sustained EB-1B Case: Academic Research

PUBLIC COY I[ 
i&ndfYing data deleted to 
prevent clearly unwand 
~~im ofp*sonol privacy 
U.S. Deplrrtment of Homeland Security 
20 Mass. Ave., N.W., Rm. 3000 
Washington, DC 20529 
U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration 
n .a 
FILE: office: NEBRASKA SERVICE C~R Date: AUG 1 6 ZOO7 
LIN 07 005 52304 
IN RE: 
PETITION: 
 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker as Outstanding Professor or Researcher Pursuant to 
Section 203(b)(l)@) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. $ 1153(b)(l)(B) 
ON BEHALF OF PETITIONER.. 
INSTRUCTIONS: 
This is the decision of the Administrative Appeals Office in your case. All documents have been returned to 
the offlce that originally decided your case. Any further inquiry must be made to that office. 
-/- 
&I Robert P. Wiernann, Chief 
/ ' Administrative Appeals Office 
Page 2 
DISCUSSION: The Director, Nebraska Service Center, denied the employment-based immigrant visa 
petition, which is now before the Administrative Appeals Office on appeal. The appeal will be 
sustained and the petition will be approved. 
The petitioner is an institution of higher education and research. It seeks to classify the beneficiary as 
an outstanding researcher pursuant to section 203(bXl)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (the 
Act), 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(lXB), According to the petition, the petitioner seeks to employ the 
beneficiary in the United States as an instructor. According to the job description of an "instructor," 
- 
 submitted in response to the director's request for additional evidence, the "instructor" position is a 
research position. 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 submits a brief and a letter fiom the petitioner. For the reasons discussed below, the 
petitioner has submitted the required initial evidence, the actual job offer, and has submitted other 
evidence consistent with its stated intent to employ the beneficiary permanently. 
Section 20301) 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, 
(II) for a cornparable position with a university or institution of 
higher education to conduct research in the area, or 
(m) 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 
Page 3 
Ill-time in research ,activities and has achieved documented 
accomplishments in an academic field. 
The regulation at 8 C.F.R. 8 204.5(i)(3)(iii) provides that a petition must be accompanied by: 
An ofler 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 hm: 
(A) A United States university or institution of higher learning ofering the alien 
a tenured or tenure-track teaching position in the alien's academic field; 
(B) A United States university or institution of higher leaning oflering the alien 
a permanent research position in the alien's academic field; or 
(C) A department, division, or institute of a private employer ofering 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 (7' 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 o#er 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 offereel 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 Citizenship and 
Immigration Services (CIS) aflrrning the beneficiary's employment is not a job ofler within the 
ordinary meaning of that phrase. 
The regulation at 8 C.F.R. 5 204.5(i)(2), provides, in pertinent part: