Overview
To continue employment beyond the six-year maximum allowed by H-1B, an employee needs to obtain permanent residency. Permanent residency is sometimes referred to as “green card” or “PR”. As the name implies, permanent residency is permanent and allows the employee to live and work in the US indefinitely. There are several paths to PR, and this guide will provide an overview of the paths most commonly used at UT, as well as an explanation of the process, timeline, and cost.
Positions Eligible for PR Sponsorship
Hiring departments should not make promises concerning PR sponsorship to any prospective employee. To be sponsored for permanent residency, an employee must hold a permanent, full-time position. Temporary and part-time positions can’t be sponsored for permanent residency. For the purposes of PR sponsorship, the university defines “permanent” to include the following employment situations:
Tenure-track or tenured faculty
Clinical faculty (clinical assistant professor, clinical associate professor, or clinical professor)
An employee with a contract of at least three years at the time the PR process begins and the expectation that the appointment will continue indefinitely
For grant-funded positions, the hiring department must have secured a minimum of three years of future funding at the time the PR process begins and must demonstrate that continued funding for an indefinite period is highly probable
The university will not file PR petitions for Post-Doctoral Research Associates, employees on contracts of less than three years, or for any other position that doesn’t meet the definition of permanent.
Paths to PR
There are several paths that all lead to the same destination of a green card. Which path to take depends on variables such as the job duties, whether a full search was conducted for the position, the employee’s years of experience, and the employee’s nationality.
Labor Certification (EB-2)
Special Handling Labor Certification (SHLC) - if the position has teaching duties and a full search was conducted
Special Handling Re-recruitment - if the position has teaching duties but there was no search conducted
Standard Re-recruitment - if the position doesn’t have teaching duties and no other options exist
Outstanding Professor/Researcher (OPR, EB-1) - if the employee has at least three years of experience and can demonstrate that they are internationally recognized as outstanding in their field
Self-Sponsored Petitions vs. UT-Sponsored Petitions
The paths to PR listed above are all employer-sponsored paths, meaning that UT is sponsoring the employee. In an employer-sponsored petition, the employer must take an active role in the process, pay the costs, and take on certain compliance obligations. However, there are other paths available that don’t require the employer’s involvement. These are called self-sponsored petitions, because the employee sponsors himself/herself and UT has no official role to play. If an employee chooses a self-sponsored path, the employee pays all related fees. UT faculty and staff may write recommendation letters in relation to such petitions but may not sign any immigration documents. The self-sponsored paths include:
Extraordinary Ability (EB-1) - the employee must demonstrate extraordinary ability through sustained national or international acclaim
National Interest Waiver (NIW, EB-2) - the work the employee does must have substantial merit and national importance
When to Begin PR Sponsorship
Different paths to PR have different deadlines, and some cases will need to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. However, the timelines below can be used as a general guide.
For positions that have teaching duties, the PR sponsorship process should begin as soon as possible after the offer is accepted due to the tight deadlines involved. In some cases, this could mean starting the PR sponsorship process before the employee’s first day of work.
For tenure-track positions without teaching duties, the PR sponsorship process can begin when the faculty member meets the eligibility criteria for the OPR path (see details below).
For non-tenure-track positions without teaching duties, the employee must typically be employed for two years before the university will sponsor them for PR. In extraordinary circumstances, the hiring department may ask ISSS for approval to file a PR petition before the two-year requirement has been met.
Petitions filed in the category of Outstanding Professor/Researcher (OPR): Department of Homeland Security regulations require evidence that the employee “has at least three years of experience in teaching and/or research in the academic field”, and that they are “recognized internationally as outstanding in the academic field specified in the petition.” In rare cases, up to one year of experience acquired as a graduate student may be included in this three year requirement. In no case will UT file an OPR petition before the employee has had two years of employment beyond the highest degree.
Process and Timeline
UT uses the law firm of Kramer Rayson to file all PR petitions. Hiring departments may not prepare or file immigration documents on their own, and attorneys other than Kramer Rayson may not prepare or file immigration documents on behalf of UT.
To initiate the process, the hiring department should send a completed PR Department Form to the ISSS team. ISSS will gather the necessary approvals and notify the General Counsel’s Office of the new PR case. The General Counsel’s Office will then contact Kramer Rayson and authorize them to start working on the case. At that point, the immigration attorney will work directly with the hiring department and the employee throughout the rest of the process.
There are 2-3 main steps in the PR process:
Filing a Labor Certification with the Department of Labor (if pursuing a Labor Certification path)
Filing a form I-140 with USCIS (this form renders the employee eligible for PR and is considered the university’s petition)
Filing a form I-485 with USCIS (this form is the request to adjust status to PR and is considered the employee’s petition)
The overall timeline can vary significantly based on several factors, but this process should be measured in years instead of in weeks or months. The process will likely take from two years up to 10+ years from start to finish. Almost all of this time is due to long US government processing times.
Costs
All costs related to the filing of Labor Certifications and forms I-140 must be paid by UT and may not be paid by or reimbursed by the employee. Typically, the hiring department pays the costs for sponsoring their employee for PR, although some colleges might share the cost with the department.
The costs related to preparing and filing form I-485 may be paid by either the employee or by the hiring department. The university may not pay any costs associated with applications filed for dependents of the employee. Costs for dependents of the employee must be paid by the employee.
Total costs can vary depending on several variables, but departments can generally expect to spend $8,000 - $12,000. A detailed explanation of the fees for each path is available on the guide for that path.