Immigration Processes

OUTSTANDING RESEARCHERS AND PROFESSORS

The provisions governing outstanding researchers and professors were first authorized by Congress in the Immigration Act of 1990. Since that time, United States Citizenship and Immigration Service ("USCIS") regulations and decisions have clarified the requirements of and necessary documentary evidence for proving that one is an "outstanding researcher and/or professor." Currently, the USCIS requires you to prove your outstanding nature in your field by submitting items in at least two of the following areas:

1. Documentation of your receipt of major prizes or awards for outstanding achievement in the academic field;

2. Documentation of your membership in associations in the academic field which require outstanding achievements of their members;

3. Published material in professional publications written by others about your work in the academic field. This material must include the title, date, and author of the material and any necessary translation;

4. Evidence of your 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 your original scientific or scholarly research contributions in the academic field; or

6. Evidence of your authorship of scholarly books or articles in scholarly journals with international circulation in the academic field.

We must also establish that you have at least three years of experience in teaching and/or research in the academic field. Experience in teaching or research while working on an advanced degree is acceptable only if you actually acquired the degree, and the teaching duties were such that you had full responsibility for the class taught, or the research conducted toward the degree has been recognized within the academic field as outstanding. Evidence of teaching and/or research experience must be in the form of letters(s) from current or former employer(s) and must include the name, address, and title of the writer, and a specific description of the duties you performed. Finally, you must also have an offer of employment for a temporary research position in your academic field.

To aid us in our assessment of whether not you meet these requirements, we ask that you complete the two attached questionnaires and return them to us with your details CV, copies of your degrees, and transcripts (unofficial is fine), with translation to English, if necessary.

If you would like further information about specific case scenarios or situations, please call our office or email us at ckuck@immigration.net to speak to one of experienced immigration attorneys.