NONIMMIGRANT EMPLOYEES AT TEMPLE UNIVERSITY

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NONIMMIGRANT EMPLOYEESAT TEMPLE UNIVERSITY

• A presentation by
• International Student and Scholar Services

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International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS)
Contact Information

• PHONE [phone]
• FAX [phone]
• www.temple.edu/isss
• Staff Information
• Martyn J. Miller, Ph.D., Senior Director
• mjmiller_at_temple.edu 1-4682
• Joan McGinley, Assistant Director
• joanw_at_temple.edu 1-1272
• Sharon Loughran, Immigration Services Specialist
• sharonl_at_temple.edu 1-3805

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• U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) DHS
  combined 22 different federal departments and
  agencies into a unified, integrated cabinet
  agency in 2002 www.dhs.gov/
• US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS)
  Branch of DHS which has authority over all aliens
  in the US www.uscis.gov
• US Department of Labor (DOL) Government Agency
  that has authority over Labor Condition
  Application (LCA) needed for H-1B and O-1
  Petitions /E-3 Visa www.dol.gov
• US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Branch of
  DHS responsible for admitting internationals into
  the US www.cbp.gov
• US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
  enforces federal laws governing border control,
  customs, trade and immigration to promote
  homeland security and public safety oversees
  SEVIS, the software system used for F and J
  students/scholars https//www.ice.gov/
• US Department of State Authority over issuances
  of all US non-immigrant and immigrant visas
  http//travel.state.gov/content/visas/english.html
  

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Application Process

• Please ensure that all required materials are
  submitted ISD at one time (checks should be sent
  separately)
• Missing information will cause unnecessary delays
  in processing of immigration documents
• KNOW YOUR DATES! Make sure that they are the
  dates that you really want. Check with all
  parties involved PI/Faculty Mentor/Supervisor,
  International Applicant, etc
• www.temple.edu/isss/international/index.html

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ISSS DOES NOT DECIDE JOB TITLE / POSITIONS

• Please note that ISSS does not determine job
  titles (paid/unpaid) or salaries. We are the
  final stage in facilitating the appropriate visa
  classification once the department has determined
  these factors and a prospective employee has been
  identified.
• Departments need to work with their HR
  Generalist, the Postdoctoral Affairs Office and
  the Senior Vice Provost for Faculty Development
  and Faculty Affairs to determine the job title

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Once you know the position, learn the answers to
these questions before contacting ISSS

• Is applicant currently in the US? If yes, is s/he
  already employed by TU? If so, what is the
  foreign national's immigration status? Current
  job title?
• ? What Is the Highest Degree the Applicant Holds?
  Does Applicant Meet Minimum Degree Requirement
  for position?
• Does Applicant Have the Minimum number of years
  of experience required?
• REALISTIC Expected starting date of appointment?
• How long will you employ applicant? On a yearly
  basis? Permanently?
• Foreign national's country of citizenship?
• Has the potential employee applied for a Green
  card?
• Does the applicant plan to travel abroad in the
  near future? (This will affect both visa timing
  and procedure)

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Contact

• Sharon Loughran for J-1 Scholars, H-1B Employees,
  E-3 Australian Specialty Workers and TN Temporary
  Workers.
• Martyn Miller for an O-1 Worker
• Joan McGinley for a J-1 Student Intern who will
  receive academic credit from a University abroad
  for research performed at TU
• Nina Campellone regarding Post Doctoral Fellows
  and Visiting Research Scholars.
• Faculty Affairs for information on hiring
  Faculty.
• Department's HR Generalist to invite/appoint/hire
  anyone not listed above.
• Karen Ward (University) regarding TU Sponsorship
  for a green card. Contact Janine Woodard
  regarding TUHS Sponsorship. Please note that ISSS
  is unable to assist with the green card process.

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• The B-1 category is appropriate for aliens who
  wish to come to the United States to engage in
  temporary commercial, business, or professional
  activities related to their employment or
  business abroad, provided that the U.S. activity
  does not constitute "employment" in the U.S.
• 22 C.F.R. 41.31(b)(1) The term "business," as
  used in INA 101(a)(15)(B), refers to conventions,
  conferences, consultations and other legitimate
  activities of a commercial or professional
  nature. It does not include local employment or
  labor for hire.

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• The State Department Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM)
  contains an example of what is NOT local
  employment "The clearest legal definition comes
  from the decision of the Board of Immigration
  Appeals in Matter of Hira, affirmed by the
  Attorney General. Hira involved a tailor
  measuring customers in the United States for
  suits to be manufactured and shipped from outside
  the United States. The decision stated that this
  was an appropriate B-1 activity, because the
  principal place of business and the actual place
  of accrual of profits, if any, was in the foreign
  country."

