Overview

Academic institutions or research organizations may apply for permanent residence status on behalf of professors and researchers with outstanding qualifications.  While an approved labor certification need not accompany this application for permanent residence, the foreign national must have an offer of permanent employment with a U.S. educational or research organization that can prove its ability to pay the researcher's salary.  Unlike the Extraordinary Ability category, a person may not self-sponsor under the Outstanding Professor and Researcher category.  Teaching positions used as the basis for this category of permanent residence petition must be tenured or tenure-track positions; research positions must be permanent, full-time positions.  The petition is filed on Form I-140 with U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS).

Legal Requirements

Two threshold requirements must be met to file a successful application as an outstanding professor or researcher.  First, the petitioner-employer must either be a university or institute of higher education, or a private company that already employs at least three full-time researchers.  Second, the professor or researcher must have at least three years of experience in teaching and/or research in the academic field. 

In addition to the two threshold requirements, the application must demonstrate that the professor or researcher is recognized internationally as outstanding in the academic field specified in the petition.  To meet this requirement, the application must provide evidence consisting of at least two of the following six items:

1. Documentation of the individual's receipt of major prizes or awards for outstanding achievement in the academic field;
2. Documentation of the individual's membership in associations in the academic field that require outstanding achievements of their members:
3. Published material in professional publications written by others about the individual's work in the academic field;
4. Evidence of the individual's participation, either individually or on a panel, as the judge of the work of others in the same or an allied academic field;
5. Evidence of the individual's original scientific or scholarly research contributions to the academic field; or
6. Evidence of the individual's authorship of scholarly books or articles (in scholarly journals with international circulation) in the academic field.

In addition to presenting evidence bearing on at least two of these categories, the application must demonstrate that the individual researcher or professor has achieved international acclaim in his or her field.

Upon receipt of an approved I-140 immigrant petition, an individual may change to permanent residence status either by filing a Form I-485 application for adjustment of status from within the United States, or through consular processing at a U.S. consulate outside the United States. 

Application Procedures

Case Assessment

1. Foreign national provides firm with detailed resume, summary of outstanding achievements, and list of potential references for testimonial letters.
2. Firm analyzes information to assess probability of approval of petition.

Application Preparation

1. Foreign national provides firm with copies of publications and all other supporting material.
2. Firm works with individual's references to draft testimonial letters supporting the contention that the individual is outstanding in his or her field.
3. Firm drafts I-140 petition forms and letter of support for Company's signature.

Filing Petition

1. Firm consults with Company and foreign national to determine whether to file I-140 petition concurrently with I-485 application for adjustment of status.
2. Firm files I-140 petition with USCIS office having jurisdiction over proposed place of employment.
3. Foreign national uses approved I-140 to obtain permanent residence through either adjustment of status or consular processing.