E Visa for Outstanding Professors or Researchers

Requirements for classification in E visa category for outstanding professors or researchers are as follows:

• Applicant must have at least three years of teaching and/or research experience and be able to demonstrate "outstanding" achievements in the field of endeavor.
• Applicant must have an offer of employment in the field he or she teaches or conduct research. NOTE: If the offer of employment is from an accredited university, then the position offered must be for tenure. Alternatively, the offered employment position must be for a permanent research position with an employer that has at least three full-time researchers and has achieved documented accomplishments in that field.

In order to qualify for this type of E visa, applicant must be able to satisfy at least two of the following requirements:

1. Provide documentation of the alien's receipt of major prizes or awards for outstanding achievement in the academic field;
2. Provide documentation of the alien's membership in associations in the academic field, which require outstanding achievements of their members;
3. Have 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;
4. Provide evidence documenting the applicant’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. Provide evidence documenting the applicant’s original scientific or scholarly research contributions to the academic field; and
6. Provide evidence documenting the alien's authorship of scholarly books or articles (in scholarly journals with international circulation) in the academic field.

NOTE: In addition to the above-listed documentation of the applicant's personal credentials, the petition must be accompanied by an offer of employment for the immigrant to work in the field of endeavor.

The employment offer must come from either:

• an institution of higher education (The job offered must be a tenure or tenure-track position); or
• a company with an established research department. The company must show that it already employs at least three full-time researchers and that there have been documented achievements by the company's research staff.

Application Procedures:

The alien himself cannot petition himself. The employer is therefore the petitioner. Also, no labor certification is needed for this type of E visa applicant to make them eligible for a US green card.

This process is considerably faster than obtaining your green card (permanent residency) through the labor certification process. You can file your petition and your application to become a permanent resident at the same time (which is called "concurrent filing.") In this way, you can obtain your work authorization and advance parole document (allowing you to travel internationally) much sooner than you could if you try to obtain your green card through the labor certification process. You can also receive work and travel authorization for your spouse and children.

To qualify for this type of visa, you have to be outstanding; not just very good. Hence, not everyone qualifies. Also, unlike the Aliens of Extraordinary Ability category (EB-1A), the Outstanding Professors or Researchers (EB-1B) category requires a permanent job. This means that you cannot self-petition under the Outstanding Professors or Researchers category like you can with the Aliens of Extraordinary Ability Category (EB-1A).

E visas for this type of groups are extremely technical and you should never apply for them without the assistance and counsel of immigration lawyers in USA.

Good luck to you!