Employment of International
Scholars and Staff at USC:
Teaching Faculty and Other
Issues
Presented by Robert C. Lum, Director,
Faculty/Staff Visa Services
Office of International Services
Introduction
USC employs over 1000 international faculty and
staff;
 In order for a foreign national to work in the
United States, either temporarily or on a
permanent basis, they must be authorized by
the United States government;
 USC requires proper documentation
demonstrating work authorization by a foreign
national in order to employ them.

U.S. Government Agencies

Citizenship and Immigration Service (CIS)
– controls initial approval of visa requests;

Department of State (DOS)
– Has jurisdiction over the U.S. Embassies and
Consulates; responsible for issuing entry visas;

Department of Labor (DOL)
– Monitors labor-related immigration laws including
compliance with prevailing wage requirements,
recruitment of U.S. workers, and ensures proper
documentation of foreign workers by employers.
Working at USC - Options for
International Faculty and Staff

Nonimmigrant Work Visas
– Can begin working for USC in a few months;
– Temporary in nature;

Permanent Residency
– Normally takes years to complete process;
– Typically USC will only sponsor tenure-track
faculty and long-term faculty/research staff.
Permanent Residency - Introduction
USC may sponsor employees for
permanent residence (i.e. greencard);
 Must be offer of permanent employment;
 Permanent employment in the immigration
context does not mean tenured or tenuretrack, but instead an offer of employment
on a regular basis;
 USC may withdraw sponsorship at any
time.

Permanent Residency –
Government Procedures

1st step: Labor Certification Application (DOL)
– Determination made whether there are qualified U.S. or
permanent resident workers for the position;

2nd step: Petition for Immigrant Visa (CIS);
– Obtain permission from CIS to become permanent resident;

3rd Step: Adjustment of Status Application (if in the
United States)
– Adjust status from nonimmigrant to permanent resident if in the
United States;

or Consular Processing
– Obtain immigrant visa from U.S. Embassy/Consulate and enter
U.S. as permanent resident.
Labor Certification - PERM
On March 28, 2005, new regulations
became effective overhauling the
permanent residency process through
labor certification;
 Labor certification applications supposed
to be completed within 45-60 days;
 Preparation is similar to the old system;
however processing is supposed to be
faster.

Labor Certification - Special
Handling

Reserved for faculty who are offered a teaching position
at USC;
– Teaching must be classroom or clinical; laboratory not eligible

Must have been hired pursuant to a competitive
selection process:
– National Print Ad (Internet ad insufficient)
– Search Committee Report;

Application must be filed within 18 months of the
date of the offer letter;
– Otherwise will need to conduct new recruitment

Application is expedited and usually is the easiest to
process.
Miscellaneous Issues – Special
Handling





Department only advertises for the position on
the web
Department selects the candidate without a
formal search
The candidate fails to meet the requirements as
stated in the ad
Departments waits until the scholar obtains his
H-1B before considering permanent residency;
18 months have already passed
Miscellaneous Issues – Special
Handling

Missed 18 month deadline
– Re-recruit under special handling provisions
(national ad, search committee, etc)
– Re-recruit under standard PERM provisions
(ads in the Sunday daily newspaper, receive
resumes, etc.)
– Apply based on outstanding
professor/researcher category
 Only available to certain faculty
Permanent Residency – OIS
Procedures







Applicant meets with OIS to discuss case;
In case of staff, OIS will confirm with Principal Investigator (PI) offer
of permanent employment and explain process, including
requirement of offer of permanent employment;
Send out referral letter for signature by PI/Supervisor, Chair and
Dean for approval;
Send out application package including questionnaire and checklist
of documents or refer to outside counsel for processing;
If additional recruitment is necessary, will work with designated
department representative on advertising and other requirements;
Will prepare and file application once all materials are received;
Total processing can take between 2-3 years currently.
Other Issues - Administration

Departments should track its international
scholars and the expiration of their work visas
– Ultimately individual scholar/staff is responsible;
– Payroll notifies international faculty/staff 3 months
before expiration;
– Departments may want to consider setting up their
own tickler system;

Department should designate one administrator
to work with OIS on immigration matters for its
international faculty/staff.
Other Issues – Visa Retrogression
Each country allocated certain number of
visas each year for permanent residency.
 Certain categories and countries
oversubscribed.

– China, India
– Professional workers (programmers, etc.)

Other preference categories threatened to
backlog
Other Issues – Visa Retrogression
Visa Bulletin (December 2005)
1st
2nd
3rd
All
C
C
15MAR01
CH
01JUL01
01FEB01
01JAN01
IN
01FEB03
01JUL00
01JAN99
1st = outstanding, 2nd = advanced degree, 3rd =
professional, other workers
(Mexico and the Philippines are not included in
these numbers)
Other Issues – Length of Visa

Departments should consider petitioning
for faculty and staff for longer than a 1
year period for temp. work visa;
– Department has no obligation to employ
foreign national for full H-1B term;
– Department’s only liability is payment of
return trip home if USC terminates
employment;
– Saves paperwork for department
– No need to revisit wage requirement issues
Other Issues – Travel Abroad
Approval of visa status does not necessarily permit entry into U.S. from
abroad.
 Most need to obtain a visa stamp at U.S. Embassy/Consulate
 Normal processing can range anywhere from same day to several weeks
depending on Consulate

– Information on specific visa processing at U.S. Consulates available at
www.usembassy.state.gov.
– The State Department provides visa processing times for each consulate at:
travel.state.gov/visa/temp/wait/tempvisitors_wait.php

Security checks may cause further delay
– Technology Alert List (TAL)/ USCIS just extended security checks: H-1B/2 years
– Foreign nationals born in so-called terrorist countries (Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya,
North Korea, Sudan, and Syria)
Department/Employee should consult with OIS well before making any firm
travel plans outside the United States.
 Travel to Canada/Mexico not recommended

Form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record
(Front)
Form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record
(back)
Visa Entry Stamp issued by the U.S.
Consulate