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BEIJING, CHINA - A New York University law professor says legal activist Chen Guangcheng has been offered a fellowship at the school.

Jerome Cohen, who has been advising Chen during the diplomatic standoff, says Chen has been offered an invitation to the university's U.S.-Asia Law Institute.

Asked if Chen would accept, Cohen said he thinks he will but added, "I don't know whether he wants to come to New York or not. He may face a lot of other alternatives."

The U.S. and China have forged the outlines of a deal that would allow Chen to travel to the U.S. with his family for a university fellowship.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry says Chen can apply for travel permits to study abroad and a State Department spokeswoman says the U.S. expects Beijing to quickly process their travel permits, after which U.S. visas would be granted.

The emerging deal over Chen's future could end one of their most delicate diplomatic crises between Washington and Beijing in years.