International Scholars Seeking US Permanent Resident Status

Introduction

There are several avenues for acquiring permanent resident status in the United States. What follows is a very brief summary of the options. For more information about permanent residence in general, ISSS recommends consultation with a qualified immigration attorney. For information about permanent residence sponsorship for full-time employees of the University of Pennsylvania, please refer to Permanent Residence at the University of Pennsylvania.

Obtaining PR: Five Narrow Roads and a Game of Chance

The laws governing immigration in this country of immigrants have changed drastically over the years. At some times in the past, immigration to the US was open to almost any able-bodied individual who could afford the cost of passage. At other times, flagrantly discriminatory laws barred some nationalities while encouraging others to become part of the American people. At present, legal immigration is tightly limited, with preference given to close family members of those already in the US and the professionally skilled and talented who come to the country to take up specialized or high level jobs. Within these limits, various provisions of current immigration law attempt to insure equity and national diversity in the continued flow of new residents to the US.

It is possible, at present, to become a permanent resident of the US in any of five ways: through the petition of a close relative, by a successful application for political asylum, through the petition of an employer, by winning the annual green card lottery, or through self-sponsorship.

• Family-Based PR: If you have a mother, father or spouse who is a citizen or permanent resident of the US, that relative may be able to file a petition with USCIS to obtain permanent residence for you. If you have a child who is a citizen of the US and is at least 21 years old, or a brother or sister who is a citizen, that relative can also petition for permanent residence for you. Depending on the relationship between you and whether your relative is a citizen or permanent resident, it can take several months to more than 10 years for you to obtain permanent residence in this way.

• Asylum: If you can prove to the satisfaction of immigration officials that you have a well-founded fear of persecution should you be forced to return to your home country, you may be able to obtain permanent residence in the US through an appeal for asylum. An asylum application often takes years to complete and is best done with the aid of an attorney. The majority of asylum applications are eventually denied, although applicants from countries whose governments are considered by the US to be hostile to the United States have often experienced a higher approval rate.

• The Diversity Lottery: After several prior experiments in making permanent residence available through a lottery system, Congress in 1993 instituted the diversity lottery program. This program allots 55,000 green cards every year under a complex formula that favors nationals of countries that have contributed fewer immigrants to the US in recent years. Recent diversity lotteries have favored applicants from Africa and most of Western Europe, since these areas have been least represented in immigration to the US in recent years. Around 6 million people apply for the annual diversity lottery. Regional allocations for the diversity lottery will change every year in response to changing immigration patterns. Registration for the diversity lottery, which usually takes place for a thirty-day period in the fall is very simple and does not require an attorney. ISSS will have diversity lottery information available, including application instructions, prior to each application period. Registration for the next lottery, Diversity Lottery 2000 is from October 1 to October 31, 1998.

• Employment-Based PR: If you have a permanent, professional level job in the US, and if your employer can prove that there are no qualified US citizens or permanent residents available for the position, you may be able to obtain permanent residence through the petition of your employer. (Different standards apply in the case of university faculty positions; for these, refer to Permanent Residence at the University of Pennsylvania.)

  A professional worker may obtain permanent residence when first entering the US to take up a senior position. More often, however, an international scholar will begin working on an extension of a US student visa or as a temporary worker on an H-1B visa. At some point - a point that may come almost immediately or only after several years - the employer may be able to petition successfully for permanent residence for the worker. The employment based application process can take anywhere from six months to several years from start to finish, depending on the filing location and the length of a variety of processing backlogs that can come into play.

• Self-Sponsorship: Certain highly accomplished scholars may find two routes to permanent residency available to them without having to have the commitment of a permanent job offer, or any job offer for that matter. The first possibility is for an alien who can be documented to be of "extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education and business." This category is reserved for those who are at the very top of their field. When a job offer is not involved, the scholar must demonstrate his or her intent to continue work in his or her field. Only faculty and researchers of international reputation - who can document that reputation - will qualify for permanent residency under this category. The second possibility for a scholar to self-sponsor for permanent residency is through the national-interest waiver application. The national-interest waiver may be filed either by the alien or by the employer. (See Permanent Residence at the University of Pennsylvania.)