-2 needs a job offer and a labour certification. The National Interest Waiver removes both, so you can file Form I-140 on your own behalf. USCIS grants it at its discretion, applying three tests from its Policy Manual:
- your proposed work has both substantial merit and national importance;
- you are well positioned to advance it; and
- on balance, it would benefit the United States to waive the job offer.
That is a test of evidence — your degrees, your record, what others say about your work, and a credible plan — not of how a petition is worded.
Can a Pakistani file now?
Filing the I-140 petition with USCIS is a separate step from getting the visa. Pakistan is not on the US travel ban — Proclamation 10998 of December 2025, which carried forward the June 2025 list, does not name it — and the USCIS holds on pending cases in 2025–26 applied to travel-ban countries, not to Pakistan. USCIS has since said those holds are no longer in effect because of court orders.
The immigrant-visa pause
From 21 January 2026, the State Department paused the issuing of immigrant visas to nationals of 75 countries, including Pakistan. In August 2026 a federal court order ended that pause, and the State Department says it is no longer in effect as of 21 August 2026. The US Embassy in Islamabad’s visa page no longer carries a pause notice.
It can change. Court-ordered changes can be appealed and reversed, and the end of the pause does not mean interview scheduling has simply returned to normal. Before you pay for anything that ends at a consulate, read the State Department’s notice and the US Embassy in Pakistan’s visa page on the day.
The queue: why approval is not a green card
Pakistan falls under “all chargeability areas except those listed” in the Visa Bulletin, and EB-2 there is backlogged. In the November 2026 Visa Bulletin, the final action date for EB-2 is 1 April 2025, and the date for filing is 15 March 2026. In plain terms: even with an approved petition, you wait until your priority date — usually the date your petition was filed — is reached before the green card can be issued.
Already in the United States?
Someone in the US lawfully may be able to apply for a green card there instead of at a consulate (adjustment of status). Do not treat that as automatic: a May 2026 USCIS memo describes adjustment as discretionary relief and lists factors that can count against an applicant. Get advice on your own facts first.
Beware the “guaranteed NIW”
USCIS warns about businesses that “guarantee” a visa or green card if you pay a fee. Only USCIS decides a petition. A strong NIW case is built from evidence of your own work, not from a template — and anyone promising an outcome is telling you something no one can know.
For the other US routes from Pakistan — visitor, student and investor visas — read our USA guide.