OUTSTANDING PROFESSORS OR RESEARCHERS

The second subcategory of EB-1 priority workers is outstanding professors and researchers. These workers are professors and researchers who are internationally recognized for their outstanding achievements.

To qualify as an outstanding professor or researcher, the alien must:

1.    be internationally recognized as outstanding in a specific academic field;

2.    have a minimum of three years’ experience in teaching or research in that field. The requisite three years can include pre-degree research experience gained while working on the advanced degree, so long as the alien completed the degree and the pre-degree research experience is recognized as outstanding. Furthermore, any combination of teaching or research totaling three years will serve to meet the experience requirement;

3.    have a tenure, or tenure track teaching position as a university professor, or a "permanent offer of employment" offer, either tenured, tenure-track, or for a term of indefinite or unlimited duration in which the employee will ordinarily have an expectation of continued employment unless there is good cause for termination, for research positions;

4.    have a job offer at a university or institute of higher education or with a private employer if the employer employs at least three persons full-time in research activities; and

5.    at least two of the following six evidence must be demonstrated:

a.     receipt of major prize or award;

b.    membership in associations which require outstanding achievements; general membership is not sufficient;

c.     published material in professional or major trade publications or media written by others about the alien's work;

d.    act as judge or reviewer of others' work in the same or an allied field;

e.    original scientific, scholastic, artistic, athletic or business contributions to the field; or

f.      authorship of scholarly books or articles in scholarly journals with international circulation in the field.

As early as back to 1995, the previous INS stated that mere presentation of evidence which relates to tow of the listed criteria does not guarantee an approval. While the beneficiary may well be stronger in one evidentiary area than in another, USCIS will determine the overall impression that the alien fits the classification as recognized internationally as outstanding. The evidence must be weighed an evaluated.

The petitioning employer must establish that the offer of a researcher's employment is intended to be of an indefinite or unlimited duration and that the nature of the position is such that the employee will ordinarily have an expectation of continued employment. According to a USCIS' recent memo, a petition should not be denied solely because the actual employment contract or offer of employment does not contain a "good cause for termination" clause. Thus, an offer of employment that is of indefinite duration, but terminable at will, likely satisfies the requirement of permanent employment.

USCIS will evaluate whether the overall nature of the qualified position is tenured or tenure-track. Those positions which are temporary, adjunct, limited duration fellowships or similar positions, where the employee has no reasonable expectation of long-term employment with the university, are not qualified.

While one would normally expect outstanding researchers and professors to have Ph.D. degrees, neither the statute nor regulations require possession of a doctorate.  

No labor certification is required. However, employer’s sponsor and a job offer is required and no self-petition is allowed.


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