8 CFR § 204.5(h)(5)(i) and 2 INA § 203 require the following in order to approve an immigrant visa on behalf of an Outstanding Researcher or Professor:

1. An application for Permanent Employment Certification under the PERM process is not required, but an offer of permanent employment is necessary; the job offer must be from an university or institution of higher learning (in a tenured or tenure-track position), or in a private company that employs at least three researchers full-time and has "documented" accomplishments in the academic field;

2. The researcher or professor must have at least three (3) years of experience in teaching or research in an academic area (documented by a letter from the employer or previous employer);

3. The researcher or professor must be internationally regarded for excellence/as outstanding in a specific academic area; letters of support from other experts/colleagues in the field are very helpful in demonstrating the researcher/professor is internationally outstanding.