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Home / Come to MU / Faculty, staff and scholars / Permanent residence / MU permanent residence services

MU permanent residence services

There are multiple options when applying for lawful-permanent-resident status in U.S. The following information is intended for University of Missouri faculty and researchers seeking employment-based permanent residence.

The International Center provides assistance only to tenured, tenure-track and non-tenured faculty or researchers who are:

  1. eligible under the provisions for EB-2 employment-based preference category for members of the professions holding advanced degrees and
  2. eligible under Department of Labor criteria for "optional special recruitment and documentation procedures for college and university teachers."

The scholar coordinator schedules appointments to meet with non-immigrant faculty who want to apply for permanent residence. The main purpose of these appointments is to determine whether the the faculty member or researcher qualifies for an EB-2 permanent residency application. The International Center is not able to determine whether the individual qualifies for an EB-1 (extraordinary ability or outstanding researcher), for an EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) petition and/or for a family-based petition. Faculty and researchers seeking permanent residence through any of these other employment-based or family-based options will be referred to one of the attorneys authorized by the General Counsel’s Office.

Please refer to the MU Sponsorship and Employment-Based Permanent Residence Policy for more information.

After the initial meeting with the faculty member, the hosting department should fill out the Department Recommendation for PR Petition Processing form. The International Center will review the form and contact the department to discuss the following steps necessary in the process.

International Center responsibilities

The International Center files EB-2 employment-based petitions for members of the professions holding advanced degrees. This process includes three main steps:

The International Center does not provide any support for the third step, application for adjustment of status, as it is a beneficiary petition to adjust status to permanent residence based on the immigrant petition for alien worker. Applicants are strongly encouraged to seek advice from an immigration attorney for the filing the third step (Adjustment of Status).