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B-1/2 Tourist Visa Usually Not Appropriate for
Researchers

• In general, ISSS recommends that non-employee
  individuals from abroad who will come to Temple
  to engage in research, lecture, etc. should enter
  the US as a J-1 Exchange Visitor. Our office has
  seen too many instances of individuals being
  turned away at the border when they try to enter
  with B-1/B-2 (Tourist) or WB/WT (Visa Waiver)
  status.

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General Non-Immigrant Process

• Pre-entry includes visa processing at a U.S.
  consulate as well as any other preliminary steps
  that occur in the US relating to the planned
  nonimmigrant activity. Some examples of other
  preliminary steps are
• Admission to a school and issuance of a SEVIS
  I-20
• Acceptance by an exchange visitor program and
  issuance of a SEVIS DS-2019
• A U.S. employer securing the approval of an
  employment-based nonimmigrant worker petition
  (Form I-129)
• Obtaining a Visa Stamp from a US Consulate
  Outside the US
• Entry includes inspection and admission to the
  United States by an immigration inspector. Some
  key entry steps are
• Office of Biometric Identity Management
  processing
• Namecheck clearances
• Review and processing of status eligibility
  documents
• Issuance of Form I-94

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General Non-Immigrant Process (cont)

• Status includes compliance with the terms and
  conditions of the particular nonimmigrant
  category in which the nonimmigrant was admitted.
  Some key maintenance of status steps are
• Complying with deadlines and reporting
  requirements
• Engaging in required activity
• Avoiding prohibited activity
• Exit includes satisfactory departure from the
  United States when the nonimmigrant activity is
  completed. Some key exit steps are
• Departing the United States before the period of
  authorized admission has expired
• Complying with any applicable exit procedures

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Identifying nonimmigrant documents
        

• Four types of documents are generally associated
  with nonimmigrant status
• Passports
• Visas
• Enabling documents
• I-20, DS-2019, I-797 Approval
  Notice
• I-94 cards www.cbp.gov/i94

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VISA Stamp

• A visa is a stamp issued by a consular officer
  (an official of the Department of State).
• The visa is only "used" when an alien presents
  her/himself to an immigration inspecting officer
  when applying for admission to the US. Once the
  alien is admitted to the US, the visa ceases to
  have a function until the next time the alien
  wants to enter the US.
• The visa stamp can expire while the nonimmigrant
  is inside the U.S., with no negative effect on
  the person's nonimmigrant status.
• If a person wishes to exit and re-enter the U.S.,
  the visa must be valid for the re-entry. If the
  visa has expired, the individual must obtain a
  new visa at a U.S. consular office before
  re-entering.
• If an individual is admitted to the U.S. on the
  basis of one visa, and then changes status to
  another nonimmigrant status while still in the
  U.S., the only thing that has changed is the
  person's nonimmigrant status, not the person's
  visa stamp. If a person travels outside the U.S.
  after a change of status, he or she will have to
  obtain a new visa in the new category in order to
  be readmitted to the U.S. in the new status.

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Enabling Documents

• Enabling documents include documents like an I-20
  (issued by a designated school authorized to
  enroll F-1 students) or DS-2019 (issued by a
  designated J-1 exchange visitor program). An
  enabling document serves different purposes
• To evidence the parameters of an alien's
  nonimmigrant status
• To evidence eligibility to receive a nonimmigrant
  visa or be admitted to the U.S. in a nonimmigrant
  status
• To implement changes or updates to a
  nonimmigrant's status once they hold a status.
• Some enabling documents (like an I-20 or DS-2019)
  are issued directly to an alien by an individual
  authorized to issue them. Other enabling
  documents, such as Form I-797, are issued by
  USCIS only after USCIS has adjudicated and
  approved an official petition that was filed on
  the alien's behalf by a U.S. employer.

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Presumption of Immigrant intent

• Every alien (other than a nonimmigrant described
  in subparagraph (H)(i) or (L) of Section
  101(a)(15)) shall be presumed to be an immigrant
  until he establishes to the satisfaction of the
  consular officer, at the time of application for
  a visa, and the immigration officers, at the time
  of application for admission, that he is entitled
  to a nonimmigrant status under 101(a)(15).

