H-1B Employees
An H-1B visa permits a Loyola hiring unit to engage a foreign national in temporary employment for a specialty occupation. A “specialty occupation” is one that requires “theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge, and attainment of a bachelor’s degree or higher in the specific specialty as a minimum for entry into the occupation in the U.S.”
Types of positions that qualify for H-1B status at Loyola:
- Tenured or Tenure-Track Faculty positions
- NTT Faculty positions, including research titles like “Research Associate” and “Postdoctoral Research Scholar”
- Some Staff positions*
Sponsoring departments will need to complete and return the H-1B Request Form to ISSS before the petition process can begin.
*NOTE: Administrative Staff positions can be problematic for visa sponsorship because the minimum requirements are simply too broad (DOL requires a specific education/skills match for H-1B visa sponsorship). If you are hiring for an administrative position and have an international candidate in the pool, please contact ISSS. We will have our external immigration counsel review the position and the candidate’s CV to determine if the job is appropriate for H-1B (or other) visa sponsorship.
Estimated Timeline
With Premium Processing: 6-8 weeks (plus consular processing of visa abroad, if applicable)
Without Premium Processing: 6+ months (only used for Extensions and Amendments for this reason) Advantages of H-1B status:
- Pathway to Permanent Residency (PR)
- Limited to “specialty” occupations
- Temporary (6-year max)
- Approval is not guaranteed
- Substantial legal and filing fees for the sponsoring department
Potential disadvantages/considerations:
- Limited to “specialty” occupations
- Temporary (6-year max)
- Approval is not guaranteed
- Substantial legal and filing fees for the sponsoring department
Extension Requests
H-1B extensions can be filed no earlier than 6 months before the initial H-1B expiration date. Since beneficiaries are permitted to continue working for 240 days while the extension request is being processed, extensions can be submitted without Premium Processing. If Premium Processing becomes necessary, it is possible to add that expedite request to the petition later. Depending on the circumstances, Loyola may require the beneficiary to pay the Premium Processing fee.
H-1B Process Overview
An interested hiring unit first needs to initiate a request to ISSS for H-1B visa processing. The hiring unit is responsible for: timely responses to emails from ISSS and Zulkie Partners (Loyola’s external immigration counsel), posting the LCA Posting Notice, providing the legal and filing fees, and notifying ISSS of any other needs in preparing for the candidate’s arrival.
- Pre-Hire Process: If you are preparing to offer a position to an international candidate who has indicated they require visa sponsorship, please contact the ISSS team with any questions (especially in the case of Administrative Staff positions—see above). In collaboration with Zulkie, we will confirm if H-1B is appropriate in this case.
- If so, once the candidate has accepted an offer, please email Abby Mensing at amensing@LUC.edu with the a completed H-1B Host Department Request Form.
- ISSS will then open the case with Zulkie.
- The immigration firm will direct you to complete the H-1B Employer Questionnaire with details about the position. They will reach out to the candidate for additional documentation.
- The hiring unit will need to post two copies of the LCA posting notice once it has been filed. ISSS will contact the hiring unit with the notice and posting instructions. The notice should be posted for 10 days and then returned to ISSS.
- Once the LCA has been certified by the Department of Labor, Zulkie, and ISSS will assemble the petition and file it with USCIS.
- The approval notice will be sent to the beneficiary after approval to that they can use it to obtain a visa stamp, if necessary.
Initial Requests
H-1B petitions can be filed with the USCIS no more than 6 months before the employment start date. Since standard processing times can exceed 10 months, Premium Processing Service must be requested for all initial petition requests. This means that USCIS will adjudicate the petition in 15 business days. The duration of the initial request may not exceed 3 years.
An H-1B visa permits a Loyola hiring unit to engage a foreign national in temporary employment for a specialty occupation. A “specialty occupation” is one that requires “theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge, and attainment of a bachelor’s degree or higher in the specific specialty as a minimum for entry into the occupation in the U.S.”
Types of positions that qualify for H-1B status at Loyola:
- Tenured or Tenure-Track Faculty positions
- NTT Faculty positions, including research titles like “Research Associate” and “Postdoctoral Research Scholar”
- Some Staff positions*
Sponsoring departments will need to complete and return the H-1B Request Form to ISSS before the petition process can begin.
*NOTE: Administrative Staff positions can be problematic for visa sponsorship because the minimum requirements are simply too broad (DOL requires a specific education/skills match for H-1B visa sponsorship). If you are hiring for an administrative position and have an international candidate in the pool, please contact ISSS. We will have our external immigration counsel review the position and the candidate’s CV to determine if the job is appropriate for H-1B (or other) visa sponsorship.