Outstanding Professors and Researchers (EB-1B)

Professionals holding the positions of Professor, Researchers or similar posts in a college, university, or research organization may seek immigration under this category if they meet the following requirements. This category is one of the three sub-classes of employment-based first preference. Aliens under this category must be recognized internationally as outstanding in a specific academic field. They must have three years of experience in teaching or research in their academic areas.

Evidence of Being Outstanding. To prove him/her as an outstanding professor or researcher, the alien must show at least 2 of the following:

  1. Documentation of the alien’s receipt of major international prizes or awards for outstanding achievement in the academic field;
  2. Documentation of the alien’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 alien’s work in the field (published material must include the title, date, and author, and be translated if necessary);
  4. Evidence of an alien’s participation, on a panel or individually, as the judge of the work of others in the same or allied academic field;
  5. Evidence of the alien’s original scientific or scholarly research contributions to the academic field; or
  6. Evidence of the alien’s authorship of scholarly books or articles (in scholarly journals with international circulation) in the academic field.
  7. Evidence showing the alien’s 3 years of experience in teaching or research in their academic areas.

To qualify for this category, the professor or researcher must be recognized internationally as outstanding in the academic field as shown by at least two of above specified types of documentation. As the requirement of international recognition is in the statute, some indication of that recognition should appear in the petitioner’s papers, even though the types of evidence listed in the regulations do not individually require this showing. The immigration services has concluded that it may not be enough to comply literally by submitting evidence in the categories of documentation listed above. The publication of scholarly papers, for example, may not distinguish the applicant, as even ordinary academics and researchers routinely publish in the course of their work. The documentation must show qualitatively that the applicant is “outstanding”.

For counting the three years of experience, a combination of experience in teaching and research will be accepted for the required three years. However, if the research is done to fulfill a degree requirement it cannot be counted unless the (advanced) degree has been granted and the research is recognized within the academic field as outstanding or the alien had full responsibility for courses taught.

Requirement of Employment. Different from EB-1A, aliens under this category must have a an employer who will offer, in the case of professor, atenured (or tenure-track) teaching position at an U.S. university or institution of higher learning, or in the case of researcher, a comparable research position at a university or institution of higher education, or department, division, or institute of a private employer.

Labor Certification (LC). No LC approved by the Department of Labor is required. 

Family Members (spouse/children). They, whether accompanying or following to join the alien, have same priority date as principal applicant.