New Scholars and Faculty

The Davis International Center proudly serves international faculty, scholars, and staff with U.S. immigration advising and support services.  This section offers information specifically for new hires and hiring departments.  If your situation is outside the scope of what is provided below or within our Current Scholars and Faculty pages, please contact one of our Scholar Advisors, who can answer your questions with more specificity. 

Because employment-based visas are based and reliant on the specific details of an appointment and each individual's particular circumstances, it is usually difficult for the Davis IC to provide anything but general immigration information to individuals until we receive the appointment paperwork and the individual's visa assessment forms initiated by a department's entry in Tigernav (see below).

Steps for Departments Hiring International Employees

Steps for Scholars and Faculty with Princeton Appointments

Am I a Scholar?

This is a question we often hear, and it's a valid one. In the academic world, we often refer to any international employee conducting scholarly research as a scholar. In the context of our office and immigration advising, anyone who is not currently a student and holds a Princeton appointment is called "scholar". We even sometimes refer to teaching faculty as scholars! It is mainly just a way for us to distinguish student advising, where an individual holds a student visa, from advising for an employment-based visa status.

Even then, it can get tricky because some student-visa holders have work authorization and Princeton appointments, so you may be considered a student for visa purposes and a scholar for employment purposes. If you are still unsure of the answer to this question, that's okay! Feel free to reach out to us directly and we can guide you in the right direction.