The Immigration Compliance Services (ICS) unit assists UF hiring departments in obtaining employment authorizations for international employees, ensuring compliance with employment and immigration laws. Employment authorizations include H, TN, O, and E-3 visa status. For F or J visa status, please visit the UF International Center.
Considerations include visa status, hiring dates, petition timelines, prevailing wage, and travel requirements.
If the UF TempID was used in myUFL and in the E-Verify case, ensure both areas are updated with the employee’s Social Security Number.
For any questions or assistance, reach out to the following experts:
Topics: Hire ePAF and employment policies
Email: ufhr-employment@ufl.edu
Topics: Foreign National Information System (FNIS) and tax information and guidelines
Email: Payroll-services@ufl.edu
Topics: Visa Information for F-1 Students and J-1 Student/Scholars
Contact page: UF International Center Staff
Topics: H-1B, TN, O-1, E-3 immigration statuses
The University of Florida has retained the law firm Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, LLP to handle the university’s immigrant and non-immigrant visa petitions. To initiate the process on behalf of employees, please click here.
Ensure you have the following required documents for your case:
Additional documents are needed for international medical graduates. Please contact ICS for a complete list.
An academic credential evaluation is obtained from an organization which evaluates the foreign education and its equivalency to the education of a U.S. degree. Learn about obtaining an ACE here.
Specific information related to the employment of international employees must appear in their respective offer of employment letters. When preparing your offer of employment letter, please use the information provided here.
Find information on University of Florida Fragomen Fee Schedule here.
Departments with non-immigrant employees have specific responsibilities:
USCIS rules provide a grace period of up to 60 days for certain visa categories:
If an H-1B or O-1 visa holder is terminated:
If the employee changes status or transfers to a different employer, the department is relieved of any obligations.
USCIS requires employers to report early departure/termination of non-immigrant beneficiaries:
Departments/centers must submit an End of Program Notice to ICS when an employee’s period ends earlier than the approved validity period’s end date. ICS will notify USCIS to withdraw the non-immigrant status with UF.
The End of Program Notice should be submitted before the actual termination date.
H-4, O-3 and E-3 dependents can obtain work authorization by filing Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, with USCIS. Once the EAD is approved, they can work for any employer in the U.S.
TD dependents cannot obtain work authorization in the U.S. They are not allowed to work. If a TD dependent wishes to work, they would need to change to a different visa category that allows for work authorization.
You can find the latest immigration publications and forms on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website.
Please email ICS at HR-ICS@ufl.edu to request to be registered in the Fragomen Connect Portal. ICS will ask Fragomen to register you in the Connect Portal. ICS will need the following information in order to register you in the Fragomen Portal:
The purpose of the Actual Wage Report is to compile wage information on all employees in the same position title from the sponsoring department. To access the Generating Actual Wage Report, department administrators must request the UF_ER_USER security role from their DSA.You will need the following role to access the report: UF_ER_USER (Provides basic access to enterprise reporting)
Instructions for Generating Actual Wage Report:
Designated administrative staff members in the hiring departments and centers are required to generate the Actual Wage Report in-house by accessing their MyUFL accounts. The Security Officer in each unit is required to request and approve specific roles for the designated staff member.
Login to http://my.ufl.edu
Select the following in sequence:
Select Department Code (first 2 digits). This gives a list of all department codes starting with these 2 digits, then select all department codes for (your department).
Enter the job code and click “Search”. Example: Enter job code 000530 for Assistant Professor. Click “Search”. Result: A PDF document with all employees in selected department with a job code of 000530.
According to U.S. immigration law, most non-citizens living in the United States must inform U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) when they change addresses. This does not mean that they must ask the U.S. government for permission to move houses. This is important because USCIS needs to have the updated address information for when they must mail important notices. International employees need to update their address with USCIS at https://www.uscis.gov/ar-11.
Academic Credential Evaluation (ACE) is obtained from an organization which evaluates the foreign education and its equivalency to the education of a U.S. degree.United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) requires a copy of an official ACE equivalency for degree(s) awarded outside of the U.S.
Departments should verify if the international employee secured the qualifying degree(s) in the U.S. or not. If the qualifying degree(s) was not earned within the U.S., the department should advise the international employee that they will need to secure the ACE from a company that is a member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES).
Here is the link to a listing of NACES evaluators: http://www.naces.org/members.html
The following companies are recommended by the Fragomen immigration attorney:
FIS (Foundation for International Services, Inc.)
Josef Silny & Associates, Inc.
Please note that any credentials not originally in English, will also require official translations (international employee’s personal translations are not acceptable).
When an international employee enters the United States, they will be questioned by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regarding their reason for coming to the United States. The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officer will issue the I-94 Arrival/Departure Record, in electronic format.Please be sure to review the admission status and admit until date. If these are not correct contact ICS immediately.
The expiration date on the I-94 record, and not the expiration date on the visa or passport admission stamp, determines how long an international employee is permitted to remain in the United States.
The international employee must always have a valid I-94 while in the United States. The international employee must keep track of the expiration date on their I-94 record and those of their family members.
Please note that it is the responsibility of the department to forward copies of relevant immigration documents (e.g., I-94 records for the employee and their family members) to ICS.
Since checks are only valid for 6 months, please request the checks no earlier than 6 months prior to the desired start date.
ICS suggests that the department please wait to request any legal fee checks until Fragomen forwards the appropriate invoice to the department in order to avoid any confusion.
The filing fee checks should be made payable to:U.S. Department of Homeland Security Citizenship and Immigration Services
24000 Avila RD RM 2302
Laguna Niguel, CA 92677 United States
USCIS allows you to check the status of a case by using their online Case Status tool. Please utilize this link to track the status of your application : Case Status Online – Case Status Search (uscis.gov)
Once USCIS approves the international employee’s petition, they will forward the I-797 Approval Notice to Fragomen. Please note that it can take anywhere from several days to several weeks for USCIS to mail the approval notice to Fragomen. Once Fragomen receives the approval notice, they will prepare an approval packet and send it to ICS via FedEx. Once received, ICS will notify the department to pick up the original approval notice. The department will then forward the approval notice to the international employee.
Departments should submit the EOP form to ICS at least, five business days prior to the employment termination.
OR
Departments should submit the EOP as soon as they receive a copy of the permanent resident card from the international employee.
For any additional questions, please email ICS at HR-ICS@ufl.edu
Note: University of Florida policy does not permit private attorneys to submit immigration related petitions or applications on its behalf. University of Florida employees are not authorized to sign the Notice of Appearance as Attorney or Representative (Form G-28), which grants authority to an attorney to act on all aspects of immigration on behalf of the University; accordingly, University of Florida employees are prohibited from attempting to grant such permission. All applications and petitions associated with University of Florida sponsored nonimmigrant statuses must be submitted by ICS/HRS.