Outstanding Researchers and Professors

Obtaining a green card in the US is not simple.  To the contrary, it is a complicated, lengthy and expensive process. Fortunately, however, US immigration law makes the process a little easier for Outstanding Researcher and Professors(Employment-based, 1st preference, or “EB1).

Employment-based immigration is subject to a numerical limitation of approximately 140,000 immigrant visas per year; this is a low number.  Accordingly, the law has established a “preference” system. Those in the first preference group will, in most cases, obtain a green card more quickly and easily than those in the second and third preference groups.  The first employment based preference includes outstanding scientific researchers and professors.

In order to qualify for this category, the applicant must first be able to demonstrate that the research position is permanent, or that the professorial position is tenure track.  A “permanent” position is one with an indefinite or unlimited duration with the expectation of continuity absent good cause for termination; grant funded positions often fall within this definition. Moreover, in the case of researchers, the petitioning employer must employ a minimum of 3 researchers.

The applicant must also be able to demonstrate that he or she is outstanding.  Petitions in this category must be supported by evidence of international recognition, which shall consist of evidence in any two of the following six suggested groups:

  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 of their members.
  3. Published material in professional publications written by others about the beneficiary’s work in the academic field.
  4. Evidence of the beneficiary’s participation, either individually or on a panel, as 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.