Office: Nebraska Service Center Petition: Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker as an Outstanding Professor or Researcher Pursuant to Section 203(b)(1)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(1)(B) Summary: To qualify for priority worker/employment based 1st preference, as an outstanding professor or researcher, the employment position must be a permanent position (a tenured, tenured-tracked, indefinite, or unlimited duration position). A University submitted an employment-based petition for a beneficiary as an outstanding researcher. This petition was denied because the director determined that the University did not offer a permanent position. On appeal, the counsel for the University argued that the position was permanent, and submitted two job offer letters as evidence. The first letter stated, “The term of the renewal will be for the period August 20, 2000 through May 19, 2002.” The second letter stated, “The term of the renewal will be for the period March 12, 2003 through March 11, 2004.” Both letters provided that the offer “carries no presumption of renewal or continuing tenure.” The counsel noted that at this University all positions, including the tenured positions, were similarly renewable. On this matter, both the counsel and the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) agreed that the law defining a permanent position required that the position be a tenured, tenured tracked, indefinite, or unlimited duration position. Based on the law, the AAO responded to submitted offer letters by saying that since the position was not tenured and had a time limit, the position was not permanent. Even though the counsel argued that the position’s terms were similar to a tenured position, the appeal was still denied, affirming the denial of the petition.

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