Merit-based classification
EB-1B Outstanding Professor or Researcher
EB-1B requires international recognition as outstanding in a specific academic area, at least three years of teaching or research experience, and a qualifying permanent offer from a US university or a private employer with a documented research department. Because the classification is employer-sponsored, the packet has two independent evidentiary spines: the beneficiary's recognition and the employer's qualification.
Governing standard
International recognition plus three years experience and a qualifying offer
8 CFR 204.5(i)(3)
- Denial rate after RFE
- 18.3%
- Median processing
- 196 days
- Form
- I-140
- Initial RFE rate
- 24.7%
- Median exhibit pages
- 380
- Manual assembly
- 15 hrs
- On Docket Build
- 38 min
Statutory criteria
What the record has to establish.
Each element below is a mapped criterion in the Docket Build criteria pack, with its citation and the evidence types that satisfy it.
Major prizes or awards for outstanding achievement
204.5(i)(3)(i)(A)
- Award certificates
- Selection criteria
Membership requiring outstanding achievement
(i)(3)(i)(B)
- Bylaws
- Admission evidence
Published material about the beneficiary's work
(i)(3)(i)(C)
- Articles with translations and outlet data
Participation as a judge of others' work
(i)(3)(i)(D)
- Peer review records
- Committee appointments
Original scientific or scholarly contributions
(i)(3)(i)(E)
- Independent expert letters
- Citation analysis
- Adoption evidence
Authorship of scholarly books or articles
(i)(3)(i)(F)
- Publication list with venue significance
Failure modes
What actually draws a request on a EB-1B.
Compiled from the request language our customers record on their own matters and from published AAO decisions in this classification.
Full RFE trends hub- Offer letter with a fixed term that undercuts the permanence requirement
- Expert letters exclusively from the beneficiary's own institution
- Private employer with no documented research department evidence
- Experience letters that leave a gap in the three-year period
Document checklist
What a complete filing carries.
Full printable checklist →Employer qualification
Permanent job offer letter
Tenure track, tenured, or a research position with no fixed term
Department documentationwhere applicable
For private employers, evidence of a documented research department
Employer achievement evidencewhere applicable
Private employers must show documented accomplishments and three researchers
Recognition evidence
Evidence for at least two of six criteria
Tabbed per criterion
Independent expert letters
From outside the beneficiary's institution
Citation report
With capture date and self-citation treatment
Experience and forms
Three years of teaching or research evidence
Employment letters covering the full period
Form I-140 and G-28
Cross-checked against the offer letter
Also merit-based
Related classifications.
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