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Outstanding Professor or Researcher

This category is an option for individuals who are:

  • Outstanding in their specific academic field;
  • Recognized internationally as outstanding in their specific academic field;
  • Have three years of experience in their specific academic field;
  • Have a job offer.

Eligibility Criteria

To qualify for the Outstanding Professor or Researcher, an individual must show evidence in at least two of the following:

  1. Documentation of the beneficiary's receipt of major prizes or awards for outstanding achievement in the academic field.
  2. Documentation of the beneficiary's membership in associations in the academic field which require outstanding achievements.
  3. Published material in professional publications written by others about the beneficiary's work in the academic field. Such material shall include the title, date, and author of the material, and any necessary translation.
  4. Evidence of the beneficiary's participation as the judge of the work of others in the same or an allied academic field.
  5. Evidence of the beneficiary's original scientific or scholarly research contributions to the academic field.
  6. Evidence of the beneficiary's authorship of scholarly books or articles (in scholarly journals with international circulation) in the academic field.

Process Flow

  1. Department submits request to OISS
  2. OISS will have credentials evaluated
  3. If eligibility is determined, OISS will notify department and beneficiary of approval
  4. OISS will recommend attorney from the list of university approved attorneys
  5. OISS will coordinate with attorney in the preparation and filing of the petition

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Note: Only university approved attorneys must be retained. Requests to hire counsel outside of the network will not be entertained. Attorney costs for such petitions can be paid by the employee or the department (subject to university limits) or a combination of the two.

Processing Time

The processing times will depend on USCIS and the backlog for the year in which the petition was submitted. It is reasonable to expect at least 12 months at the very least.