Hiring International Scholars 101

Your department may be running a faculty search or appointing a visiting international researcher—or maybe you need to arrange for an international speaker or intern to visit campus. If you're new to the administrative procedures required to arrange work authorization for foreign nationals, this 101 overview is for you. 

Federal immigration regulations can be confusing. International Services advisors are Cornell's trained immigration experts. We're here to advise you and your international employees on employment authorization, visa requirements, and all immigration-related questions.

Below, we'll introduce you to visa sponsorship at Cornell—including first steps, roles, and resources—and answer some frequently asked questions, so you can get your new international colleague off to a great start.

Jump to: During Your Search | Who can Cornell sponsor? | Department Duties | Glossary | Web Resources | FAQ

During Your Search

Here are some key considerations if you are running a search with potential international candidates.

Interview Questions

Cornell HR has a guide to lawful and unlawful inquiries, including questions that may be asked about citizenship. Please reach out to your HR representative or central HR if you need additional support. International Services can’t advise on interview questions or vetting job applicants.

Job Offers

Before your department makes an offer, you must determine whether the international scholar is currently in the United States—and if so, under what visa status. Candidates' current status may affect the visa types they can be sponsored for and how soon they can begin working at Cornell. 

All job offers must state that employment is contingent on the candidate having and maintaining U.S. work authorization.

Immigration Consultations

A mandatory consultation is required for all international citizens accepting permanent teaching positions. Contact us as soon as your department's offer has been accepted to set up the meeting.

If your department is making or considering an offer to someone with a complex immigration background, please contact us as early as possible in the search process. For example, we recommend early advice for candidates who are citizens of travel ban countries, almost out of H-1B time, or potentially subject to the J-1 two-year rule. 

Who can Cornell sponsor?

Before you explore visa options for your prospective international hire, please review our Academic Appointments and Employment Eligibility pages, which provide full details of these key requirements:

• Cornell only sponsors visas for foreign nationals with academic appointments. This means the individual must hold a temporary appointment to pursue scholarly activities at Cornell like research or teaching.
• To work at Cornell, candidates must have documentation showing they have valid employment authorization. 

The hiring department or unit is responsible for initiating and supporting all visa sponsorship requests and changes. Learn more about the visa sponsorship process, then use our guide to determine which visa status is most appropriate for your international visitor.

Department Duties

The hiring department or unit has several responsibilities early in the visa sponsorship process. Before you submit your request for visa sponsorship, the department must ensure the international scholar ...

1. Qualifies for an academic appointment.
2. Has sufficient financial support (J-1). H-1B, O-1, TN, and E-3 employees must be paid by Cornell.
3. Has been assigned worksites that align with the visa type. See J-1 Basics and Employment Visas pages by visa type.
   • J-1 visitors must be on campus at least 60 percent of the time. 
   • H-1B and E-3 are location-specific. These employees can only work at worksites listed on their petition. 
4. Has confirmed the requested start and end dates to be used in the visa application.
   • Visa types have different maximum time limits. 
   • Remember: The visa approval process can be slow. Submit your request as early as possible before the planned start date. We can't guarantee your scholar will receive work authorization by any specific start date—only provide estimates of the likely timing.

Explore Sponsorship Process

Glossary: Lingo to Know

As you navigate the visa sponsorship process at Cornell, you'll encounter new vocabulary, acronyms, and a veritable alphabet of visa types and federal form names. Here are a few common terms to know.

Alert

An alert is high-priority guidance from International Services. Our alerts keep you informed about evolving U.S. immigration and travel policies and provide time-sensitive guidance for Cornell's international community. We encourage you to check the alerts page regularly and subscribe to International-Partners-L, our email list for Cornell staff who want to receive immigration updates sent to international scholars and students.

I-94

When foreign nationals are admitted to the United States, their entry generates an I-94 arrival/departure record. It indicates the visa status they’ve been admitted in (for example, J-1, H-1B, or O-1) and how long they can stay ("admit until date" or AUD). People can typically only remain in the U.S. until the end date on the I-94, even if their visa stamp and/or I-797 approval notice are valid for longer. 

Advise your incoming scholars to check their passport stamp and I-94 carefully when they receive them. If they spot any errors, they should work with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to get them corrected. The CBP-issued I-94 is only updated by international travel. Scholars should always refer to their most recent I-94. If they’ve applied for a change or extension of status since they last entered the U.S., this will be a USCIS-issued I-94 at the bottom of their I-797. 

Immigrant and Nonimmigrant

An immigrant intends to live permanently in the United States. A nonimmigrant intends to leave the U.S. at the end of the work or exchange program. The majority of U.S. visa statuses have nonimmigrant intent and are issued to individuals with permanent homes outside the country. H-1B status allows for “dual intent” (immigrant or nonimmigrant), and therefore is usually the most appropriate visa status for tenure-track faculty and long-term employees. 

MyStatus and SEVIS

MyStatus is Cornell's international case management platform. It is integrated with SEVIS for federal compliance. The Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) is a Department of Homeland Security database used to track international students and visitors with J, F, and M visas.

Scholar

International scholars are foreign nationals on visas sponsored by Cornell. They hold temporary academic appointments (paid or unpaid) to pursue scholarly activities at Cornell like research or teaching. Most are employees—faculty and staff with a variety of academic job titles—and some are short-term visiting researchers, interns, and others. International Services supports 1,300+ international scholars on Cornell-sponsored visas. The most common scholar visa types are J-1 and H-1B.

Visa versus Visa Status

A visa is the entry stamp in an international passport that allows a foreign national to enter the U.S. It certifies the individual is eligible to apply for admission at a U.S. port of entry in a particular classification, such as J-1 or H-1B. At U.S. ports of entry, CBP officers examine entry visas and supporting documents and decide if travelers are eligible to enter the United States and how long they can stay. 

Your incoming scholars are admitted to the country with a visa status—a nonimmigrant status that matches the visa in their passport. This is also called their immigration status.

Cornell Web Resources

Our Main Website

The International Services website gives international scholars and students on Cornell-sponsored visas the information they need to maintain their legal status in the United States and succeed at Cornell. Please direct your international visitors to the "For Faculty/Staff" pages in each section of the site, including Getting Started for new arrivals and Maintaining Your Status for vital guidance by visa type. As a Cornell administrator, you'll use this site created for the international community as an essential supplement to the ...

Global Cornell Site

International Services is part of Global Cornell. The vice provost's website includes Supporting Our International Community—a useful resource page for international scholars and students—Global Operations, and Travel.

International Services versus Global Operations

International Services advises on work authorization within the United States. If you want to employ someone to work outside the U.S., email our global HR colleagues in Global Operations.

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