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Renewable Energy Engineer
Colombo & Hurd secured approval of an EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW) petition for a renewable energy engineer from Mexico who works on advancing renewable energy and rural electrification in the United States. USCIS approved the petition without issuing a Request for Evidence (RFE).
Many rural communities face higher energy costs and have fewer resources to improve their power systems. At the same time, parts of the U.S. electrical grid need upgrades to remain reliable during extreme weather. These challenges have increased the need for engineers who can plan and carry out energy projects in areas with limited infrastructure.
An Engineer Who Brings Electricity to Communities the Grid Never Reached
Our client is a renewable energy engineer with more than 25 years of experience, and her work focuses on solar power and rural electrification. She specializes in photovoltaic systems, the technology that turns sunlight into electricity, and has spent her career bringing power to communities that the traditional grid does not reach.
Early in her career, she studied and taught the science behind solar energy, and published research on solar water pumping and photovoltaic system design that other engineers cite in their own work.
She then moved from the classroom into the field, where she designed and delivered solar projects across Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. She trained local technicians who went on to install more than 1,500 solar systems and led a market analysis that expanded electricity access for roughly 70,000 people in a refugee settlement and its surrounding community.
On another project, she oversaw the construction of a solar system that brought power to a remote community for the first time, improving access to health care and education.
Our client had already carried out renewable energy programs funded by U.S. development agencies and partnered with U.S. consulting firms on projects overseas. As Attorney Picataggio said, a current or prior U.S. relationship can be a strong asset: “I get excited when a client already has these ties. It lets us show USCIS that the endeavor not only can benefit the United States but already has.”
Showing National Importance for Work Delivered One Project at a Time
Our client’s experience came from individual consulting projects, each one carried out for a specific firm in a specific country: a rural electrification program in one nation, an off-grid solar market study in another, a grid-access project in a third. One question in the case was whether her proposed work could have significance beyond the individual projects and organizations she would serve.
The petition therefore needed to document the broader results of her past work and explain how she planned to apply that experience to renewable energy projects in the United States.
Showing National Importance for Work Delivered One Project at a Time
Our client’s experience came from individual consulting projects, each one carried out for a specific firm in a specific country: a rural electrification program in one nation, an off-grid solar market study in another, a grid-access project in a third. One question in the case was whether her proposed work could have significance beyond the individual projects and organizations she would serve.
The petition therefore needed to document the broader results of her past work and explain how she planned to apply that experience to renewable energy projects in the United States.
Connecting a Project-Based Career to National Priorities
Many rural American communities pay more for electricity and have fewer resources to upgrade their power systems, and much of the country’s electric grid is old and struggles during extreme weather. Her work had already brought electricity to tens of thousands of people, and the technicians she trained had installed more than 1,500 solar systems.
The petition mentioned that our client is a consultant and that her firm would help U.S. companies plan and deliver solar energy projects. That work includes studying whether projects are feasible, designing systems, guiding construction, training local workers, and measuring each project’s results. She planned to open her firm in the U.S. and grow it over time by hiring engineers and other specialists. To show there was real demand for these services, the petition included her business plan along with a letter from a U.S. company interested in working with her.
EB-2 NIW Approved Without an RFE
USCIS approved the client’s EB-2 NIW petition without issuing an RFE, meaning the agency approved the I-140 on the first submission without asking for more documentation. The approval clears the way for her to pursue lawful permanent residence and to expand access to clean, reliable electricity in rural communities at home and abroad.
| Category | Details |
| Visa Classification | EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW) |
| Country of Origin | Mexico |
| Professional Field | Renewable energy engineering and rural electrification |
| Education | PhD; Master’s in Solar Energy; Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering |
| Request for Evidence (RFE) | No |
| Outcome | I-140 Petition Approved |
| Attorney | Partner Salvatore Picataggio |
| Date of Approval | February 21, 2026 |
