07/29/10
Special Handling for College and Univesity Teachers
College and university teachers are eligible for employment based
immigration under a streamlined "Special Handling" Labor
Certification. Because it is an EB-2 case, it is important for
people subject to an EB-2 quota backlog to first consider whether he or
she may be eligible to file under EB-1 Outstanding Professor or
Researcher category. Generally speaking, Special Handling is
preferred for younger professors who are not yet recognized as
"Outstanding", and for those who are not subject to an EB-2 quota
backlog.
The eligibility requirements for "Special Handling" are:
1. The college or university conducted competitive recruitment, including at least one print ad placed in a national professional journal. On-line ads are insufficient;
2. The college or university can confirm that the teacher was the most qualified applicant and the reasons why;
3. The offer is for a tenure or tenure-track teaching position; and
4. The case must be filed within 18 months of the job offer.
The case is much faster than a regular Labor Certification because no additional recruitment efforts are required and DOL processes the Labor Certification in just a few days, rather than a few months.