Green Card Requirements
In 2023, ND Global took over responsibility for employment-based visas and permanent residence (informally known as a Green Card) at the University of Notre Dame. All U.S.-based immigration services are now centralized in ISSA.
Employment visas for international hires are typically limited to six (6) years. International employees wishing to remain in the US must apply for permanent residence, a process that can often take over two years.
There is a straightforward permanent residence process available for employees with teaching responsibilities, but the university must:
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Have advertised the teaching position in a national professional journal for 30 days, either online or in print. The ad should include the job title, duties, and requirements, and it should also mention the name and publication dates of the journal.
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The process must begin within nine months from the date when the university offers(ed) the teaching position.
It is still possible to sponsor an employee for permanent residence if the advertisement is not properly made or if the nine-month deadline is missed, but this incurs additional costs (readvertising the position) and time (process and re-selection).
Questions and assistance, particularly for the following two groups, can be directed to Erin Clark (eclark32@nd.edu), ISSA Employment Immigration Manager:
- Spring 2024 Hires: E. Clark has offered to assist departments by reviewing the ads that you plan to place (both for content and place of publication) to ensure that any international hires made from your advertisements can easily start the permanent residence process next fall.
- Fall 2023 New Tenure-Track/Tenured Teaching Hires: Relatedly, if you have international tenure-track/tenured teaching hires who began this fall, please be sure to discuss with them now whether or not they would like the university to sponsor their permanent residency. The process should be started during their first semester on campus. Fee information can be found on the ISSA website.
In general, the filing and legal fees for permanent residence range from $3,700 - $6,800.
College of Arts & Letters Policy on Funding Green Card Costs
For employment-based green card petitions, the College normally covers all fees for the preliminary phase(s) of the process. The final phase of the process (filing the I-485 petition) is considered personal to the individual so the University considers any filing and attorney fees related to that phase to be the responsibility of the employee. The College asks/requires that for the I-485 phase the faculty member personally funds those costs and no university funds (including departmental or a faculty member's R&PD funds) are used for the I-485 portion.
For the portion above that the College covers, please charge the expenses to the department 100000 fund and then email Michelle LaCourt (mlacourt@nd.edu) and Tarzan "TD" Ball (tball@nd.edu) with an itemized list of the expenses to reimburse by faculty member. They will then transfer an amount into your 100000 fund.
Related Links
International Student and Scholar Affairs