The April 2025 Executive Order titled “Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance” has opened a significant immigration pathway for skilled professionals in shipbuilding and marine engineering fields.
The order established a clear national goal to rebuild U.S. shipbuilding capacity and the maritime workforce, creating a direct link to EB-2 National Interest Waiver petitions.
Naval architects, marine engineers, shipyard production engineers, construction managers, and port and logistics engineers can all connect their documented records to the priorities named in the order.
The United States currently builds less than one percent of the world’s commercial ships, while China produces roughly half of global output, a gap the order ties directly to national security.
Specific mechanisms created by the order include a Maritime Security Trust Fund, a Shipbuilding Financial Incentives Program, and Maritime Prosperity Zones modeled on tax-advantaged Opportunity Zones.
The Jones Act, in place for more than 100 years, requires cargo moving between two U.S. ports to travel on a U.S.-built, U.S.-flagged, U.S.-owned vessel crewed mostly by Americans.
A Section 301 investigation into China’s shipbuilding practices has further reinforced federal policy, formally identifying foreign shipbuilding dominance as a threat to U.S. economic and national security interests.
Under a 2025 trade agreement, South Korea pledged up to $150 billion toward U.S. shipbuilding, giving the order’s priorities substantial and tangible present-day backing.
Hanwha announced a $5 billion expansion of the Philadelphia shipyard it acquired in 2024, with plans to grow its workforce from roughly 1,800 toward 4,000 over the next decade.
New orders tied to the U.S. Jones Act fleet, liquefied natural gas carriers, and naval programs point to sustained demand for naval architects and marine engineers across the country.
A case handled by Colombo and Hurd illustrates how these arguments work in practice, resulting in an EB-2 NIW approval without a Request for Evidence from USCIS.
The client was a marine engineer from Colombia with nearly 30 years of experience in maritime security and naval technology, holding a Bachelor’s degree in Marine Engineering and two Master’s degrees.
His proposed endeavor was to help smaller U.S. shipyards modernise their design, construction, and repair operations, connecting his military background to civilian industry needs.
The client had led the mid-life modernisation of an entire submarine fleet, directed the DATALINK project building encrypted communications across vessels, and authored the Submarine Fundamentals Manual.
The petition framed its national-importance argument around the specific pressures facing smaller U.S. shipyards, including limited access to advanced technologies and thin pipelines of trained workers.
The EB-2 NIW waives the job offer and labour certification that normally apply to an EB-2 PERM case, allowing professionals to self-petition without an employer sponsor.
The 2025 order gives maritime and shipbuilding professionals a current federal statement that their field is a national priority, though the individual’s record must ultimately carry the petition.
USCIS does not approve EB-2 NIW petitions simply because a person works in shipbuilding, marine engineering, port operations, or a related maritime field, making a strong evidentiary record essential.