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PISA depends on having accurate contact information for all colleges, departments and partners. Colleges and Divisions must provide updates of all departmental, business/finance, college and other key personnel to PISA not less than twice a year. For changes that occur outside of the bi-annual updates, please email Diane Lewis to update information with PISA about changes in contacts. Failure to notify PISA of changes in key contacts may delay case requests.
PISA Services include-
Each College or Division is assigned specific PISA Specialist(s) who manage the ISS-related administrative services for that unit, and who are familair with the unique needs and concerns of their assigned units.
Each College or Division also will have their own PISA Landing page in this "Hosts and Hiring Units" portion of the ISS website (which is behind a firewall and thus accessible only to individuals with Purdue credentials), where Unit-specific tools, forms, information, and more will be listed:
Please see our "How To" Page for more instructions about how to work with PISA.
Certain colleges have determined that they will utilize centralized Department Contacts who will be responsible for submitting to PISA the Intake Forms needed to initiate requests. Click on your College / Division in the menu on the left to access the information for your specific unit. There will be a listing of Department Contacts available.
If you are (1) an international, or (2) a prospective or current host/hiring manager of an international:
Please see our "How To" Page for more instructions about how to work with PISA.
An International visitor is a non-US person who is neither engaged in scholarly activities nor enrolled at Purdue. People visiting the University for limited professional purposes – such as attending workshops, conferences, meetings, or other activities where they will be in public areas of the University – are considered Visitors. Often international visitors enter the USA in business visitor (B-1), tourist (B-2) or visa waiver (technically, a waiver of the B visa requirement but admission in the "B" Class of status). ESTA is a pre-arrival screening for business visitors and tourists. International candidates for Purdue searches (employment) who require a Purdue invitation to support an application for a tourist or business visa from a US Consulate or admission to the US, are considered "international visitors" and require screening prior to the issuance of the letter.
International visitors are not eligible for Purdue credentials, email, PUID card or system(s) access. They may access the public areas of campus. See also - Export Controls' discussion of international visitors.
An International Visiting Scholar is a non-US person who holds a Visiting Scholar Appointment at Purdue, which is a temporary appointment to engage in scholarly activities (which include, but are not limited to: research, instruction, teaching, collaboration, consultation, observation, and demonstration; scholarly activities do not include regular staff or administrative activities). International Faculty appointments that are unpaid are processed in the same way as International Visiting Scholars.
International Visiting Scholars are eligible for Purdue credentials, email, PUID card and system(s) access as appropriate for their activities and following all requisite approvals.
See also - Export Controls' discussion of international visitors.
An International Visiting Scholar is a non-US person who holds a Visiting Scholar Appointment at Purdue, which is a temporary appointment to engage in scholarly activities (which include, but are not limited to: research, instruction, teaching, collaboration, consultation, observation, and demonstration; scholarly activities do not include regular staff or administrative activities). International Faculty appointments that are unpaid are processed in the same way as International Visiting Scholars.
Visiting Scholar appointments are available to any person regardless of citizenship status. However, if a visiting scholar appointment is issued to a non-US Person (as defined in the ISS procedures), then additional considerations arise by law and pursuant to Purdue policy. International Visiting Scholars must be processed through PISA regardless of whether Purdue is offering immigration benefits to the scholar.
International Visiting Scholars who are lawfully in the USA but are not sponsored in J-1 Scholar status (either by Purdue or another US organization) often hold F-1 or J-1 student status with other US eduational institutions, hold Optional Practical Training (OPT), Curricular Practical Training (CPT) or Academic Training (AT) work permissions as a result of F or J student status from other US educational institutions, or hold Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) through other US immigration processes.
International Visiting Scholars who hold J-1 status but are not sponsored directly by Purdue University, are sponsored through other US organizations for activities on the Purdue campus. Examples include (but are not limited to) Fulbright, USAID, Cultural Vistas, IIE, AMIDEAST, LASPAU, OSU and others.
An International Visiting Student Intern is a non-US person who holds a Visiting Student Intern appointment at Purdue. This is a temporary appointment available where the non-US Person:
Often, international undergraduate students at non-US universities visit Purdue in a special kind of Student Intern appointment called a "Visiting Undergraduate Student". However, individuals enrolled in graduate programs at non-US institutions may also qualify for a student intern appointment. That being said, often the J-1 Research Scholar category is a better fit for the activities undertaken by international graduate students coming to Purdue from non-US institutions.
The law imposes obligations and requirements on the Student Intern category that are more detailed than for other J programs. For more details please see the State Department's website.
