Immigration Guide for Departments

The International Center provides immigration support and visa document services to Tufts University departments seeking to sponsor international scholars and employees for activities relating to the University's academic mission. Please read below for a guide to immigration statuses relevant to employment and professional activity. For more information about specific cases, contact your school's international scholar or employee advisor.

Tufts University sponsors international scholars and employees in different visa categories, including J-1 Exchange Visitors, H-1B temporary workers in a specialty occupation, and other non-immigrant visa classifications that allow employment or professional activity in the US. The appropriate visa classification will depend on the individual's specific affiliation with and activity at Tufts. In certain cases, more than one visa category may be available. The International Center will work with departments to develop appropriate sponsorship plans for their scholars and employees. A brief description of the main immigration categories used to sponsor scholars and employees is provided below.

J-1 Scholars (Exchange Visitors)

• May be either self-funded visiting scholars engaged in research (non-employees) or temporary visiting professors, instructors and researchers, including postdoctoral researchers (employees)
• Cannot be used for tenure-level or permanent, ongoing employment

H-1B Temporary Worker in a Specialty Occupation

• For temporary or permanent faculty and research positions, as well as certain higher-level administrative positions
• Positions must require specialized knowledge and the minimum of a bachelor's degree in a specific field

Other Employment or Professional Categories

• Trade NAFTA (TN) professionals from Canada or Mexico
• E-3 Specialty Occupation worker from Australia
• O-1 Aliens of Extraordinary Ability
• B-1 or WB business visitors

Special Topics

• Hiring international students for short -term or initial employment, including STEM Optional Practical Training
• Sponsoring full-time, permanent employees for US permanent residence

Department Responsibilities

The International Center works collaboratively with departments to ensure efficient and timely immigration services for new and current international scholars and employees. While the International Center is responsible for managing all immigration-related processes, departments can help to facilitate effective sponsorship processes by:

• Contacting the International Center as early as possible once a potential sponsorship need is identified
• Managing university processes to obtain appropriate school approvals to invite and/or appoint international scholars and employees
• Ensuring, where relevant, compliance with any university or federal policies governing data security, export controls, and intellectual property
• Initiating the appropriate visa document request (VDR) process for any invited or hired international scholar or employee
• Informing the International Center of any changes to the itinerary, arrival, and activities and duties of a sponsored international scholar or employee
• Contacting the International Center if any extension (or termination) process needs to be initiated for a sponsored international scholar or employee

Immigration Fees

To support our visa and immigration processing and advising services, the International Center charges immigration services fees. In addition, certain visa processes will require the International Center to file petitions on behalf of a department and employee, incurring mandatory US Homeland Security filing fees. Responsibility for consular visa fees and related costs (passport copies and photos, translation of educational credentials, family-related visa expenses etc.) are typically the responsibility of the individual scholar or employee.

International Center fees and US government filing fees (where applicable) must be paid by the sponsoring department except in the case of self-funded J-1 scholars invited to Tufts on a courtesy basis for purposes of research; for these individuals the International Center fee may be paid by either the host department or the invited scholar. For a full schedule of fees, go to our Immigration Fees page.