Permanent Residency Overview

Permanent residency allows an international employee to live and work in the U.S. indefinitely.

Georgia College will support a petition for Employment-Based Permanent Residency only under the following conditions:

The applicant’s education and experience are in the same field of study as the position in which they will be doing instruction or administration.
The applicant’s education and experience are commensurate with the job description for similar positions across the university and the University System of Georgia.

Employment based immigration is one of the most common ways to obtain permanent residency. Georgia College will process permanent residency for an international employee upon sponsorship approval from the provost. The department must be in full support of any permanent residency request prior to the Office of Legal Affairs committing to the process, and no petition will be initiated without express written consent from the department chair, approved by the dean and final university approval granted by the provost. Beneficiaries of permanent residency petitions may opt to hire outside counsel to assist with their petitions, but under no circumstances will Georgia College cover the expense or be under any obligation to follow the advice of outside counsel. Although counsel may be sought, the immigrant petition (the I-140) itself must be filed by Georgia College not outside immigration counsel.

The permanent residency process is a two application process. The initial I-140 immigrant petition is completed by the sponsoring employer – Georgia College. The subsequent I-485 change of status petition is completed by the employee. The I-140 and I-485 can be filed concurrently in some cases if employment based visa numbers are readily available (see the Department of State’s Visa Bulletin). If not, the I-485 cannot be filed until the I-140 has been approved and the applicant’s – priority date is current. Additional forms associated with the I-485 include the I-131 Advance Parole form and the I-765 Employment Authorization form. These are also completed by the employee.

Forms and Documents

Immigration Handbook (pdf)

Department Application for Permanent Residency Sponsorship (link) or

Department Application for Permanent Residency Sponsorship (pdf)

Advertising for Non-Teaching Positions (pdf)

Labor Certification Recruitment Documentation - Teaching Positions (pdf)

Labor Certification Recruitment Documentation - Non-Teaching Positions (pdf)

PERM Department of Labor Advertisement Guidelines (pdf)

Immigration Glossary (pdf)