Below are the regulations governing EB-1B petitions. These regulations (rules) determine the documentation that must accompany a petition for EB-1B permanent residence. In general, the best practice is-

  • Provide more documentation rather than less. The documentation must show that the element is "more likely than not" to be satisfied.
  • Provide documents for more than one element. That way, if a government official disagrees with you for one or two elements, there is still sufficient documentation remaining to meet the requirements.
  • Many of the elements listed below are also normal activities for anyone in academia. The requirement is not merely to show that you are engaging in normal acadmic activities, but to show that your documents support a conclusion that you have more impact, accomplishment and recognition than your peers. Be aware of this difference in emphasis between reality and the regulatory expectation.
  • Be aware that there are two instincts in play:
    • Are you including enough documentation to satisfy any given element, and
    • Are you missing documents for some aspect or element that the government official believes is "normal" for researchers or professors to have. In other words, are you somehow failing to meet an unconscious or internal assumption that many people have about researchers or professors? And if so, can that ommission be explained - for example, because the field in general has a different norm or practice

8 CFR 204.5(i) EB-1B Outstanding professors and researchers.

(1) Any United States employer desiring and intending to employ a professor or researcher who is outstanding in an academic field under section 203(b)(1)(B) of the Act may file an I–140 visa petition for such classification.

(2) Definitions. As used in this section:

Academic field means a body of specialized knowledge offered for study at an accredited United States university or institution of higher education.

Permanent, in reference to a research position, means either tenured, tenure-track, or for a term of indefinite or unlimited duration, and in which the employee will ordinarily have an expectation of continued employment unless there is good cause for termination.

(3) Initial evidence. A petition for an outstanding professor or researcher must be accompanied by:

  (i) Evidence that the professor or researcher is recognized internationally as outstanding in the academic field specified in the petition. Such evidence shall consist of at least two of the following:

     (A) Documentation of the alien's receipt of major prizes or awards for outstanding achievement in the academic field;

     (B) Documentation of the alien's membership in associations in the academic field which require outstanding achievements of their members;

     (C) Published material in professional publications written by others about the alien's work in the academic field. Such material shall include the title, date, and author of the material, and any necessary translation;

     (D) Evidence of the alien's participation, either individually or on a panel, as the judge of the work of others in the same or an allied academic field;

     (E) Evidence of the alien's original scientific or scholarly research contributions to the academic field; or

     (F) Evidence of the alien's authorship of scholarly books or articles (in scholarly journals with international circulation) in the academic field;

  (ii) If the standards in paragraph (i)(3)(i) of this section do not readily apply, the petitioner may submit comparable evidence to establish the beneficiary's eligibility.

  (iii) Evidence that the alien has 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 will only be acceptable if the alien has acquired the degree, and if the teaching duties were such that he or she had full responsibility for the class taught or if the research conducted toward the degree has been recognized within the academic field as outstanding. Evidence of teaching and/or research experience shall be in the form of letter(s) from current or former employer(s) and shall include the name, address, and title of the writer, and a specific description of the duties performed by the alien; and

  (iv) An offer of employment from a prospective United States employer. A labor certification is not required for this classification. The offer of employment shall be in the form of a letter from:

     (A) A United States university or institution of higher learning offering the alien a tenured or tenure-track teaching position in the alien's academic field;

     (B) A United States university or institution of higher learning offering the alien a permanent research position in the alien's academic field; or

     (C) A department, division, or institute of a private employer offering the alien a permanent research position in the alien's academic field. The department, division, or institute must demonstrate that it employs at least three persons full-time in research positions, and that it has achieved documented accomplishments in an academic field.