The following criteria must be met to establish to the United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) that an applicant qualifies for a green card as an outstanding professor or researcher.
A professor or researcher qualifies for a green card in this category if:
I. he is recognized internationally as outstanding in a specific academic area,II. he has at least 3 years of experience in teaching or research in the academic area; and,
III. he seeks to enter the United States:
- for a tenured position (or tenure-track position) within a university or institution of higher education to teach in the academic area, or
- for a comparable position with a university or institution of higher education to conduct research in the area, or
- for a comparable position to conduct research in the area with a department, division, or institute of a private employer, if the department, division, or institute employs at least 3 persons full-time in research activities and has achieved documented accomplishments in an academic field.
To establish that an applicant is a professor or researcher that is recognized internationally at least two of the following categories must be met:
- Proof of receipt of major prizes or awards for outstanding achievement in the academic field.
- Documentation of membership in associations in the academic field, which require outstanding achievements of their members.
- Published material in professional publications written by others about work in the academic field. Such material shall include the title, date, and author of the material, and any necessary translation.
- Evidence of participation on a panel, or individually, as the judge of the work of others in the same, or an allied, academic field.
- Evidence of original scientific or scholarly research contributions to the academic field.
- Evidence of authorship of scholarly books or articles (in scholarly journals with international circulation) in the academic field.
The outstanding researcher category is focused more on the applicant, and less on the job being offered to the applicant in the United States. The main advantage of this category is that the applicant need not obtain a labor certification in order to qualify for a green card as an outstanding professor or researcher.
If you would like to explore your specific green card options please send a request to us at:
Leibl and Kirkwood PC
12625 High Bluff Drive
Suite 213
San Diego, CA 92130
Tel. (858) 481-5211
Fax. (858) 481-7271