Physician Service Contract

What this is

A signed contract or employment agreement documenting the physician's commitment to the required period of qualifying service at the designated underserved worksite under the special immigrant physician category, as required by the USCIS policy manual and 8 CFR 245.18.

Case-specific: Whether this document matters depends on category, facts, or relationship to the case.

Who usually needs it

Applicants in special immigrant classifications whose case depends on a narrow petition theory, court finding, employer record, or government certification.

When it usually appears

Usually during petition building and again when the later visa or adjustment stage must connect back to that special immigrant classification.

What changes by process, path, or post

The classification matters more than the document label. Similar-looking records can serve very different legal theories depending on the special immigrant route.

Common format or evidence traps

• Treating one special immigrant record as reusable across different I-360-based classifications.
• Assuming an approval notice eliminates the need for the route-specific evidence behind it.

Related pages

• Pathway explorerUse pathway families if you still need the legal route.
• Petition stage guideUnderstand what petitions decide and what they do not.
• Consular processing guideSee the immigrant-visa route abroad.
• Adjustment of status guideSee the USCIS route inside the United States.

Related glossary terms

Special immigrant · Pathway family

Examples from current exact-support flows

Coverage posture: Current public exact-support flows attach only one direct example to this document. Treat that example as narrow context, not as proof that the document only matters in that one scenario.

• Usually needed

  Provide a signed employment contract or service agreement documenting the physician's commitment to the required qualifying service period at the designated underserved worksite. The contract must satisfy the requirements of 8 CFR 245.18 and the USCIS policy manual chapter for certain special immigrant physicians. This basis is distinct from the EB-2 physician NIW route; verify that your employment posture actually qualifies under this narrow special immigrant physician category. (Sources: uscis_policy_f5_certain_physicians, uscis_i360_instructions, ecfr_8_cfr_245_18)

  Shown when: scope.green_card_path: special-immigrant · scope.processing_context: adjustment-of-status · special_immigrant.subcategory: physician