Policy No. 552 - U.S. Immigration Sponsorship Policy

The Research Foundation of the City University of New York (RFCUNY) supports diversity in the workplace and sponsors foreign national employees in various immigration processes. RFCUNY’s U.S. Immigration policy aims to establish parameters for the recruitment, selection, and retention of foreign national employees who require sponsorship to work in the U.S. RFCUNY may amend these guidelines in its sole discretion, with or without notice.

This policy applies to nonimmigrant (temporary or limited duration) visas, as well as to immigrant visas (permanent residence or “green cards”). This policy applies to all immigrant and nonimmigrant petitions currently in process by RFCUNY and all future petitions. RFCUNY, in its discretion, may assist prospective and current employees in obtaining appropriate work authorization issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) or the Department of State (“DOS”) for the purposes of employment at RFCUNY. RFCUNY reserves the right to decide in its sole discretion whether or not to support nonimmigrant or immigrant visa status and any associated immigration benefits for an employee, and that decision is dependent on many factors including, but not limited to: employee performance, role and responsibility, tenure with RFCUNY, current U.S. work authorization and employee’s ability to obtain work authorization without Company sponsorship, changes in economic or market conditions, legal merits of each individual case and associated costs, and business case.

The H-1 B is a nonimmigrant visa classification used by foreign nationals who will be employed temporarily in a “specialty occupation”. A specialty occupation requires theoretical and practical application of a body of specialized knowledge and attainment of at least a bachelor's degree or its equivalent in the specific specialty. Occupations that do not require at least a bachelor’s degree in a specific field do not qualify as specialty occupations and are not eligible for H-1B status. H-1 B visas are generally valid for a maximum initial period of three years with a possible renewal for another three years, for a total of six years. The H-1B is employer, position, and location specific so changes in the terms and conditions of employment may require amendment of the foreign national’s H-1B status.

RFCUNY reserves the right to discontinue nonimmigrant and immigrant visa processing at its discretion. Commencing a process is not a guarantee that the process will be continued or that it will be successful. Some examples of when a case might be discontinued include but are not limited to: employee departures, terminations, changes in economic conditions, job performance level or legal requirements which necessitate discontinuing the process, and/or employee’s failure to provide the necessary information and documents to outside immigration counsel and/or RFCUNY.

Due to regulatory requirements, processing times, and other variables, RFCUNY makes no representations or guarantees, express or implied, with respect to the approval or timing of government action relative to any immigration benefits.

The selection and approval of an appropriate case strategy is made by RFCUNY in consultation with outside immigration counsel in its sole discretion.

The filing of a nonimmigrant or immigrant petition/application is not a guarantee of continued employment, a guarantee of any fixed terms or conditions of employment, nor a guarantee that the petition/application will be granted. Nothing in this policy should be construed as affecting or amending the employment status of RFCUNY employees, who are employed at-will. Nor should this policy be construed as amending or modifying the terms of any Collective Bargaining Agreement governing the terms and conditions of employment for any portion of RFCUNY’s workforce.

All requests for initiation of nonimmigrant or immigrant visa sponsorship must be submitted to RFCUNY’s Office of Human Resources at #hrimmigration@rfcuny.org by the Manager or Principal Investigator (PI) that supervises/will supervise the position. Requests relative to potential new hires must be submitted for approval prior to an offer of employment being extended or any commitment to sponsor nonimmigrant or immigrant visa status being made to the candidate.

It is the policy of RFCUNY to comply fully with the laws and regulations of the U.S. with respect to the hiring of all employees. Therefore, a new hire, nonimmigrant candidate may not commence employment for RFCUNY before they are legally authorized to work in the U.S. Should the effort to get legal authorization for the new hire candidate to work in the U.S. be unsuccessful, the offer of employment must be withdrawn, and RFCUNY shall not be held responsible to the candidate for any expenses incurred or for time spent in relation to the offer or for any other offers of employment the candidate may have declined, or which were otherwise rescinded.

Requests for nonimmigrant or immigrant visa sponsorship must include the candidate’s/employee’s resume, the proposed/current job description and the proposed/current salary. As noted above, the merits of each individual case will be reviewed by RFCUNY’s Office of Human Resources and may be discussed with outside immigration counsel and the decision whether to proceed with sponsorship of the nonimmigrant or immigrant visa, and the strategy of any such processes will be solely in the discretion of the RFCUNY. Further, immigrant visa sponsorship will not be undertaken unless the employee is in good job standing, and until the employee has been employed for a minimum of one year. Initiating immigrant visa sponsorship sooner will only be considered when required to maintain nonimmigrant status/employment authorization.

RFCUNY retains sole discretion to select outside immigration counsel, as necessary, to prepare and file any nonimmigrant and immigrant visa petitions/applications RFCUNY elects to sponsor, as well as any associated applications for related immigration benefits. With respect to immigrant visa cases initiated by PI’s at CUNY campuses or worksite, the PI will have the discretion to select from a list of approved outside immigration counsel to be provided by RFCUNY’s Office of Human Resources along with such counsel’s respective fee schedules and bios.

The employee or prospective employee is expected to cooperate fully with RFCUNY’s Office of Human Resources, RFCUNY’s Immigration Specialist and outside immigration counsel, including providing all the necessary documentation and information in a timely manner. Failure of an employee or prospective employee to fully and timely cooperate may result in not being hired or termination.

