Office of International Services

Overview of OSU’s Immigration Sponsorship Process

1. The host department evaluates the candidates for a position and offers the position based on the candidates’ qualifications.
2. The hosting department can submit a request to International Services’ International Employee & Exchange Visitor team to evaluate the immigration sponsorship options for the position.  International Services will review the position, the international colleague’s qualifications, and immigration history. International Services will notify the hosting department of their immigration sponsorship options.  The decision whether to sponsor immigration status for a position is made by the hosting OSU department. The hosting department can choose whether to offer immigration sponsorship and in which immigration category. 
3. International Employee and Exchange Visitor team will work with the host department and the international colleague, guiding both through OSU’s portion of the immigration process.
4. Typically, OSU’s portion of the immigration sponsorship process culminates with OSU being approved to provide an immigration sponsorship document (e.g., J-1 DS-2019, H-1B Approval Notice, etc.). The international colleague can use the sponsorship document to obtain immigration status – either by applying for a visa at a US Consulate (for colleagues outside the US), or by applying to change immigration status inside the US (for colleagues already in the US).
5. Once the international colleague has gained the OSU-sponsored immigration status (by receiving an I-94 record documenting their OSU-sponsored immigration status), the colleague is authorized to work at OSU.
6. The hosting department welcomes the new colleague and assists in helping them settle into their lives and program at OSU.