EB1B Three Years of Research Experience
EB1B outstanding professor or researcher classification requires at least three years of experience in teaching or research in the academic area.
This issue is particularly important for postdocs and recent PhD graduates whose professional history includes research or teaching performed while pursuing an advanced degree.
What Experience Counts?
The beneficiary must have at least three years of qualifying teaching and/or research experience in the academic field identified in the petition.
The experience may come from more than one employer and can potentially combine qualifying teaching and research.
When Must the Experience Exist?
The petitioner should establish that the beneficiary satisfies the requirement when the Form I-140 is filed.
Postdoctoral Research
Research performed after completion of the advanced degree can generally contribute to the three-year requirement when it is qualifying research in the academic field and is properly documented.
Can PhD Research Count?
Research performed while working toward an advanced degree can count only under a special rule.
The advanced degree must have been acquired, and the research conducted toward the degree must have been recognized within the academic field as outstanding.
Ordinary completion of dissertation research does not automatically establish this condition.
Evidence That Graduate Research Was Outstanding
Depending on the facts, useful evidence may include:
- significant independent citations;
- major research awards;
- independent adoption of the work;
- important peer-reviewed publications;
- professional recognition;
- patents, licensing or implementation; and
- independent expert evidence supported by objective documentation.
Can Graduate Teaching Count?
Teaching performed while working toward an advanced degree may count if the degree was subsequently acquired and the individual had full responsibility for the class taught.
Merely assisting another instructor with grading, laboratories or discussion sections may not satisfy that requirement.
Experience Letters
Experience should generally be documented through letters from current or former employers.
A useful experience letter should contain:
- the employer’s identity;
- the writer’s name, address and title;
- the dates of the experience;
- a specific description of the teaching or research duties; and
- enough detail to connect the work to the relevant academic area.
Generic Employment Letters
A letter stating only that the beneficiary worked as a researcher from one date to another may provide insufficient detail. The actual research or teaching duties should be described.
Multiple Employers
The three years need not come from a single university or company. Qualifying experience from several institutions may be combined when each period is properly documented.
Overlapping Positions
Two positions held during the same calendar period should not simply be double-counted as two separate periods of elapsed experience.
Research Outside the United States
Qualifying experience is not limited to work performed in the United States. Foreign teaching or research can count when it meets the applicable requirements.
Industry Research
Research for a private company may count when the work constitutes research in the relevant academic area. The petition should describe the scientific or scholarly nature of the work rather than rely solely on the job title.
Experience Is Separate From Recognition
Three years of experience does not establish international recognition as outstanding. A researcher may have many years of experience yet still fail to satisfy the recognition requirement.
Experience Is Separate From the Position Requirement
The three-year requirement concerns the beneficiary’s past qualifications. The permanent-position requirement concerns the U.S. employment being offered. Both must be established.
Postdocs Should Calculate Early
A postdoc with fewer than three clearly qualifying post-degree years should evaluate early whether any graduate teaching or research can properly be counted.
Review EB1B for postdoctoral researchers.
Common Problems
- automatically counting all PhD research;
- counting graduate teaching without full class responsibility;
- using letters that do not describe research duties;
- double-counting overlapping employment;
- failing to connect work to the academic field; and
- filing before three qualifying years have accrued.
EB1B RFE Guide
Primary Legal Sources
Contact The Messersmith Law Firm to request an EB1B evaluation.
This page provides general immigration information and is not legal advice.