Immigration Guidelines

Binghamton University (The State University of New York at Binghamton) is authorized to prepare and file petitions, applications, or correspondence with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) or the Department of State (DOS) in its role as the employer. Applications by a university employee or by an employee's dependents are the responsibility of the employee as it is the employee's responsibility to ensure his or her own compliance and the compliance of his or her dependents with USCIS and DOS regulations at all times.

Binghamton University works in conjunction with specific outside counsel awarded the SUNY contract.  When in need of consultation or when the need arises for an immigration attorney to prepare certain petitions, we will work directly with the contracted immigration firm, Harris Beach PLLC

Temporary Work Authorization

Upon notification from the employing department, Human Resources will begin to work with the department and any qualified foreign national, faculty, library faculty or professional staff, to process the petition for H-1B visa status.

The processing for standard H-1B visa classification, and any subsequent extensions of the H-1B, will be prepared in the Human Resources Department when the foreign national is being hired in a position which requires an advanced degree and the degree for which the foreign national holds is in the same discipline as the position they are being hired for.

The University 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.

  • Employing departments will be responsible for all government filing fees associated with the filing of an H-1B petition.
  • Dependent filing fees for H-4 status will be the responsibility of the employee.
  • Dependent expenses not directly related including EAD or travel documents will be at the expense of the employee - this may also include legal expenses.
  • Premium processing (optional) - may be paid by department or employee

Human Resources will process:

  • H-1B visa petitions and extensions
  • Permanent Residency cases for faculty filing under the EB-2 category (Workers with Advanced Degrees) in ordinary (standard) cases. Including:
    • The PERM application with the Dept of Labor
    • I140 - Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker
    • I485 - Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status

The hiring department is responsible for all filing fees, with the exception of the filing fee for the Adjustment of Status (I485). The fee for the Adjustment of Status is the responsibility of the employee as this is their petition. There will be no additional legal expenses involved in these standard cases.

Human Resources will not process directly, but will instead work with the contracted immigration attorney for the following cases, which will result in legal expenses to either the department or the employee:

Department bears the cost for:

  • Permanent residency cases for all professional employees, including library faculty.
  • Requests for permanent residency under the EB-1 category for Outstanding Professor or Researcher
  • H-1B cases in which the foreign national's degree is not in the field of study required for the position they are being hired for.

Employee bears the cost for:

  • Requests for permanent residency under the EB-1 category for Outstanding Professor or Researcher in instances where department support is lacking.

n these cases, there will be legal fees charged in addition to the normal USCIS filing fees. These legal expenses will be paid by either the department (when agreed upon) or the foreign national directly.

Current Filing Fees as of 2022

USCIS filing fees are subject to change.  Please visit the USCIS web site for current fee information.

H-1B

  • $460 USCIS filing fee (with initial H-1B request and all subsequent requests for H-1B extensions)
  • $500 Fraud Prevention and Detection fee (one time fee submitted with initial H-1B filing (per employer)
  • $2,500 Premium Processing fee (optional - can be paid by department or employee)
  • $370 for dependents who are already in the U.S.

Note: The $460 USCIS filing fee and the $500 Fraud Prevention and Detection fee must be paid by the employer (department) and, therefore, must be drawn on an employer check. The USCIS will not accept personal checks for these fees.

USCIS fees are subject to change.  Please visit their web site to confirm current filing fees.

Permanent Residency "green card"

  • Department responsible for $700 USCIS filing fee for I-140, Immigrant petition for Alien Worker.
  • Employee responsible for fees for I485 - Application to Adjust Status (this application is the employee's application requesting an adjustment to permanent resident) ($1,140 filing fee plus $85 biometrics = $1,225).
  • Additional legal expenses may be incurred with some permanent residency cases.  These expenses are generally the responsibility of the department in cases where they have agreed to sponsor the foreign national or unless otherwise agreed upon.

Dependents

  • H-4 filing fees will be the responsibility of the employee.
  • Dependent actions NOT primary to the direct employment of the employee, such as EAD and travel documents are the employee's responsibility for all expenses including legal fees, when necessary.

All expenses involving Employment Authorization Documents for dependents and/or Travel Documents for employees and/or their dependents are paid by the employee, this may include legal expenses.