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• The way to prove you do not have immigrant intent
  is to prove that you do qualify for a
  nonimmigrant classification.
• Nonimmigrant must
• Have an Unabandoned residence abroad
• Be entitled to a particular nonimmigration
  classification
• Be admissible to the US long list of reasons
  someone might be Inadmissible like criminal
  records or contagious diseases

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Nonimmigrant Status

• Nonimmigrant status is a legal condition, not a
  physical thing. It is also dynamic, not static,
  which means that a person's nonimmigrant status
  must be acquired and maintained, and can be
  changed or lost. In many respects, nonimmigrant
  status is a relationship with the U.S.
  immigration system, with actions, events, and
  data in the "real" world contributing to the
  acquisition, maintenance, change, or loss of the
  nonimmigrant relationship.
• These actions, events, and data are often
  recorded and presented in relation to one another
  in the form of
• Documents, including immigration documents
• Electronic records, stored in a database. Like
  documents, there can be electronic immigration
  records, such as SEVIS, CLAIMS 3, NIIS, ADIS,
  US-VISIT, CCD, and IBIS, just to name a few, and
  electronic ancillary records, such as a school's
  student database, an institution's HR database,
  etc.

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Passports

• Most aliens seeking admission to the US in
  nonimmigrant status must have a valid passport or
  they are ineligible for admission.
• A passport permits its bearer to return to the
  issuing country, usually the country of the
  bearer's nationality.
• Passport must be valid for a minimum of six
  months from the date of the expiration of the
  initial period of the alien's contemplated
  initial period of stay.

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Visa stamps

• Visa cost, validity, and the number of entries
  allowed on a particular visa are determined by a
  policy of reciprocity between the US and another
  country
• Cost, validity period, and number of entries
  differ from country to country and from visa
  category to visa category. You can find out what
  the visa fees, period of validity, and number of
  entries will be by consulting the DOS Visa
  Reciprocity tables but note that the website is
  not always accurate.
• A visa is not required for Canadian citizens to
  enter the United States in any nonimmigrant
  category except E, K, S, and V categories.
• http//travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/fees
  /reciprocity-by-country.html

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Visa security clearances

• Before Issuing a Visa, Consular Officers Carry
  Out the Following Checks
• Fingerprint Checks - Screen a visa applicant's
  fingerprints against DHS' Automated Biometric
  Identification System (IDENT) and the FBI's
  Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification
  System (IAFIS)
• Facial Recognition Checks - Use facial
  recognition technology to screen the photographs
  of all visa applicants against FBI watchlists as
  well as against the photos contained in DOS'
  Consular Consolidated Database (CCD).
• CLASS Namecheck - Check the names of all visa
  applicants against the Consular Lookout and
  Support System (CLASS) database. CLASS contains
  information on persons found ineligible for
  visas, or against whom potentially derogatory
  information exists. Almost 70 percent of CLASS
  records come from other agencies.
• CCD checks - Visa applicant's data is screened
  against the visa applicant data in the Consular
  Consolidated Database.
• Enterprise Case Assessment Service checks - this
  platform stores fraud-related research.
• Post information gathering - Collect information
  from all sources relevant to making their
  decision. This includes getting information
  directly from the visa applicant through
  application forms, supporting documentation, and
  personal interviews. When another post may have
  information affecting the applicant's visa
  eligibility the post considering the visa
  application may have to obtain information from
  the other post in order to complete the clearance
  process.
• Advisory Opinions (AOs) - from the Department of
  State on questions of law and policy.
• Security Advisory Opinions (SAOs) - through the
  Department of State regarding security and
  related grounds.

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Security Name checks

• Special clearance procedures may be required if
  the consular officer has reason to believe that
  an individual may be inadmissible under INA
  212(a)(3), which establishes a basis for
  inadmissibility relating to "Security and Related
  Grounds." These grounds include activities such
  as espionage, terrorism, export of sensitive
  technology, and other activities that have been
  determined to affect the security of the US. If a
  consular officer knows, or has reasonable grounds
  to believe, that an alien falls under INA
  212(a)(3), a visa will not be issued.
• ?The "security advisory opinion" (SAO) process is
  a multi-agency review that collects additional
  information on applicants to provide a
  recommendation to posts to issue or refuse a
  visa. SAOs are mandatory for some categories of
  visa applicants. In some situations, an SAO is
  mandatory in others, the consular officer has
  the discretion to request an SAO.

