National Interest Waivers
Normally, if you qualify for the second employment-based ("EB-2") category (Workers Holding Advanced Degrees and Persons with Exceptional Ability in the Arts, Sciences and Business), you are subject to the labor certification requirement. However, a limited exception exists if your employment is in the "national interest".
In a decision entitled New York State Department of Transportation , issued on August 7, 1998, the INS enumerated very restrictive criteria for obtaining National Interest Waivers. These criteria all but eliminated the category as a viable means of obtaining permanent residence.
Congress responded to this decision in 1999 by passing a law which eased these restrictions, but only for physicians who practice medicine in medically-underserved areas or for the Veterans Administration.