Visa Classifications

Visa Classification Summary

International Programs & Exchanges (IPE) works with four common visa classifications. The hiring department generally initiates contact with International Programs & Exchanges for assistance in determining the appropriate visa classification, if any, for prospective or current professional international employees. A brief description of these four classifications is listed below. For more detailed information, please contact International Programs & Exchanges.

Note regarding "visa" and "status": The meaning of the terms "visa" and "status" often are confused. A visa stamp in the passport indicates that the visa holder has the "right to enter the country" and is essentially used as a ticket into the U.S. "Status" refers to the current authorization a person may hold that allows him/her to stay in the U.S. (for example to study or work). Often a person may change his/her status while in the U.S., for example from F-1 Student to H-1B Temporary Worker, without changing the visa in the passport. Receiving a status and receiving a visa involves two different procedures with two different government agencies, USCIS (immigration) and Department of State (visas).

Although the passport and work authorization or "status" must remain valid while a faculty member is in the United States, a visa need not remain valid once it has been used to enter the U.S. However, if an international faculty member travels abroad and the visa in the passport has expired and/or the number of entries have been used, or the visa stamp does not identify the current status, the faculty member will need to apply for a new visa at a U.S. consulate abroad prior to returning to the U.S. (Canadian citizens are not required to have a visa in their passport to enter the U.S.). This requirement must be taken into account if the international faculty member intends to travel abroad to visit family or attend academic conferences.

Nonimmigrant Status

• TN: Work Authorization for Faculty

  By far, the easiest classification to obtain is the TN work authorization, which is not a visa status at all, but rather a type of work authorization that resulted from NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement between Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The basic requirements for new faculty members to obtain TN status to work in the U.S. are that they be either a Canadian or Mexican citizen, and that they be a professional in one of the authorized professions. The TN must be renewed annually, but there is no limit on the number of years it may be renewed.

• J-1: Exchange Visitor Visa

  The J-1 program was established by the Fulbright-Hayes Act of 1961. Its objective is to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. This objective can be met only if the participants in the program return home to exercise the skills and knowledge acquired in the U.S., thereby strengthening the ties between the United States and other nations of the world. The university's Exchange Visitor Program sponsors foreign nationals as temporary members of the academic staff for short-term teaching/lecturing, observing, conducting research, or consulting. This visa enables nonimmigrant faculty and dependent spouse to work in the U.S. for up three years.

• H-1B: Temporary Visa for Faculty

  This classification is reserved for skilled professionals from other countries, including Canada and Mexico. Again, the profession must be a "specialty occupation," (such as teaching), one authorized by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), formerly INS. The employer may petition for H-1B status for an eligible individual for 1 to 3 years at a time, but no more than 6 years total. At the end of the six years, the foreign national must leave the U.S. for at least one year before they are eligible to seek H-1B status for another 6-year period.

• OPT: F-1 Student on Optional Practical Training

  Occasionally international faculty members who have just finished their Ph.D. or other graduate study may begin work at WWU in F-1 student status on Optional Practical Training (OPT). OPT gives F-1 students who have been enrolled in a full course of study for at least 9 months an opportunity for hands-on work experience complementary to the academic field of study. F-1 students are eligible for a maximum of 12 months of full-time OPT per academic level. Once a faculty member begins employment at WWU on OPT, the hiring department may then request International Programs & Exchanges to apply for a change of the faculty member's status to H-1B.

Applications for practical training are submitted through the new faculty member's current university's International Student Office and must be received by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) prior to the date of completion of studies. Because of processing delays, an OPT application should be mailed to USCIS as early as 4 months in advance of the date of beginning employment.

Note regarding dependents: The dependent spouse and family members of an international faculty member in TN, H-1B or F-1 status may attend school, but are prohibited from working in anything other than a volunteer capacity. A dependent spouse of an international faculty member in J-1 status is allowed to work. It is also possible for dependents to obtain their own TN, H-1B, or J-1 status if they can independently qualify for any of these categories.

Permanent Residency

Tenure track faculty on an H-1B visa must become permanent residents to continue working after their H-1B visa expires. This is by far the most common route to employment-based permanent resident status, but it is also the most time-consuming. Labor Certification is the common name for the process by which Exceptional Ability Aliens, Advanced-Degree Professionals, and Skilled Professionals (Professionals with Bachelor's Degrees) obtain permanent resident status. It is a 3-step process wherein:

1. The university first documents the recruitment and selection process and files an Application for Alien Employment Certification (Form ETA-750) with the Department of Labor. For Labor Certification the initial form must be filed with the Department of Labor no more than 18 months from the international faculty member's date of selection for a faculty position. (the date of selection is the date of the hiring department's letter of agreement). USCIS requires that non-teaching faculty must be shown to have been the "only qualified" applicant.
2. Once certified by the Department of Labor, the university files the Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker (Form I-140) with USCIS on behalf of the international faculty member.
3. Finally, once the petition is approved, the international faculty member and each member of his or her family must either file for Adjustment of Status in the United States, or travel abroad to complete the process at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate. This is the final step in attaining permanent residency and it is the international faculty member's responsibility (as the petitioner) to complete this step. It is highly recommended that the international faculty member acquire the services of an immigration attorney for Adjustment of Status. For more information on this process and to download the related immigration forms, please visit the USCIS web site.

Upon the completion of either of these final steps, the international faculty member and dependent family members (spouse and/or children under age 21) become lawful permanent residents. Once a certain point has been reached in the process of obtaining permanent resident status, an international faculty member's dependents may obtain work authorization of their own based on the petition for permanent resident status (the petition must be approved and the Adjustment of Status application filed or Consular Processing initiated).