Legal Permanent Residence

Northwestern University sponsors foreign nationals on nonimmigrant visas for Legal Permanent Resident (LPR) status.

Also known as green card, Legal Permanent Resident (LPR) permits foreign nationals and their dependents to permanently remain and be employed in the United States. Departments assume the role of a sponsor and all the responsibilities associated with the process. Learn more about sponsor responsibilities.

Eligible positions

The University may sponsor the following positions for permanent residence:

Tenure and Non-Tenure Line Faculty

The appropriate department must make this request, which is then endorsed by the School Dean.

Research Staff

The staff/member's department must make this recommendation, and it must be endorsed by the School Dean and the Provost (for faculty) or Vice President of Research (for researchers). Such a recommendation should be predicated on the following evidence:

• The individual should have been employed at Northwestern for at least two years, preferably in the same position.
• There is a high likelihood of continued funding for the position for at least three additional years.

Non-Research Staff

Positions that are not within the domain of the Vice President for Research may be considered, if the position is deemed to be critical to the functioning of the unit and the individual has been employed at Northwestern for at least two years. Such requests must be submitted to the School Dean or the Vice President in which the employee's office is situated.

The university will not sponsor post-doctoral employees for permanent residence.

Next Steps