Communiqué, Volume 20, Number 4

June 2024

Greetings from the ISSO!

In this issue:

Onboarding Reminders

All new foreign-national employees, faculty and scholars are required to check-in with the ISSO prior to commencing their employment or activity at BU. Please note the following as you are onboarding a foreign national in your unit.

  • Please insure that all new employees/scholars are aware of/in possession of a BUID before they check-in with the ISSO. If they are not, hiring units can obtain the appropriate affiliate account via IS&T.  See our recent special Communique for more details about this procedural change.
  • New employees must schedule a 15-minute new employee I-9 employment verification appointment before their 3rd day of employment. Since USCIS regulations regarding employment verification require us to review original immigration/employment documents, we cannot provide this service virtually.
  • Arriving J-1 exchange visitors must attend a virtual orientation session that requires advance registration. If they are also going to be BU employees, they need to schedule the in-person new employee I-9 appointment separately.
  • Uncompensated Visiting Researchers, Visiting Students and other affiliates who are not sponsored by BU in the J-1 classification can schedule an in-person 15-minute appointment or they are welcome to check-in with us virtually and skip the visit to our office.

To facilitate the process, we ask that you forward our appointment scheduling information to your arriving scholars and employees so that they can make their arrangements to obtain the clearance prior to commencing their activity or employment. Please contact your Scholar Advisor if you have any questions or have a new employee/scholar that may require other accommodations.

Flexible Work Reminders

In order to properly document the employment/appointment arrangements for foreign national scholars and employees, it is important that the ISSO is informed of all associated worksites, including the home address for employees and scholars who have been approved for a hybrid or remote arrangement via HR’s Flexible Work guidelines. In addition, we need to be notified if anytime there is a change in the scholar or employee’s place of residence. Please note the following the more common immigration classifications supporting BU employees and scholars:

  • J-1 exchange visitors: J-1 exchange visitors cannot be approved for flexible arrangements of 3 or more days a week. The J-1 sponsorship is based upon the expectation that the scholar or employee will be engaged in the day-to-day BU campus environment. For J-1s approved for a flexible arrangement not exceeding 2 days, the ISSO will need to report the home address in the J-1s SEVIS record.
  • H-1B Temporary Workers: H-1B regulations require employers to document worksites to USCIS. Anytime there are changes in the terms of the underlying petition submitted to USCIS on behalf of the employee, an amended petition must be filed BEFORE the change is implemented so please inform us anytime an employee on H-1B who is approved for work from home changes their address.
  • OPT/STEM OPT: Employees working under an OPT or STEM OPT authorization may work remotely as long as they continue to comply with the regulatory requirements regarding practical training, supervisor and mentorship as outlined on their Form I-983. Their associated Form I-983 and SEVIS record should note the remote location as appropriate.

Hiring departments should note all worksites, including home address where appropriate and/or flexible work approvals when submitting any immigration processing requests to the ISSO. More details about flexible work considerations for foreign nationals is available here.

Upcoming Administrator Trainings

As part of our continued efforts to partner with academic departments we are pleased to announce upcoming virtual training and Q&A sessions for our designated department administrative contacts.

Onboarding an International Scholar or Employee: ISSO Check-in and Clearance Process
Thursday July 18 @ 10:30 am
Provides overview of steps involved for onboarding international scholars and employees in various immigration classifications before they can commence their employment or activity at BU. Register here

Communication and Continued Compliance for International Scholars/Employees: Role of the hosting department
Thursday August 22 @ 10:30 am
Explores the hiring unit’s role in working with the ISSO for the duration of a scholar/employee’s appointment at BU and how this impacts overall compliance. Register here

These sessions are designed to complement and build upon the information provided in our on-line training video series. More sessions will be announced in the coming months. In addition, we are happy to customize a session to meet your departmental needs so contact us if you want to discuss this further.

The Scholar Services Team remains committed to advising and assisting our international scholar community and appreciates your continued support!