The US has a long term visa, I forgot its name. The idea is that it's for exceptional people, including exceptional scientists. And to prove that you're exceptional, there's a list of like 9 items, of which you need to have 3 or more or something like that. One of them is "has published an article in a serious publication venue". Another is "has been a reviewer of the works of others at a serious venue" or something like that. I wonder if other countries have this.