CENTRE COLLEGE POLICY ON VISA SPONSORSHIP FOR EMPLOYEES
Centre College sponsors some employees for work-related visas and/or permanent residency, though the College does not usually sponsor staff positions. The decision to provide immigration sponsorship must be approved by the Vice President for Academic Affairs for any faculty positions or by the Vice President/Senior Staff leader for any staff positions. Once approved by the appropriate leader, visa procurement is managed through the Office of Legal Affairs, in conjunction with the Office of Human Resources and Administrative Services.
H1-B
H-1B visas are specialty occupation visas for temporary employment. To secure an H-1B visa, the College must demonstrate that the job in question is one that requires special preparation, and that the person being sponsored has the required preparation and education. H-1B visas are available only for positions which require at least a Bachelor's degree. Centre College offers H-1B sponsorship primarily for full-time faculty positions. The College does not normally sponsor staff employees (whether full-time, part-time, or temporary) for an H1-B visa, but the College has the discretion to do so under special circumstances.
A decision about whether a faculty position will be eligible for sponsorship for an H-1B visa will be made by the Vice President for Academic Affairs in consultation with the Division Chair. An H-1B visa is valid for three years, and can be extended for one period of three years. In general, the maximum amount of time a faculty member may spend in H-1B status is six years unless certain steps have been reached in the permanent residence process. Requests for H-1B extensions should be made at least seven months in advance of the expiration of the faculty member’s current H-1B status. There is no mechanism for transferring an H-1B visa from another employer. If the College decides to hire someone who is working for another employer on an H-1B visa, the College still must go through the entire H-1B application process (with full costs and process).
If the College decides to sponsor an employee for an H-1B visa, the College will pay all associated legal fees and filing fees for the employee. Visa expenses for the employee's family members are the responsibility of the employee. If the College determines that it is necessary to have the work authorization approved more quickly (for example, by start of the academic term) than normal processing allows (up to six months), the College will initiate a petition under an expedited process known as “Premium Processing” and pay the Premium Processing costs. In all other cases, if the employee desires an expedited process for personal reasons, then the employee may arrange to pay the Premium Processing fee.
Any H-1B visa process begun with less than six months before the College desires the employee to begin work is likely to necessitate the extra expenses of Premium Processing, so that should be avoided when possible.
Permanent Residency ("Green Card")
Centre College may sponsor full-time, non-visiting faculty positions for permanent residency. The College does not normally sponsor students, visiting scholars, visiting faculty, or staff employees (whether full-time, part-time, or temporary) for permanent residency. Under rare circumstances, the College may choose to sponsor a staff employee for permanent residency.
In order to secure permanent residency for an employee, the College must be able to prove that this employee is the best qualified applicant for the position in a national search, as compared to all other US-citizen and permanent resident applicants. A decision about whether a position will be eligible for sponsorship for permanent residency will be made by the Vice President for Academic Affairs, in consultation with the Office of Legal Affairs.
The decision about whether to actually proceed with the application for permanent residency on behalf of the new employee will normally depend upon the employee's performance during the first year on the job. Should the College decide to go forward with sponsorship, initial application should be made within 15 months after the initial job offer in order to take advantage of the competitive recruitment process to avoid having to repost the position. In the event of reposting, the employee would again have to be the chosen applicant in this competitive process for the permanent residency process to move forward.
If the College decides to sponsor an employee for permanent residency, the College will pay all associated legal fees and filing fees for the employee. Immigration expenses for the employee's family members are the responsibility of the employee.
Once begun, the process of securing a green card takes a minimum of 15 months and can take much longer depending on the availability of immigrant visas for the employee's country of origin.
Sponsorship for Non-Immigrant Visas (J-1, TN, O etc)
Centre College may sponsor other work-related non-immigrant visas for certain positions. The decision to provide non-immigrant sponsorship must be approved by the Vice President for Academic Affairs for all faculty positions or by the Vice President or Senior Staff leader for all staff positions prior to posting of the position. Once approved by the appropriate leader, visa procurement is managed through the Office of Legal Affairs.
If the College decides to sponsor an employee for a non-immigrant work-related visa, the College will pay all associated legal fees and filing fees for the employee. Visa expenses for the employee's family members are the responsibility of the employee.
The process for securing a non-immigrant visa varies with the country of origin, but Centre College is not currently permitted to sponsor J-1 visas directly. This means we have to work through another organization to secure these visas, and that is not always possible. The process must allow a minimum of 15 weeks to secure a J-1, TN, or O visa.