Law firm Colombo and Hurd has secured an EB-2 National Interest Waiver petition approval for a Colombian solar energy engineer specialising in solar tracking technology.
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services approved the I-140 petition on May 30, 2026, without issuing a Request for Evidence, a significant outcome in the green card process.
Senior Immigration Attorney Yadira Aguilar represented the client throughout the petition, building a case around the national importance of his technical work.
The engineer holds a master’s degree in Solar Energy and a bachelor’s degree in Energy Engineering, with more than five years of experience in solar project development.
Early in his career he designed solar systems for homes and businesses before moving into large-scale solar projects, where he developed tools to estimate energy generation potential.
He later focused on solar tracking technology and helped create an algorithm that demonstrated up to a 5.5% increase in energy generation across solar plant sites.
Project leads and engineers who worked alongside him recognised his contributions to improving solar tracker performance and making large solar installations more reliable in practice.
The central legal challenge was demonstrating why the client’s highly specialised work carried national importance beyond the interests of any single solar company or individual project.
The petition was filed following federal energy actions in January 2025 that placed new emphasis on domestic energy production, energy reliability, infrastructure, and national security.
The legal team connected the client’s solar tracking work to broader US energy priorities without overstating those links, a balance that proved critical to the petition’s success.
Evidence submitted showed the engineer’s direct experience improving solar plant performance under difficult real-world conditions, including cloud cover, high winds, hail, and uneven terrain.
The petition demonstrated how his work supported US goals around energy security, energy independence, stronger infrastructure, domestic production, and technological leadership in the sector.
Aguilar commented on the case, saying: “This case was interesting because the client’s work was highly technical, but the national importance was very practical.”
She added: “We were not just talking about solar energy in general. We were looking at how better tracking technology can help solar plants produce more power from the same site, even when conditions are difficult.”
Aguilar noted: “Once the petition connected those performance gains to energy reliability, infrastructure resilience, and national energy security, the strength of the case became much clearer.”
With the I-140 approval secured, the engineer can now advance to the next stage of the EB-2 NIW green card process and continue his proposed work in the United States.