Outstanding Professor or Researcher (EB-1B)

What Is an Outstanding Professor or Researcher?

An outstanding researcher or professor is defined as an individual who is recognized internationally as outstanding in his/her specific academic area of teaching or research. This category of petition requires a permanent job offer and sponsorship from a qualified US employer. For purposes of this category, the USCIS defines permanent position as a tenured, tenure-track, or for a term of indefinite or unlimited duration where the employee will have a continued expectation of continued employment unless there is good cause for termination. 

How to Qualify as an Outstanding Professor or Researcher?

Unlike EB-1A, the individual must possess at least 3 years of experience teaching or in research in the academic area. In addition, the individual must have a job offer for: 1) a tenured or tenured-track position within a university or institution of higher education to teach in the academic area; 2) a comparable position with a university or institution of higher education to conduct research in the area; or 3) a comparable position to conduct research for a private employer. In order to qualify, the private employer must have achieved documented research accomplishments, and must employ at least three persons in full-time research. 

In addition, you must provide at least two of the following:

• Documentation of the beneficiary’s major prizes or awards for outstanding achievement in the academic field; 
• Documentation of the beneficiary’s membership in associations in the academic field which require outstanding achievements; 
• Published material in professional publications written by others about the beneficiary’s work in the academic field; 
• Evidence of the beneficiary’s participation, either individually or on a panel, as the judge of the work of others in the same or an allied academic field; 
• Evidence of the beneficiary’s original scientific or scholarly research contributions to the academic field; or 
• Evidence of the beneficiary’s authorship of scholarly books or articles (in scholarly journals with international circulation) in the academic field.