Communique – Volume 18, Number 1

January 2022

Greetings from the ISSO!

In this issue:

Premium Processing Check Request and Pick-up

Effective immediately, the ISSO will pick-up all premium processing checks directly from BU Accounts Payable. We have partnered with Accounts Payable to modify the process to ease the burden of check pick-up for sponsoring departments. Historically, host departments picked up the checks in-person and delivered them to the ISSO. During COVID, we made some adjustments to the process and learned, via trial and error, what worked best for all involved parties. Thus, we are excited to announce the new process and timeline:

  1. Host Department submits premium processing check request to Accounts Payable. The host department must provide the name of the sponsored employee in the ‘description’ field to ensure that the name of the individual will be entered with the request and evident on the issued check. The ISSO will not retrieve checks that do not reference the name of the employee.
  2. Accounts Payable processes check request. Accounts Payable will ensure that the name is entered as requested and will notify the ISSO directly when any premium processing check is issued.
  3. Accounts Payable will notify ISSO when premium processing check is ready for ISSO pick up. Once the ISSO receives confirmation that a check has been processed, we will make arrangements to obtain the it directly from Accounts Payable.

Generally, you can expect that this process will take at least 10 business days so we recommend that departments plan in advance to avoid potential delays in the filing of the final petition to USCIS.

USCIS’s standard processing takes anywhere from 3-8 months so premium processing is typically necessary to obtain a timely approval. The premium process service only expedites the final petition to USCIS and does not impact the timing required for ISSO, Department of Labor and other associated preliminary processing. More details can be found at: https://www.bu.edu/isso/administrators/checklist/h1b/premium-processing.

Faculty Hiring Season & Immigration Processing Times

Now is the time to start thinking about immigration processing for your 2022 faculty hires! Starting early is the best way to ensure that your new faculty member will be able to commence his or her BU employment as desired. While we hope to see improvements in processing times at both USCIS and the Department of State, it is not yet clear how long it will take before the backlogs created by COVID will end. These backlogs continue to limit appointment availability at US consulates and embassies so faculty who will be entering the US directly to commence their work at BU, may be impacted.

Please prepare and submit your immigration processing requests for your spring and summer 2022 hires as soon as possible. We thank those departments who have already submitted requests for incoming faculty and look forward to getting request for other spring/summer hires in the coming weeks. Please contact your ISSO advisor should you have questions regarding prospective hires in your department.

J-1 Sponsorship Minimum Funding Estimates

We have updated the minimum funding levels required for J-1 Exchange Visitor sponsorship. The new figures will be required for all new and continuing J-1 sponsorship requests submitted on or after January 3, 2022.

per month per year
Scholar only $ 2,430 $29,160
Scholar plus first dependent (spouse or child) $ 3,436 $41,232
Scholar plus two dependents $ 4,347 $51,164
Scholar plus three dependents $ 4,863 $58,356
For each additional dependent beyond three, add $  282 $ 3,379

While the J-1 exchange visitor categories allow some flexibility regarding source(s) of funding, the scholar and/or the host department must demonstrate financial support to meet or exceed an established minimum funding requirement for the full period of the academic appointment. If dependents will accompany the scholar in J-2 status, we must establish that the funding is sufficient to support them as well.

Please note the following:

  • The minimum amounts listed DO NOT apply to Postdoctoral Appointments or to other research positions that require a different minimum based on Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) guidance and/or standard institutional postdoctoral minimum salaries.
  • Host departments should NOT use these minimums as a standard to calculate salary. Researchers, faculty members and other paid positions should be awarded a salary that meets department and University equity standards and is commensurate with the scholar’s related experience.
  • BU salary, per diem, stipends, grants and other non-salary funding should be reflected in the appointment letter and on page 3 of Form B, Scholar Information

Additional details are available here.

Scholar Services Departmental Caseload

We are pleased to announce our new Scholar Services advisor caseload distribution. These changes insure an even distribution of our current client population across the Charles River, Medical and Fenway campuses. The new distribution is effective immediately so please direct your inquiries appropriately. The ISSO scholar advising team has nearly 50 years of combined experience in employment/scholar-based immigration, so even if your assigned ISSO contact has changed, you will continue to get the same outstanding service that you expect from our team.

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