EB-1: Outstanding Professors and Researchers

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EB-1: Outstanding Professors and Researchers

Outstanding Professors and Researchers is another category within the EB-1 classification. Unlike the EB-1 Persons of Extraordinary Ability category, candidates for the Outstanding Professors and Researchers category must have an offer of employment, as documented by a letter from the sponsoring employer. A candidate must meet the following standards to qualify:

1. Must be recognized as outstanding in a specific academic area;
2. Must have at least three years of experience in teaching or research in the academic area; and
3. Seeks entry for one of the following:
   1. A tenure or tenure-track teaching position;
   2. Comparable position at university or institute of higher education to conduct research or
   3. Comparable position to conduct research with a private employer if it employs at least three persons in full-time research activities and the departmental, division or institution has achieved accomplishments in an academic field, as proven by documentary evidence.

1. To be recognized as outstanding in an academic field, the applicant must demonstrate at least two of the following:

• Membership in an association which requires outstanding achievement. Common examples of such organizations are those which require current members to nominate new members based on their achievements, such as Sigma Xi. Organizations that allow any professional to join upon payment of a membership fee do not meet this standard.
• Receipt of major prizes or awards for outstanding achievement. Scholarship awards are generally not sufficient for this standard.
• Published material in professional publications written by others about the applicant’s work. Material that discusses the applicant’s work in the text in a positive light is sufficient, whereas mere citation without discussion is not.
• Evidence of the applicant’s participation as a judge of the work of others. Evidence of peer review of journal articles is usually submitted for this standard, although stronger evidence would include membership on a journal’s editorial board.
• Evidence of original scientific research. This is a bit of a catch-all category, but can often be effectively proven with well-written letters of reference from other scholars and researchers in the applicant’s field. To best demonstrate originality and international recognition, it is best to have references from researchers linked to institutions in various countries. Other evidence typically submitted includes patents and proof that the patent is used either by other researchers or in industry.
• Authorship of scholarly books or articles in the field. The government is aware that, for many fields, publishing articles is something that all professionals do. It is therefore best if an applicant can show that his/her publication record is unique, perhaps because he/she is published in prestigious journals, his/her publications have had a big impact on the field, or he/she has published much more than the average professional.

2. The most important aspect of preparing an outstanding researcher case is to demonstrate through relevant evidence that the applicant has an international reputation.

3. Concerning the three years of experience requirement. The most straightforward manner to meet this standard is three years of experience as an assistant professor, in a post-doctoral position, or another full-time research position. An applicant can count teaching or research conducted while a Ph.D. or Master’s student only if the applicant was fully responsible for teaching classes or the research conducted during that time has been recognized as outstanding in the field. It is also important to demonstrate that research as a Ph.D. or Master’s student was primarily driven by the applicant, not the applicant’s advisor.

4. Requirement related to the type of job offer. A tenured or tenure track position for a professor is fairly straightforward to prove, but a research position at a university or in industry can be more complex to demonstrate. A job offer for a research position must be of indefinite or unlimited duration and the researcher must have an expectation of continued permanent employment barring good cause for termination. The government can be skeptical if the research position at a university is based entirely upon outside grant funds secured by the researcher, for example, because the research position may cease to exist if the grants are not renewed. Researchers at companies are often employed on an at-will basis, as the government is aware. It is therefore necessary to prove that the company has a reasonable expectation that it will continue to fund the relevant research, for example by providing evidence of renewals for other long-term research projects in the same division. With careful documentation, a research position offer can meet this standard.

The attorneys at the Law Offices of Arjun Verma have successfully represented applicants in this selective category. For an evaluation of whether you would meet the standards for the Outstanding Professors or Researchers category, please contact us.