Sponsorship and Financial Support for Immigration Petitions

When necessary to meet operational need, SUNY Plattsburgh will provide employment sponsorship and related financial support for standard processing, government filing fees and certain costs associated with obtaining temporary work authorization or status and necessary extensions or amendments for certain employees. Positions for which such sponsorship will be provided include teaching faculty, librarians, and certain professional positions that meet the USCIS criteria.

The College does not offer advice on foreign travel or cover travel costs or application fees for employees to obtain visa stamps.

TN (Trade NAFTA) status is a temporary professional non-immigrant classification for citizens from Canada and Mexico only. This visa is granted based on a job offer in the U.S., proof of the individual's qualifications for the position, and an application presented at the port-of-entry for qualifying titles defined under NAFTA. The employee will be fully responsible for the costs related to obtaining the TN.

The College will provide sponsorship for the H-1B visa to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialized fields. The filing fee will be paid by the College. Costs for the applicant/employee’s dependents are paid by the applicant/employee.

SUNY Plattsburgh will undertake permanent residency (green card) sponsorship for full-time employees filing under the EB-1 or EB-2 categories after the employee’s initial evaluation, which must be satisfactory.

The College and the employee will share the cost of obtaining permanent residency status as follows:

With hiring department and/or campus approval and availability of department/campus funds, the College will cover legal and government filing fees for the following applications:

• application for labor certification (including the cost of required advertisements);

The employee will be fully responsible for the costs related to:

• I-140 and I-485 filing fees;
• premium processing, if desired;
• all medical examinations, photographs, fingerprints, vaccinations, obtaining biographic documents and translations for the employee and the employee’s dependents;
• the costs for obtaining employment or travel authorization for the employee’s dependents; and
• travel costs to obtain a nonimmigrant or immigrant visa at a U.S. Consulate abroad.

Premium Processing will be paid by the College only when it is deemed necessary for a successful applicant to legally begin work by the offered start date of employment or an employee to continue legally working. Typically, Premium Processing would be utilized if a response to the visa application has not been received within thirty (30) days of the employment start date. Within this processing time, Human Resources has the authority to proceed with premium processing. Premium Processing outside of the thirty (day) preceding employment start date requires approval by the Vice President for Administration and Finance, after consultation with the Hiring Authority. If for any reason the applicant requests Premium Processing and SUNY Plattsburgh does not deem it necessary, the successful applicant or employee may request Premium Processing and pay the appropriate fee

The College will not pay for non-employment-related sponsorships, such as in the case of marriage-based petitions.