學術文章被引述在申請綠卡中的重要性

2007-09-05 11:41 國家利益豁免或EB-1A傑出教授或研究人士的I-140移民申請,申請人多著重於本身的學術著作、學術獎項、幫學術期刊審核文章、在單位的關鍵角色、學術討論會的文章發表、以及專業團體的會員要求,卻時常忽略了其它專家在其學術著作中,對於申請人學術研究的探討,或者是報章媒體對於申請人學術研究成果的報導。

諸不知, 移民局將申請人的學術研究文章被引述的次數及普遍性有越來越重視的趨勢, 尤其是非申請人的老闆或同事之獨立專家的學術著作中, 對於申請人研究項目的評估與推崇, 對移民局來說, 是決定批准與否的關鍵。因為申請人現在及以前的老闆或同事, 不論學術地位多麼隆崇, 對於申請人學術研究的評價總是有先入為主、回護門生之嫌, 在移民局眼中並不是十分客觀, 如果有其它與申請人並無直接連繫的專家, 對於申請人的研究成就也讚譽有加, 並且大量援引, 假設有二三十篇, 則移民局對申請人的學術研究之影響力毫無置疑之處, 輔以申請人其它獨特研究的成績, 移民申請大致八九不離十。

舉例而言, 移民局視學術著作發表是科學研究必須具備的條件, 因為發表文章與申請人的學術研究之影響力並不具備必然關係, 移民局指出, 發表文章並不能強迫他人審閱或吸取申請人的研究之影響。」Publication, by itself, is not a strong indication of impact in one’s field, because the act of publishing an article does not compel others to read it or absorb its influence.」

移民局甚至認為, 偶而幫學術期刊審核文章都只是例行公事。「Peer review of manuscripts is a routine element of the process by which articles are selected for publication in scholarly journals or presentations at a scientific conference. Occasional participation in peer review of this kind does not adequately distinguish the petitioner from other researchers.」 當然, 如果幫多家學術期刊審核文章, 則另當別論。

另外, 在取得學位之前所獲得的獎項, 因為只跟其它研究生或博士後研究一起競賽, 而無法就此獎項與其它有經驗的專家做出有意義的比較, 移民局並非完全不考慮, 但是並不具備決定性之關鍵。「While the petitioner’s graduate student award may distinguish the petitioner from other students seeking to further their education a particular university, it offers no meaningful comparison between the petitioner and experienced professionals in research field who have long since completed their graduate studies.」

相形之下, 移民局下列的論述大家可以看出來獨立專家的對於申請人的評估是如何的重要。 Numerous independent citations would provide firm evidence that other researchers have been influenced by the petitioner’s work. If there are few or no citations of an alien’s work, suggesting that that work has gone largely unnoticed by the larger research community, then it is reasonable to question how widely that alien’s work is viewed as being noteworthy. It is also reasonable to question how much impact � and national benefit � a researcher’s work would have.」 至於獨立專家的評論要幾篇才算足夠, 恐怕還是要看個別移民移民官的主觀判斷。

同時, 獨立專家評論的重要性, 也可以從移民局下列的觀點中得到印證。「We note that all of the witnesses have collaborated with petitioner on various projects in the past. This fact indicates that while the petitioner’s work is valued by his professional contacts, other scientists throughout the field are largely unaware of his research and do not attribute the same level of importance to his work.」

最後, 建議大家在從事學術研究之餘, 應多廣泛接觸他校, 業界, 及政府部門的專家學者, 不僅增廣見聞, 學術交流, 那天說不定會在你的移民申請上有意外的幫助。