Onboarding
Now that you have secured the appropriate work authorization for your employee, you may have questions regarding the onboarding process for your foreign national. As a general rule, your new H-1B employee will need the same treatment as you would give to any new hire, with a few exceptions and additions. Human Resources has a useful website for bringing new employees on board. Most of the forms can be found at http://hr.emory.edu/eu/managers/index.html. Please see below for resources associated with common questions that arise during the onboarding process for new H-1B employees.
Arriving at Emory and Attending Orientation
Emory provides new employees with an online Orientation web site. This on-line service provides new faculty and staff to begin the orientation process immediately after the hiring offer is made. Go to http://hr.emory.edu/eu/managers/orientation/about.html to find out more about this process. New H-1B employees upon arriving at Emory should first report to their assigned department to check in with their supervisor and human resources representative.
All non-immigrant visa holders are required to check-in with ISSS and attend an ISSS orientation session within their first week after arriving at Emory. This orientation is separate from the Human Resource Orientation. ISSS orientation sessions are held every Tuesday at 3 p.m. and Thursday at 9 a.m. and take place in the ISSS office, Suite 130, North Decatur Building. It is not necessary to sign up in advance for the ISSS orientation sessions.
I-9
H-1B employees will need to complete form I-9. Appropriate documentation for the I-9 for H-1B employees is typically an I-797 approval notice for H-1B status, valid passport, and I-94 card. If you have questions about the I-9 process or documents needed for your employee, please contact Sherry Stodghill in Human Resources Data Services at 404-727-6066 or by email at smcken2@emory.edu.
E-Verify
All employees are screened through E-Verify, an online identity/immigration status verification system. Sherry Stodghill will notify the employee if there is difficulty getting E-Verify approval for your new employee.
Tax Issues
Upon arrival at Emory or upon change of status, all non-immigrant visa holders should contact Mary Chenault in the Office of the Controller. Mary Chenault is the Non-Immigrant Tax Specialist for Emory University. Your employee should provide Mary with their name, country of citizenship, non-immigrant status, and contact information. She will provide information for the scholars as to appropriate tax withholdings and any tax treaties they may qualify for. It is VERY important your employees contact Mary, as they are at risk of being significantly over-taxed. Mary can be contacted at mchenau@emory.edu or by phone at 404-727-7889.
Social Security Numbers
Many of your new foreign national employees will have social security numbers they received prior to arriving at Emory because of previous authorized periods of employment. However many employees that you are hiring directly out of student status or from abroad will not have a social security number yet. DO NOT allow your new employees to go to the social security office to apply for a number until they have been in the U.S. at least 10 days. Non-immigrants are screened through a database called SAVE at the Social Security office and at the Department of Motor Vehicles. SAVE needs at least 10 days to be fully updated by the Department of Homeland Security after a non-immigrant enters the U.S. If a non-immigrant attempts to obtain a social security number earlier than that, they risk being moved to second-level processing, delaying the issuance of the social security card by 30 days or more. For information on Social Security Office locations and applications for social security numbers, please see: http://www.ssa.gov/
Driver’s License
Some of your foreign national employees may desire to obtain a U.S. Driver’s license. Information for non U.S. Citizen drivers can be found here: http://www.dds.ga.gov/drivers/DLdata.aspx?con=1741471757&ty=dl
It is important that your employees take their original I-797 approval notice, passport, and I-94 to the DDS in order to properly document their status.
Emory Card
Non-immigrant visa holders who are employees of Emory University will be issued their Emory Card at Orientation.
General Notes
Many of your new H-1B employees, especially those coming directly from outside the U.S., will be unfamiliar with many of the practices associated with beginning employment in the U.S. and living in the U.S. Further, there will be many hurdles as they adjust to a new culture and lifestyle. Departments should be prepared to spend extra time with H-1B employees assisting with and explaining things like health insurance, Emory benefits, housing, transportation, taxes, etc. Our mission to ensure that all foreign nationals have a positive experience at Emory and your diligence and patience in helping your non-immigrant employees plays an important role in accomplishing this.