Permanent Residence

Georgia Tech only sponsors individuals for Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) status when the application is based on permanent, professional employment at Tech. Foreign national employees must meet the qualifications for one of the following categories:

  • EB-1 (Employment-based, 1st Preference) 
  • EB-2 (Employment-based, 2nd Preference) 

For an overview of permanent residence procedures please review the powerpoint: powerpoint: Processing Immigrant Petitions.

 

EB-1

For an EB-1 (Employment-based, 1st Preference) petition, the foreign national employee (FNE) must be able to establish their eligibility as an outstanding Professor or Researcher.

Outstanding Professor or Researcher

See Processing Fees

EB-2

An EB-2 (Employment-based, 2nd Preference) petition must be submitted within 18 months from the time of job offer. Therefore, the process must be started before or during the foreign national employee's first semester in the qualifying position. Also, the position must be advertised.

Advanced Degree Holders   

Please Note

  •  State law prohibits Georgia Tech from hiring private attorneys.
  •  Employees may not hire attorneys to file a PR petition naming GT as the petitioner without express permission from OHR.
  • The Director of Global HR or his/her designee is the only authorized signatory for a GT sponsored employment-based permanent residency petition. 
  • All requests for an exception to the GT policy for employment-based permanent residence must be sent to the Director of Global HR.
  • If the department has initiated the permanent residence process for a Foreign National Employee, and the FNE leaves employment at Georgia Tech, the department must promptly notify OHR. This should be done prior to the FNE’s departure, however, if that is not possible, the notification should be no later than 10 days after.