Working with Internationals

Hiring International Faculty and Staff

JMU encourages all departments to hire the best qualified faculty and staff to fill open positions, without regard to the applicant's immigration status, provided s/he is legally eligible for employment.

Federal law prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of national origin or citizenship status in the hiring, firing, and recruitment of individuals [8 USC 1324b(a)(1)]. Federal law also prohibits the hiring of an individual known to be an "unauthorized alien" [(8 USC 1324a(a)], or to employ any person without complying with certain requirements, commonly referred to as the I-9 requirements [8 USC 1324a(b)].

While it is not always easy to reconcile the practical outcomes of these two laws, the information contained in this section provides guidelines for the recruitment, hiring and continued filling of open positions.

ISSS provides services that may be helpful to you and your employee while you navigate the waters of foreign employment. We provide the following services:

  • Advice to hiring supervisors and search committees. We would be happy to speak with anyone with questions about hiring a foreign national. We can present a pre-developed Power Point session or answer specific questions.
  • Advice to current and potential employees. Please do not attempt to provide immigration information to your current or future employees. As you are probably aware, the rules may not be the same today as they were last week. It is our job and expertise to stay on top of all changes and provide the best advice possible. Please encourage employees to ask us.
  • H-1B preparation. If you hire an employee who needs to obtain an H-1B visa, please speak with us a minimum of 4 weeks before the start date. The Immigration Service can process petitions for professionals in 15 days time (with a premium processing fee paid to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service,) but there is background work that takes a week or more which must be processed before the petition can be filed with USCIS. Under no circumstances may a potential employee begin work until s/he is authorized to do so.
  • J-1 preparation. If you wish to hire a temporary professor or research scholar, please contact us for completion of the paperwork.