Permanent Residency
Emory University sponsors certain employees for employment-based permanent residency. The following criteria must be met for an individual to qualify for sponsorship:
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The position must be full-time and permanent (not time-limited or based solely on grant funding)
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The university must intend to employ the individual indefinitely
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The position must be faculty or faculty-equivalent
There are several options for permanent residency available to individuals. Emory University currently files in three categories:
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EB-1 Outstanding Professor or Researcher: This category is limited to those who have risen to the very top of their field. They must be internationally recognized as a leader in the field, and must be able to prove this through awards, publications, and attestations from other experts. This category does not require a labor certification.
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EB-2 Special Handling for College and University Teachers: This category is specific to those who will be teaching courses at the college/university level. It does require a labor certification; however, the recruitment requirements are less than those for a standard EB-2.
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EB-2 Standard Filing: This category is for individuals who will not be teaching courses, and who do not qualify for the EB-1 category. It requires a labor certification, and the recruitment process is complex and time-consuming.
To be sponsored by Emory University, the permanent residency process MUST be initiated by the department. This should begin as soon as possible after the employee is hired. The department should contact its assigned scholar advisor at ISSS to initiate the process.
The permanent residency process may consist of the following steps:
a. Recruitment according to Department of Labor (DOL) guidelines (EB-2 only)
b. Filing of the labor certification with the DOL (EB-2 only)
c. Filing form I-140 with USCIS. This is Emory University's portion of the permanent residency application. For those categories requiring a labor certification, this can only be filed once the labor certification is approved.
d. Filing form I-485 and associated forms. This is the employee's portion of the permanent residency application. Sometimes this can be filed concurrently with form I-140; the ISSS advisor will work with the scholar to determine if this is possible, and if so, how to proceed.
Detailed information about each permanent residency category, Emory's policy for sponsorship, and other options for those who cannot be sponsored by Emory, can be found in this section.