Administrative Service Center
235 Sage Hall
Phone : 607- 255-7541
Fax : 607-255-2823

Visas, Permanent Residency

If you are a foreign national, another concern may be whether or not you are able to obtain a visa. The most common visas are: F-1 (student visas); H-1 (temporary workers, available for academics only); J-1 (visiting scholars/professors); and/or TN (Canadian or Mexican residents' visas). In addition, B-1 visas are granted to visitors whose stay will not exceed 9 days; F-1OPT for practical training. For additional information on visa types, go to http://www.isso.cornell.edu.

The Administrative Service Center will process a Request for Issuance of Form DS-2019 (Certificate of Eligibility for Exchange Visitor Status) for Foreign Academic Staff along with the individual invited to visit and send it to the International Students and Scholars Office (ISSO) on campus. Upon receipt of the executed form, the ISSO will send the invited individual a DS-2019 form which allows that person to apply for an exchange visa.

Any foreign national, upon arrival in Ithaca, will need to go directly to the International Students and Scholars Office, B-50 Caldwell Hall, with your immigration documents so that they can complete the records necessary for your stay at Cornell. Paperwork they provide should then be brought to the Administrative Service Center, 235 Sage Hall, for appointment processing.

The Johnson School will sponsor H1B visas for new foreign nationals who accept academic positions and the Administrative Service Center will assist in the process. To qualify for an H1, the academic must be near or have completed the Ph.D. If one is coming in as an Acting Assistant Professor for one year, it is unlikely an H1B Visa will be approved and it is recommended that the individual come in on the F-1OPT for practical training until completion of the doctorate. ISSO, however, insists that you meet with them prior to making application and that they be your "point of contact" from the filing to certification.

The H1B is a dual-intent visa and individuals on this type of visa are "permitted to intend to remain" in the United States. For any other type of visa, one is supposed to have the intent to return home. Fees associated with the H1B, include the following: $500 Anti-Fraud Fee and a $190 Filing Fee (reimbursable from the employee's STAR account). If a spouse of dependent is included in the petition, there are additional fees totaling another $200 which are the responsibility of the employee and not reimbursable. If it becomes necessary to expedite the filing of the H1B, there is an additional $1,000 fee. New faculty are encouraged to begin the process no later than April 1st the year their appointment begins to avoid having to expedite the petition or to come in under the F-1OPT for practical training option.

As a result, travel is severely restricted (due to possible entry denials at US ports) for anyone who has filed for Permanent Residency while on a nonimmigrant visa. In special circumstances, we can file the petitions close together - first the H1B followed by the paperwork for Permanent Residency, but no travel is recommended under any conditions until the H1B is approved. Permanent Residency is usually applied for after the H1B is approved.

Cornell remains unequivocally committed to hiring US workers. Therefore, the University does not support H-1 visa requests for nonacademic positions.


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Last Modified: April 25, 2008

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