Overview

UW-Madison will support permanent residency applications for:

• New tenure-track or tenured faculty who were offered the job within the past 18 months after a proper national recruitment was conducted.
• Clinical and CHS faculty with primary teaching responsibilities who were offered the job within the past 18 months after a proper national recruitment was conducted.
• Tenured faculty who appear to meet the Outstanding Professor/Researcher (OPR) qualifications, regardless of when the initial offer letter was issued.
• High level research staff and scientists who hold or have been offered a permanent research position in the Researcher or Scientist title series and who appear to qualify for the Outstanding Professor/Researcher (OPR) category, regardless of when the initial offer letter was issued.

Additionally, there are numerous other ways to obtain permanent residency on your own without UW-Madison sponsorship. Many individuals work with a private attorney to do this. The most common ways are:

• National Interest Waiver (EB-2)
• Individuals of Extraordinary Ability (EB-1A)
• Family based sponsorship by a qualifying family member
• Diversity Lottery
• or as an investor, special immigrants such as religious workers, asylee, refugees, etc.

The decision to file a permanent residence application must be authorized by your Department Chair and the appropriate Dean’s office.

The University of Wisconsin (UW) has the following employment-based (EB) options for sponsoring PR:

• EB-2 Special Handling Labor Certification (“PERM”)
  • Available for permanent full-time teaching positions
  • Requires the UW to test the national labor market by conducting a national recruitment and provide evidence of such according to the regulations.
  • Employees hired using a waiver are not eligible for PR under this category since no recruitment was conducted.
• EB-1B Outstanding Professor or Researcher (OPR)
  • Available for academic research staff and faculty who are internationally recognized as outstanding in a specific academic area to work in a tenured or tenure-track position or a comparable position to conduct research.
  • The employee must have at least 3 years of experience in teaching or research in the academic field.
  • The employee must be able to demonstrate they meet at least 2 of the 6 federal criteria for this category, as well as pass the “final merits determination” of whether or not the evidence provided demonstrates that the employee is recognized internationally as outstanding in a specific academic area.

EB-2 Special Handling Labor Certification Petition

• Involves 3 steps
• Entire process can take generally 2-3 years (more for some individuals)
• The Labor Certification must be filed no later than 18 months of date of selection.
  • “Date of selection” is widely interpreted as the date on the first original offer letter.
  • This deadline is somewhat of a misnomer. Depending on when certain parts of the EB-2 application are completed, our timeline may be less than 18 months.

EB-1B OPR Petition

• Involves 2 steps
• Entire process can take generally 1-2 years (more for some individuals)
• Does not require a test of the national labor market (i.e. a national recruitment)
• No time limit based on offer letter date. The UW can file these types of petitions at any time during the employee’s career at the UW.
• Please talk to your department chair and dean’s office if you are interested in this type of petition.  They will reach out to IFSS to begin the discussion.

When an individual obtains permanent residency, the spouse and all children under the age of 21 are also eligible to receive permanent residency, as long as they were included in the application.

Employees are responsible for filing fees related to their UW-sponsored PR petition. The UW does not reimburse these fees.

USCIS will accept a personal check or money order from a U.S. bank made payable to: U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Filing Fee – $700

Premium Processing Fee – $2,805 (effective Feb. 26. 2024)

• Consult IFSS if this fee is needed. For some employees that have backlogged priority dates, it may not make sense to use premium processing.
• Guarantees USCIS will take action on the case in 15 calendar days after receipt of the petition. An “action” can be an approval, a Request For Evidence (RFE), a Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID), or a denial.
• This fee is in addition to the filing fee listed above.
• Does not expedite the UW preparation of the petition.

Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs) are allowed to remain permanently in the U.S.

To maintain your status as a permanent resident in the U.S., you must have a primary residence in the U.S. and obtain a re-entry permit from USCIS for any trip outside of the U.S. which will last longer than six months.

Outside attorneys do not have the ability to represent and act on the behalf of the UW for a particular petition, which is strictly prohibited by Wisconsin State Statute. See UW Legal website regarding Outside Attorneys. Therefore, if you are working with an attorney and they ask you to have the UW sign a Form G-28, you should inform them that no one at the UW is authorized to sign that form. That form gives an attorney the authorization to represent the UW, which, as mentioned above, is prohibited.

If the UW sponsors your PR petition, you may choose to hire a private attorney to assist with the final step of PR (filing Form I-485, aka “Adjustment of Status”). Using a private attorney is permissible at this step in the process since the I-485 is considered a personal petition. The employee must pay all filing fees and attorney fees if they choose to do so. It is not appropriate for the UW to reimburse private attorney fees.

ATTORNEY/LAWYER RESOURCES

Immigration law is federal. You can find an attorney in any U.S. state to represent you on private immigration petitions.

To locate an immigration attorney, here are a few places to start:

• American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA)
• Wisconsin Bar Association

Tip: Sometimes the best recommendations come from colleagues or friends. Find an attorney you are comfortable with, whom you feel will represent your best interests.

No need to notify IFSS. Please follow all other standard HR procedures for an employee leaving the UW.