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Mantis and export control clearances

• Inquiry and clearance procedures relating to the
  INA 212(a)(3)(A)(i)(II) ground of
  inadmissibility (concerning prohibited export
  from the US of goods, technology, or sensitive
  information) are guided by a DOS policy called
  Mantis.
• The mantis program was developed due to law
  enforcement/ intelligence community concern that
  U.S. produced goods and information are
  vulnerable to theft...The primary program
  security objectives are
• -To stem the proliferation of weapons of mass
  destruction and missile delivery systems
• -Restrain the development of destabilizing
  conventional military capabilities in certain
  regions of the world
• -Prevent the transfer of arms and sensitive
  dual-use items to terrorist states
• -And maintain U.S. advantages in certain
  militarily critical technologies."
• A Mantis clearance might be requested for a
  national of any country who may come within the
  purview of INA 212(a)(3)(A)(i)(II), and the
  decision to request a Mantis clearance is often
  in the discretion of the consular officer.

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Technology alert list (TAL)

• Cases involving fields on the Technology Alert
  List (TAL) usually require a Mantis Security
  Advisory Opinion ?before a visa is issued. The
  most recent version of the TAL is not available
  to the public. Here are the fifteen categories
  included on the "critical fields list" in the
  last public version of the TAL before it was
  designated as "sensitive but unclassified." This
  list is provided as background only as the actual
  current TAL may now be quite different
• Conventional Munitions
• Nuclear Technology
• Rocket Systems
• Rocket System and Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV)
  Subsystems
• Navigation, Avionics and Flight Control Usable in
  Rocket Systems and Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV)
• Chemical, Biotechnology and Biomedical
  Engineering
• Remote Sensing, Imaging and Reconnaissance
• Advanced Computer/Microelectronic Technology
• Materials Technology
• Information Security
• Laser and Directed Energy Systems Technology
• Sensors and Sensor Technology
• Marine Technology
• Robotics
• Urban Planning

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Inspection at a US port of entry

• Individuals seeking admission to the US must be
  inspected in person by an immigration officer at
  an official U.S. port of entry (POE). Before
  inspection, arriving aliens are seen as
  "applicants for admission. The first level of
  inspection is called primary inspection which
  consists of a brief interview by a CBP
  immigration inspector Customs and Border
  Protection, who also examines the alien's
  immigration documents and supporting documents,
  and conducts other standard procedures. The
  inspector will ask what the alien's purpose is in
  coming to the US, look to see that the passport
  is valid and belongs to the holder, ensure that
  the visa is valid, appropriate, and belongs to
  the holder, and assess whether the supporting
  documents are valid, appropriate, and belong to
  the holder. The immigration inspector will also
  query government databases.
• If all is in order, the immigration inspector
  will conduct OBIM biometric data collection, and
  then admit the alien to the United States.
  Primary inspections are usually fairly quick,
  lasting not much more than a couple of minutes.

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Secondary inspection

• If there is a lookout that needs to be resolved,
  or if the inspector wants to have documents
  examined more carefully, needs to ask for help on
  a particular inspection, or needs to have a
  person's SEVIS record checked, the inspector may
  place the individual in a higher level of
  inspection called secondary inspection. This can
  take the form of the inspector asking the person
  to wait in a separate area until the inspector
  can complete the inspection. At larger ports of
  entry, secondary inspection takes place in a
  separate room with additional inspectors.
• Arriving aliens may find secondary inspection
  somewhat anxiety-producing, and it may take
  significantly longer than primary inspection.
  Travelers should be advised to travel with
  complete documentation appropriate for their
  immigration classification, and to leave
  sufficient time for connecting flights or airport
  pickups to accommodate the possibility of
  secondary inspection.

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I-94 Document

• Form I-94 is a card on which DHS records
  important information about a particular
  admission of an alien to the US, such as the
  category the person has been admitted in and the
  duration of the person's stay.
• Enabling documents and Form I-94 are like
  "snapshots in time" reflecting particular aspects
  of a person's status at the time of the
  documents' creation or amendment. For instance,
  someone entered as an F-1 student but changed to
  J-1 statusan I-94 may reflect F-1 status but the
  individual now holds J-1 status and will receive
  a new I-94 documenting J-1 status upon departure
  and reentry into the US

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Admission to the US

• Nonimmigrants are admitted to the United States
  either until a specific date ("date certain"), or
  for duration of status ("D/S").
• For most nonimmigrants, the expiration of the
  period of authorized stay is recorded on Form
  I-94 (paper or electronic). Such an I-94 is said
  to be "date certain." Generally speaking, that
  date is the date by which the individual must
  either leave the United States or have applied
  for an extension or change of status.
• Aliens should be encouraged to examine the date
  expiration date stamped on their I-94 each time
  they enter the US to avoid inadvertently staying
  beyond their period of authorized admission.