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Outstanding Professor or Researcher (EB-1B) - employer sponsored

Individuals who can show that they are outstanding professors or researchers may be eligible to skip the labor certification process when applying for permanent residence. Individuals who qualify will be professors and researchers who are internationally recognized for their outstanding achievements.

Requirements for an Outstanding Professor or Researcher

The individual must:

  1. Be internationally recognized as outstanding in a specific academic field.
  2. Have a minimum of three years of experience in teaching and/or research in that field.
  3. Enter the U.S. in a tenure or tenure-track teaching or comparable research position at a university or other institution of higher education, or in a comparable research position with a private employer that employs at least three full-time researchers and has documented accomplishments in the academic field within which the position is being offered.

In addition, evidence must be presented in at least two of the following areas:

  1. Receipt of major prizes or awards for excellence in the field.
  2. Membership in associations in the field that demand outstanding achievement of their members, as judged by recognized national or international experts.
  3. Published material in professional journals written by others about the individual’s work.
  4. Participation as a judge of the work of others in the same or an allied field.
  5. Original scientific or scholarly research contributions to the field.
  6. Authorship of scholarly books or articles in scholarly journals with international circulation in the field.

Presentation of evidence in two of the above categories does not guarantee approval of a petition as an Outstanding Professor or Researcher. The adjudicating officer will weigh the evidence that is presented to determine whether the evidence has fully established that the individual qualifies as an Outstanding Professor or Researcher.

Employer Requirements for an Outstanding Professor or Researcher

Although a permanent labor certification is not required for the Outstanding Professor or Researcher classification, the petitioner must provide an offer of employment in the form of a letter from the prospective U.S. employer to the beneficiary, and the offer must state that the employer is offering the beneficiary employment in a tenured or tenure-track teaching position or a permanent research position in the beneficiary’s academic field.  In this context “permanent” means that the offer of employment 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.