Responsibilities for the Permanent Residency Sponsorship
Estimated Costs
The estimated costs of a permanent residency sponsorship are outlined in the Permanent Residency Sponsorship and Financial Agreement.
Responsibility of the Employing Department
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The employing department agrees to sponsor its employee for permanent residency and the head of department and employee sign the Permanent Residency Sponsorship and Financial Agreement (pdf), authorizing the Office of International Students, Scholars & Programs (ISSP) to proceed with the permanent residency process. The agreement also outlines any additional costs it agrees to reimburse.
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The Department of Labor requires that permanent residency sponsorship involving a Labor Certification (PERM) for teaching positions to be submitted within 18 months after the selection date, which is the date of the offer letter. However, pre-filing steps can take many months and thus the permanent residency process must be initiated with ISSP no later than 6 months after the offer letter is issued to meet Department of Labor requirements.
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- The sponsoring department assumes all costs involved in Labor Certification (PERM). This includes attorney fee, any current and future government filing fee, costs of reselection/recruitment (e.g., advertising). These costs are billed directly to the university and forwarded to the sponsoring department.
- If the sponsoring department conducts reselection/recruitment but is unable to meet the labor certification standard, the sponsoring department is still responsibility for those costs.
Responsibility of the Employee
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The sponsored employee will maintain legal immigration status for the duration of their employment at the university. This responsibility includes providing the requested documents to ISSP and state-appointed immigration attorney in a timely manner so that they may file the necessary immigration applications on their behalf.
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The sponsoring department assumes all costs involved in Labor Certification (PERM). All remaining costs of the sponsorship are the presumed responsibility of the employee and will be billed directly to them. Under the terms of the Permanent Residency Sponsorship and Financial Agreement (pdf) , the employee may seek reimbursement of some of these costs through their department.
- Employee will consult with ISSP and the attorney on any plans to travel outside the U.S. and possible changes to their position.
- Costs for dependent family members are the responsibility of the employee and are not eligible for reimbursement.
Responsibility of ISSP
- The Director of International Students, Scholars & Programs (currently [[ywong, Eva Wong]]) coordinates the permanent residency sponsorship process with the employee, attorney, and sponsoring department. The director helps to compile the recruitment report for the Labor Certification Application and as the representative of the university, reviews and signs the respective applications prepared by the attorney.
- ISSP is responsible for assisting the employee in securing the appropriate non-immigrant status until the permanent residency application is approved or the employee is no longer employed by the university.
Responsibility of Immigration Attorney
- Working closely with ISSP, the state appointed immigration attorney will file the petition for the employee on behalf of W&M. The attorney also handles all relevant correspondence with the federal government and serves as the primary advisor to the university and employee with regard to the permanent residency sponsorship.
- For permanent residency applications sponsored by the university (i.e., the Labor Certification and the I-140), the services of the state-appointed immigration attorney will be used. For the adjustment of status to permanent resident (I-485), the sponsored employee may file their own petition or use an attorney of their choice.