RFCUNY expects employees to understand their responsibilities and take ownership of their lawful immigration status through the following:

• Notify RFCUNY’s HR Immigration Specialist at #hrimmigration@rfcuny.org immediately regarding any change in status (e.g., marriage, divorce, birth of children) for self or dependents.
• Provide advance notice to RFCUNY’s HR Immigration Specialist and supervisor of travel outside of the U.S.
• Provide RFCUNY’s HR Immigration Specialist, with a copy of visa stamp and I-94 record after each trip outside of the U.S.
• Notify RFCUNY’s Immigration Specialist of change of residence and file Form AR-11 with USCIS within 10 days of address change.
• To be truthful when providing background information (this includes any arrests or other criminal acts or violations, regardless of outcome, and prior U.S. immigration violations) to RFCUNY and outside immigration counsel during any immigration process. RFCUNY will not assume responsibility for any employee who commits perjury, makes false statements, or otherwise misrepresents RFCUNY, himself, or herself when applying for any U.S. immigration benefit.

All inquiries relative to the status of petitions/applications must be directed to RFCUNY’s HR Immigration Specialist, or the outside immigration counsel handling the case. Employees should not contact USCIS or the DOL directly. It is also important to understand that employees cannot be involved in the Labor Certification Application/PERM application process as that is considered to undermine the Company’s good faith efforts to test the labor market. Therefore, sponsored employees will receive only general updates during this process.

Managers and PI’s are responsible for providing and confirming the accuracy of all job descriptions provided relative to nonimmigrant and immigrant visa processes. Further, Managers and PI’s must report all job changes to RFCUNY’s HR Immigration Specialist, prior to such changes taking effect. Such reportable changes include changes in job functions, job locations, working hours, salary and/or business function. Such changes can detrimentally impact immigration processes and in some cases, require a process to be repeated with all the associated expenses, or even disqualify the employee for immigration benefits/status.

All expenses associated with obtaining, maintaining and amending as necessary the employee’s nonimmigrant status (e.g., H-1B) will be paid by the initiating PI’s grant/project. The PI must also review and agree to payment of the required prevailing wage. All legal fees associated with obtaining and maintaining the nonimmigrant statuses of an employee’s dependents (spouse and minor children) will be the responsibility of the employee.

All expenses associated with the labor certification application/PERM application and EB-1 outstanding researcher, EB-2 or EB-3 I-140 Petition for Immigrant Worker will be paid by the PI. The PI must also review and agree to payment of the required prevailing wage, which must be paid at the time the employee’s immigrant visa is approved. The cost of Premium Processing an I-140 Petition will only be paid by the PI when such expedited processing is in RFCUNY’s interests, and otherwise, can be paid by the employee if he or she elects to do so.

All expenses, including legal and filing fees, associated with the employee’s I-485 Application to Adjust Status and any related I-131 Applications for Advance Parole or I-765 Applications for Employment Authorization Document will be the responsibility of the employee. The employee will also be responsible for all such expenses relating to all such applications relating to his or her dependents.

When an employee applies for his or her visa stamp at a U.S. Consulate or Embassy abroad, there may be unforeseen administrative/security delays that can take several weeks, and in some cases months, to resolve. These delays are occurring with increasing frequency and cannot be identified until after the applicant has completed the interview process at the U.S. Consulate or Embassy. These delays usually involve FBI security clearance. RFCUNY and outside immigration counsel can only request case updates from the Department of State, and do not have the ability, or the obligation, to try to exert influence on expediting the process.

Should such a delay arise, the employee must inform RFCUNY’s HR Immigration Specialist, his or her manager, and RFCUNY’s Office of Human Resources immediately.

There are three employment-based (“EB”) immigrant visa categories:
EB-1:

• Extraordinary Ability
• Outstanding Professors or Researchers

Please click here for more information.

EB-2:

• Advanced degree with or without national interest waiver

Please click here for more information.

EB-3:

• Professionals
• Skilled Workers
• Unskilled Workers

Please click here for more information.

RFCUNY does not sponsor EB-1 extraordinary ability petitions or EB-2 petitions requesting a national interest waiver, as those petitions can be filed by the employee and do not require employer sponsorship. RFCUNY will sponsor, in its discretion, EB-1 outstanding researcher petitions and EB-2 petitions without a national interest waiver and EB-3 petitions, which also require a Labor Certification Application/PERM Application. Should the employee wish to pursue an EB-1 extraordinary ability petition, or an EB-2 petition requesting a national interest waiver, he or she may engage his or her own immigration counsel to do so.

Immigration counsel must assess cases where RFCUNY terminates a nonimmigrant employee for any reason prior to the expiration of the employee’s petition validity period. For H-1B employees, applicable regulations require an organization to offer an employee the costs of reasonable transportation (generally a one-way, non-refundable coach class airfare ticket) to return the employee to his or her home country or country of last known foreign residence. RFCUNY will offer return transportation to an affected H-1B employee on the last day of employment. In cases where the H-1B employee elects to remain in the U.S. and refuses RFCUNY’s offer of return transportation, the H-1B employee will sign a statement confirming that RFCUNY made such an offer.

RFCUNY will, as required by law, withdraw all H-1B petitions filed with USCIS as well as the associated Labor Condition Applications with the DOL for any individual who is terminated or who is no longer working at RFCUNY for any reason. RFCUNY may also withdraw any pending Labor Certification Applications/PERM Applications and pending I-140 Petitions for Immigrant Worker relating to the employee.

The Research Foundation of the City University of New York is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/Americans with Disabilities Act/E-Verify Employer. It is the policy of the Research Foundation of CUNY to provide equal employment opportunities free of discrimination based on race, color, age, religion, sex, pregnancy, childbirth, national origin, disability, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, domestic violence victim status, arrest record, criminal conviction history, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.

The provisions of this policy are effective as of March 5, 2025.

Department Ownership: Human Resources
Contact:
Annette Piecora, Chief Human Resources Officer: Annette_Piecora@rfcuny.org

DISCLAIMER
The policies stated herein are not intended to be contractual in nature. They do not confer any rights or privilege, but are informational only, and may be altered, modified, or rescinded at any time by RFCUNY.