International Visiting Student Interns are eligible for Purdue credentials, email, PUID card and system(s) access as appropriate for their activities and following all requisite approvals.
See also - Export Controls' discussion of international visitors.
An International Postdoctoral Researcher is a non-US person who is employed by Purdue in a postdoctoral appointment. See also the International Scholar Services procedures for international postdoctoral researchers, and Export Controls' discussion of international visitors. International Postdocs who are sponsored for immigration benefits by Purdue must have their PhD fully conferred and "in hand" at the time of admission to the USA, or the appointment will be cancelled. Please reach out to PISA@Purdue.edu if there are questions.
The majority of postdocs are sponsored through J-1 status (DS-2019). Postdocs also may be sponsored through H-1B, TN, E-3 or O-1 status. See generally our overview of visa options. If the postdoc is from an embargoed country, PISA must first the initiate Export Controls screening (RPS).
An International Staff Person is a non-US person who is employed by Purdue. Lecturers and Short-Term Lecturers are considered by Purdue HR as Staff roles. A variety of visas might be available for staff. See generally our overview of visa options. Note: J-1 status is permitted for staff only if the appointment is limited - with a fixed end date (eg postdoctoral appointments). This does not preclude renewal or extension of the appointment; however, J-1 status is not permitted to "at will" employment without a preset end date, nor to tenure-track employment.
Note that individuals employed for the benefit of Purdue outside the USA may need to be reviewed and evaluated by International Scholar Services and/or by the Office of Export Controls, even though they are not being hired in the USA or by Purdue directly. See also Export Controls' discussion of international visitors.
See generally our overview of International Scholar Services procedures for international faculty. See also Export Controls' discussion of international visitors.
ISS strongly encourages departments to share the Immigration Services for New Faculty webpage with their new faculty search finalists. Finalists or candidates of choice may schedule time with the Director of International Scholar Services to discuss immigration concerns outside of the search process. This facilitates the early identification of potential immigration-related issues with the hire or transition to campus, which in turn facilitates proactive strategies to navigate any obstacles.
Note: by Provost policy, international tenured, tenure-track, clinical or professional faculty needing sponsorship must be provided with both work visa (H-1B or O-1) and permanent residence sponsorship.
Purdue's International Scholar Services office is responsible for all work visa and permanent residence processing for Purdue's international faculty, staff, postdocs and scholars, for the West Lafayette, Northwest and Indianapolis campuses. However, those processes that are more labor-intensive and relying on elaborate documentation of qualifications and accomplishment are not well-suited to the "lean" staffing structure of our ISS office. As a result, the following cases are generally assigned by International Scholar Services to Purdue's outside immigration law firm:
For instructions about the procedure for requesting these services or assigning such a case to our outside counsel, please see this page.
Please note that individual Purdue employees cannot hire their own attorneys for EB-1B processing. The law characterizes Purdue as the petitioner in these cases (the legal entity that signs the petition) and Purdue has determined that whenever it is signing a petition, that petition must be prepared by the attorney of its choice, under the direction of ISS. Department members and hiring managers are not authorized to sign DHS, USCIS, DOL or DOS forms on behalf of Purdue. Similarly, NIW permanent residence and O-1 work visas may be pursued by individuals, independent of ISS, only if the individual seeks to self-file those petitions.
US immigration rules impose additional requirements on the wages of foreign workers pursuing certain immigration benefits (visa status or permanent residence). In those cases, ISS must perform a preliminary 'immigration wage analysis' to verify the required wage rate for the opportunity.
Note: PISA is not involved in immigration wage analyses. If you have questions, please email intlwage@purdue.edu.
US immigration law mandates two separate wage analyses to occur if the immigration benefit is requested from the government (as listed above in Section 1):
Both analyses must occur prior to the immigration paperwork being finalized. However, in certain situations, we are conducting the analysis prior to a candidate being selected. In these cases we can perform only the prevailing wage. That is because the prevailing wage analysis is based only on the terms and conditions of employment - the responsibilities, geographic area of employment, requirements, travel and other details, all of which are known once the opportunity is finalized. We cannot conduct the actual wage analysis because we have no candidate to compare to the existing workers within the organization. Once a candidate is chosen, and if that candidate is international and requiring immigration sponsorship, then an actual wage analysis is conducted as part of the processing of the immigration paperwork.
If an offer is issued and signed, and the Department believes then that the chosen candidate might be international and needing sponsorship, the Department should not request an independent immigration wage analysis. Instead, the Department should contact PISA to request the immigration process. PISA will help guide the Department on that request.
If there are questions about the immigration wage analyses, please email intlwage@purdue.edu.