The Office of the Provost maintains template letters to be used to extend offers to International Faculty receiving tenured or tenure-track appointments.
Template letters incorporate space for different options and situations to be included. Business offices and Hiring Units should not attempt to edit templates to include more or other language beyond the options built into the templates.
If the chosen candidate for a tenured or tenure-track faculty position does not hold permanent residence or citizenship, then the international template must be used.
There is no specific "international" template for clinical faculty or professors of practice - the general appointment letter may be used
Immigration Sponsorship is Required. The University requires immigration sponsorship for all tenured, tenure-track, and clinical/professional faculty positions. This ensures that discussion of citizenship/immigration status, and national/ethnic origin does not affect evaluation of the applicants during searches.
International Faculty typically require two separate, simultaneous services — work visa sponsorship and permanent residence sponsorship.
Work visa sponsorship
International Faculty must hold a visa status or work permission that does not conflict with either (i) the nature of the appointment (in the case of tenured or tenure-track positions) or (ii) the intention for the appointment to be indefinite in duration (in the case of clinical appointments or professors of practice).
International Faculty requiring sponsorship, must be sponsored either for H-1B or O-1 visa status.
Visa statuses incompatible with tenured or tenure-track faculty positions include:
F-1 status with post-completion Optional Practical Training work permission
J-1 Research Scholar status
J-1 status with Academic Training
If a chosen candidate for a tenured or tenure-track appointment is temporarily ineligible for H-1B or O-1 sponsorship at the time of offer BUT the candidate has another form of work permission available to authorize their activities at the University (including F-1 OPT, J-1, or J-1 AT), the Host Unit may permit the candidate to begin their employment at Purdue in a comparable visiting appointment while the legal barrier to H-1B or O-1 status is resolved by the candidate.
The Provost template letter for International Faculty specifically includes this option.
If the chosen candidate intends to begin their employment in J-1 or J-1 AT status, the candidate’s home institution might require deferral of the tenured/tenure-track appointment. If this is the case, an interim limited term Visiting Faculty appointment letter might need to be issued and accepted to facilitate the immediate start of the appointment
Candidates in this situation have a default time of one year to resolve the obstacle to H-1B or O-1 sponsorship, but Unit Heads may extend this at their discretion, subject to Provost Office approval.
Permanent residence sponsorship.
Host Units must promptly initiate permanent residence sponsors for tenure-track, tenured, and clinical/professional faculty positions after the chosen candidate accepts the offer, regardless of the appointment’s anticipated start date.
International Faculty receiving tenure-track, tenured, clinical/professional appointments are sponsored by default for “2nd Preference Employment-Based Permanent Residence” as “Advanced Degree Professionals.” In the majority of cases, this is the most efficient, most cost-effective, and least risky path to permanent residence.
International faculty born in countries for which US immigration backlogs exist may prefer to be sponsored for EB-1B Employment-Based permanent residence as an “Outstanding Professor or Researcher.” Host Units may choose (at their discretion) to additionally pursue EB-1B permanent residence for any qualifying faculty or staff.
Limited Exception for Permanent Residence Requirement for Certain Faculty.
International Faculty lawfully present in the USA in a class of admission compatible with permanent residence — and currently in possession of work authorization appropriate for the specific faculty appointment at Purdue — may not require University Sponsorship.
For example, International Faculty hold all necessary immigration permissions to support employment in tenured, tenure-track, and clinical/professional faculty positions if they have all the following: an approved Form I-130 or Form I-140 petition and pending I-485 application to adjust status and a valid and unexpired Employment Authorization Document in hand.
In such situations, Host Units may choose to postpone University-Sponsored immigration requests until final decision(s) are issued by the US government with respect to the pending greencard (lawful permanent residence status) request. However, note that if the faculty member's permanent residence is not timely issued (which is uncommon but possible), the host unit is responsible for supporting and paying all associated costs for a new permanent residence process
Conditional Tenure
Permanent residence may take many years to complete, especially for citizens of certain countries where large "per country" backlogs exist. Conditional Tenure provides these faculty members with comparable rights of tenure, without the formal promise of tenure, until such time as permanent residence is granted.
