sustained EB-1B Case: Academic Research

U.S. Department of Homeland Security 
20 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Rm. 3000 
Washington, DC 20529-2090 
I L@? U. S. Citizenship 
puBLj[c (~JCJT~~ '4MD 5 
and ~mmigratfon 
IN RE: 
PETITION: 
 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker as Outstanding Professor or Researcher Pursuant to 
Section 203(b)(l)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. 8 1153(b)(l)(B) 
ON BEHALF OF PETITIONER: 
SELF-REPRESENTED 
INSTRUCTIONS: 
This is the decision of the Administrative Appeals Office in your case. All documents have been returned to 
the office that originally decided your case. Any further inquiry must be made to that office. 
If you believe the law was inappropriately applied or you have additional information that you wish to have 
considered, you may file a motion to reconsider or a motion to reopen. Please refer to 8 C.F.R. 8 103.5 for 
the specific requirements. All motions must be submitted to the office that originally decided your case by 
filing a Form I-290B, Notice of Appeal or Motion, with a fee of $585. Any motion must be filed within 30 
days of the decision that the motion seeks to reconsider or reopen, as required by 8 C.F.R. 5 103.5(a)(l)(i). 
U.. 
%oh F. Grissom, Act~ng Ch~ef 
Administrative Appeals Office 
DISCUSSION: The Director, Nebraska Service Center, denied the employment-based immigrant visa 
petition, which is now before the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) on appeal. The appeal will be 
sustained and the petition will be approved. 
The petitioner is a university. It seeks to classify the beneficiary as an outstanding researcher pursuant 
to section 203(b)(l)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act), 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(l)(B). 
According to the petition, the petitioner seeks to employ the beneficiary in the United States as an 
adjunct assistant professor. The director determined that the petitioner had not established that it had 
offered the beneficiary a permanent job as of the date of filing. 
On appeal, counsel submitted a brief. On November 10, 2008, this office advised the petitioner of 
information in its Academic Personnel Manual. In response, the petitioner submitted a letter. We are 
now persuaded that the position offered to the beneficiary is a research position that is sufficiently 
comparable to a tenure-track teaching position. 
Section 203(b) of the Act states, in pertinent part, that: 
(1) Priority workers. -- Visas shall first be made available . . . to qualified immigrants who are 
aliens described in any of the following subparagraphs (A) through (C): 
(B) Outstanding professors and researchers. -- An alien is described in this subparagraph 
if -- 
(i) 
 the alien is recognized internationally as outstanding in a specific 
academic area, 
(ii) the alien has at least 3 years of experience in teaching or research in the 
academic area, and 
(iii) the alien seeks to enter the United States -- 
(I) 
 for a tenured position (or tenure-track position) within a 
university or institution of higher education to teach in the 
academic area, 
(11) 
 for a comparable position with a university or institution of 
higher education to conduct research in the area, or 
(III) for a comparable position to conduct research in the area 
with a department, division, or institute of a private employer, if 
the department, division, or institute employs at least 3 persons 
full-time in research activities and has achieved documented 
accomplishments in an academic field. 
The regulation at 8 C.F.R. Ej 204.5(i)(3)(iii) provides that a petition must be accompanied by: 
An offer of employment fiom 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 fiom: 
(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. 
(Emphasis added.) Black's Law Dictionary 11 11 (7th ed. 1999) defines "offer" as "the act or an 
instance of presenting something for acceptance" or "a display of willingness to enter into a contract 
on specified terms, made in a way that would lead a reasonable person to understand that an 
acceptance, having been sought, will result in a binding contract." Black's Law Dictionary does not 
define "offeror" or "offeree." The online law dictionary by American Lawyer Media (ALM), available 
at www.law.com, defines offer as "a specific proposal to enter into an agreement with another. An 
offer is essential to the formation of an enforceable contract. An offer and acceptance of the offer 
creates the contract." Significantly, the same dictionary defines offeree as "a person or entity to 
whom an offer to enter into a contract is made by another (the offeror)," and offeror as "a person or 
entity who makes a specific proposal to another (the offeree) to enter into a contract." (Emphasis 
added.) 
In light of the above, we concur with the director that the ordinary meaning of an "offer" requires that it 
be made to the offeree, not a third party. As such, regulatory language requiring that the offer be made 
"to the beneficiary" would simply be redundant. Thus, a letter addressed to U.S. Citizenship and 
Immigration Services (USCIS) afirming the beneficiary's employment is not a job offer within the 
ordinary meaning of that phrase. 
The regulation at 8 C.F.R. Ej 204.5(i)(2), provides, in pertinent part: 
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. 
In promulgating the final regulation, the Immigration and Naturalization Services, now USCIS, 
recognized that it is unusual for colleges and universities to place researchers in tenured or tenure- 
track positions. Thus, the commentary to the final rule accepts that research positions "having no 
fixed term and in which the employee will ordinarily have an expectation of permanent employment" 
as comparable. (Emphasis added.) 56 Fed. Reg. 60897,60899 (Nov. 29, 1991). 
On Part 6 of the petition, the petitioner indicated that the proposed employment was a permanent 
position. The petitioner does not assert that the position is tenured or tenure-track, as required for a 
teaching position pursuant to section 203(b)(l)(B)(iii)(I), quoted above. Rather, it is the petitioner's 
contention that the position is a comparable position to conduct research pursuant to section 
203(b)(l)(B)(iii)(II), quoted above. The job offer dated July 10, 2006 advises that the beneficiary 
will devote 20 percent of his time to teaching, 10 percent to administrative duties and 70 percent to 
research. 
On November 10, 2008, this office advised the petitioner that its Academic Personnel Manual, Section 
280-16(c), limits employment in the adjunct series to eight years. In response, the petitioner notes that 
adjust assistant professor may move to other positions after eight years and that tenure-track positions 
are also limited to a specific period during which the employee must obtain tenure to remain employed. 
Thus, we are persuaded that the position is a research position comparable to a tenure-track position. 
The burden of proof in these proceedings rests solely with the petitioner. Section 291 of the Act, 
8 U.S.C. 5 1361. The petitioner has met that burden. Accordingly, the appeal will be sustained and the 
petition will be approved. 
ORDER: 
 The appeal is sustained and the petition is approved.