Office of the Vice President for Global Engagement

International Faculty and Scholars Office

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Permanent Residency

There are many ways to become a permanent resident, including through self-sponsorship or sponsorship by others such as family members or employers. The International Faculty and Scholars Office (IFSO) is responsible for the majority of employer-sponsored petitions for permanent residence for employees of ASU.

Upon receipt of a request from the appropriate hiring unit (e.g. department, center, or school) the IFSO will prepare petitions for permanent residence on behalf of employees in two categories:

  1. Tenured (or tenure track) faculty positions
  2. Non-teaching research positions of a permanent nature.

The two main types of application handled by the IFSO are the Outstanding Professor/Researcher and the Labor Certification. Obtaining permanent residence through the Outstanding Professor/Researcher petition is currently a very lengthy process, and the requirements within this category have become increasingly stringent in recent years. Conversely, the Labor Certification route to permanent residence has become much quicker in recent years. However, Labor Certifications have very strict requirements in terms of advertising, hiring procedures, and timing of the application. Therefore, it is essential that hiring units contact IFSO as early as possible in the hiring process.

Labor Certification

There are two types of labor certification:

  1. Special Handling
  2. Reduction in Recruitment

Both processes require open, competitive recruitment. Labor certifications for teaching positions require that the non-citizen is the “most qualified” candidate. For non-teaching positions, the requirement is that no U.S.-citizen who meets the minimum qualifications has applied for the position.

Special Handling (Teaching Faculty)

Special Handling is limited to teaching positions. In order to obtain permanent residency, ASU must demonstrate that the international faculty member hired was the best qualified candidate from a search process that meets Arizona Department of Economic Security and U.S. Department of Labor requirements.

The search process requirements are:

  • Position must be advertised nationally and be open for at least 30 days.
  • Advertisement must be in a print publication and be the complete announcement (i.e. include brief description of duties, required and desired qualifications, application deadline, and application process, etc.).
  • Application for permanent residency based on this search must be made within 18 months of the determination to make a job offer.
  • All other ASU recruitment requirements, per ACD 505-04, apply.

Standard Recruitment (Research Faculty/Academic Professionals)
Standard Recruitment is used for non-teaching positions. In order to obtain permanent residency for non-teaching or primarily research faculty and for all academic professional positions, ASU must demonstrate that it has conducted recruitment that meets Arizona Department of Economic Security and U.S. Department of Labor requirements.

Search process requirements are:

  • Obtain a letter of resignation from the non-citizen employee with a resignation date that is after the recruitment is concluded.
  • Open the position for recruitment through standard ASU procedures (ACD 505-04); the position must be open for a minimum of 30 days.
  • Advertise through Arizona Department of Economic Security to obtain a job order. Job orders must be prepared by the sponsoring unit. After the job order has been prepared, the IFSO will submit the job order to AZ DES. The job order form can be obtained from IFSO (consult with IFSO for this process).
  • Advertise the position on two different Sundays in a newspaper with general circulation (e.g. Arizona Republic or Tribune); one Sunday ad may be replaced by a print ad in a discipline appropriate professional journal.
  • Advertise through any three of the following recruitment sources: college/department website, non ASU website (e.g. HigherEdJobs.com – Human Resources can place ads here), campus placement office (e.g. ASU Career Services), professional organization newsletter, ad in local and ethnic newspapers (e.g. Arizona Informant, La Voz), and radio/TV commercial.
  • All ads must include the complete position announcement, i.e. title/rank, duties, required/desired qualifications, application deadline, application process
  • Application for the labor certification must be made within 180 days of the publication of the first ad and at least 30 days after the last ad appears


Note: If a US citizen applies for the position and meets the required qualifications advertised, there is no point in proceeding with the application for a labor certification; DES/Department of Labor is extremely unlikely to approve the application.

Outstanding Professor/Researcher

This category is limited to those individuals who have at least three years of teaching or research experience, and are recognized internationally as outstanding in their academic fields. The process for obtaining permanent residence by this route is currently taking two years or longer. Unless the individual is a full professor with an extremely strong record of acclaim, this process is no longer viable or extremely difficult at best.

Outstanding Professor/Researcher cases will be processed by outside legal counsel. University departments wishing to sponsor employees in this category should send their requests to the IFSO. Under the guidance and advice of the University’s Office of General Counsel, IFSO will discuss with the sponsoring department the options available to them for pursuing legal assistance in processing and filing these types of cases.

If it is determined that the EB-1 category is the most appropriate, IFSO will coordinate with the University’s Office of General Counsel to refer the case to outside legal counsel. University Departments will be responsible for all legal costs associated with the process.

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