Consult International Student and Scholar Services

The first step in the H-1B sponsorship process is for the hiring department contacts International Student and Scholar Services to consult and determine whether H-1B is appropriate for a potential position. After consultation, the hiring department may decide to request H-1B sponsorship for an international employee and consults with International Student and Scholar Services to discuss timeline, anticipated start date, etc.

Important: Please contact International Student and Scholar Services early in this process! Completed H-1B petitions must be submitted to International Student and Scholar Services a minimum of two months before the anticipated start date/change to H-1B status date. We recommend initiating the H-1B process 6 months in advance.

Submit a Sponsorship Request

The hiring department submits a sponsorship request through the OISS portal (Make sure that you click on the gray “UNLV Department Contacts Only” button to login - you will be prompted to provide your ACE login credentials). If the department has not previously submitted a sponsorship request through International Student and Scholar Services, please contact scholar@unlv.edu to request access. Only staff/faculty/administrators who are designated to submit visa sponsorship requests on behalf of their unit should request access to the OISS Portal.

Once logged into the OISS portal, the hiring department can submit a new sponsorship request for an H-1B employee; from there both the department and employee (who will be granted login access) will be able to complete their respective questionnaires and upload supporting documents through the portal. Once finished, the hiring department will select “submit to ISSS Admin” and/or email scholar@unlv.edu to confirm once the submission is ready for review.

Preliminary Review

International Student and Scholar Services conducts a preliminary review of all submitted documents and will notify the department’s administrative contact and/or the employee as needed to gather further information.

Pay Filing Fees

If the immigration petition will be processed in-house, ISSS will notify the hiring department once filing fee checks are necessary and will send instructions regarding the fee amounts. The hiring department requests these checks from Accounts Payable and will send or drop off the filing fee checks to ISSS.

If the immigration petition will be processed by NSHE-approved outside immigration counsel, ISSS will share the invoice with the hiring department for them to process payment. The department should set up a requisition/purchase order to process the payment. The requisition/purchase order should not contain names; only a generic description of services provided. Do not pay by P-card. Once a PO is created the Remittance Page can be entered into Workday as an SIR for payment/referencing said PO# for the firm in the notes section. The Remittance Page is the only document uploaded into Workday for processing payment. Please use supplier code: SC0399-legal services.

H-1B Orientation

When the H-1B approval notice is received by International Student and Scholar Services, the scholar adviser will inform the H-1B employee, the hiring department, Human Resources, and non-resident alien tax services. International Student and Scholar Services will schedule an H-1B Orientation with the new H-1B employee to review important immigration regulations necessary for the employee to maintain legal H-1B status including:

  • Job location

  • Job duties and responsibilities

  • Job title

  • Salary

  • Termination of employment

  • Etc.

Report Changes

Both H-1B employee and hiring department are expected to continuously report to International Student and Scholar Services any potential changes in the H-1B employee’s terms and conditions of employment at UNLV in advance of the date of occurrence to discuss implications for the H-1B status, including but not limited to changes in:

  • Job location

  • Job duties and responsibilities

  • Job title

  • Salary

  • Status of employment

Expiration Dates

Following approval, departments should be aware of the expiration dates of H-1B status of their employees and contact International Student and Scholar Services to discuss H-1B extensions and/or other sponsorship options for continued employment.

The H-1B scholar should also be aware of the expiration date and coordinate with their department to contact and contact International Student and Scholar Services. It is ultimately the scholar’s responsibility to maintain their immigration status.