IUPUI

Responsibilities of the Office of International Affairs

Wage Requirements
Preparing the Petition
On-going Employment
Permanent Residence

Upon receipt of the “Request to Process” form, OIA will review and advise on timing issues, visa issues, or missing information. We try to attend to each petition in a timely manner; however in order to manage a variable work load with different timing requirements, a determination is made as to whether the petition will require approval before employment can begin or whether it is a routine extension that does not affect employability. Generally, those requiring approval in order to begin employment will be processed more quickly than routine extensions. Most petitions are submitted to USCIS within 6 to 10 weeks of receiving the “Request to Process.”

Wage Requirements

Department of Labor (DOL) regulations require that the department must pay the prevailing wage (as determined by the DOL) or the actual wage (as reported by the Department in listing comparable employees), whichever is higher. Based on the department’s description of the position and the comparable wage data given, OIA will obtain a prevailing wage determination from DOL. It generally takes 2 weeks to obtain a response from DOL. If the prevailing wage obtained is higher than the salary offered, or if insufficient information is provided to document the actual wage, OIA will contact the department to work out a resolution to the wage issue, if possible. Once the wage issues are satisfied, OIA will produce a Labor Condition Application (LCA). A Notice of Intent to Hire with the position title and salary will be posted on OIA’s website for 10 days. If the work site will not be at IUPUI but at another location, a physical posting will need to be placed at that worksite for 10 days. OIA will provide the documents and precise instructions to be used in this case.

Note: Should a complaint regarding the statements attested to in the LCA be investigated by the Department of Labor (DOL), payroll records documenting the actual wage paid to other employees in similar positions as well as the wage paid to the H-1B employee must be made available to the DOL. These records are maintained by the Office of Financial Management Support in Bloomington. However, the department would be required to assist in identifying other similarly employed persons for purposes of documenting the actual wage for the position in question.

Preparing the Petition

OIA prepares all immigration forms required to complete the petition.

OIA staff will review all of the supporting documents and notify the department if additional information is needed or if wording on any of the documents needs to be modified. Incomplete documentation usually delays submission of the final petition.

OIA will notify the department and the beneficiary (employee) the day the petition is sent to USCIS. All petitions are sent by express mail, and it can generally be assumed that the receipt date will be the following business day. USCIS is closed on all U.S. national holidays.

OIA will notify the department and the employee when the approval notice is received. Employees will be asked to pick up the original approval notice from OIA (ES 2126) with a copy of the LCA and a handout detailing important issues related to the H-1B.

On-going Employment

OIA will send extension reminders to the employee at the department address, or via e-mail. However, it is important that the employee and the department keep track of visa end dates and plan accordingly. The employee is ultimately responsible for maintenance of status.

OIA provides ongoing consultation and advice related to visa issues for the employee and his/her dependents as well as to the department throughout the employee’s tenure with IUPUI.

All anticipated changes in employment—such as intent to promote to a new position, desire to reduce salary due to change in funding, or intent to terminate employment must be reported to OIA. Each of these situations requires a review of the circumstances to determine whether an amended H-1B petition must be filed.

Permanent Residence

University policy and procedures pertaining to supporting an employee for permanent residence, are available at IUB’s Office of International Services (OIS) website. All IUPUI permanent resident petitions are handled by IUB’s OIS and must be routed through that office if based on IU employment. All teaching faculty in tenure-track positions should apply for permanent residence as soon as possible to take advantage of “special handling” provisions for faculty who teach courses listed in the official Schedule of Classes or Bulletin.

H-1B status is limited to six years. Therefore, if the position held by the employee is a permanent ongoing position, the employee will need to progress to permanent resident status (green card) status to remain in the position long-term.