U.S. Permanent Residence

Picture of part of a US green card

Overview of Lawful Permanent Resident Status

Lawful permanent resident (LPR) status in the United States is also known as 'immigrant', 'green card holder' and 'permanent resident'. These terms all mean the same thing, that the person has permission from immigration to reside in the U.S. permanently. Persons holding LPR status for five years (in some instances only three) may become eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship.

There are many categories of Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) status and Yale sponsors only two of those which are described below. You will need a Yale NetID in order to access the links.


Employment Based Sponsorship Through Yale

The Office of International Students and Scholars (OISS) prepares and submits LPR applications for teaching faculty appointments of Assistant Professor and higher, and for permanent academic research faculty.  If you have a question about your eligibility for Yale University sponsorship for permanent residence, please make an initial inquiry by emailing Mihwa Lee. OISS will review your request for eligibility and if eligible, the best avenues for obtaining LPR status looking at the two employment based (EB) categories; EB-1-B Outstanding Professor/Researcher and EB-2 Labor Certification:

  • EB-1-B Outstanding Professor/Researcher (OPR)
    As the name implies, the EB-1-B OPR category can be used for teaching faculty or permanent academic researchers at Yale. The eligibility standard is very high and involves detailed intensive preparation of documentary evidence to prove that the applicant has abundant outstanding academic achievements with international recognition.

  • EB-2 Labor Certification Special Handling
    Most permanent teaching faculty find the EB-2 process easier, since it doesn’t require a lot of preparation and simply involves documenting how the department recruited and selected them to come to Yale. However there is a backlog in the EB-2 category for citizens of China and India, and these faculty members could apply for the EB-1-2 category if they qualify.

Note: Employment based LPR applications (EB-1B and EB-2 Labor Certification) are prepared by OISS. The use of outside counsel for these applications is very limited and only permitted when it is recommended in writing by Mihwa Lee at OISS. Yale affiliates should not make any payments to an immigration attorney for Yale University employment-based visa sponsorship unless they have express written permission from OISS.


Other LPR Categories

Yale employees interested in applying for all other categories other than the two sponsored by Yale above, must either file the applications on their own, or hire an immigration attorney. The University cannot advise on these LPR categories, but detailed information is available through the links below.

  • Family-based: Close family relationship to a U.S. citizen or LPR.
  • Employment-based that are not sponsored by Yale: These categories are called self-sponsored. The most common are National Interest Waivers and EB-1-A Extraordinary Ability. OISS recommends using an attorney for these categories (contact Mihwa Lee for referrals.)
  • Refugee or Asylee based: Having a well-founded fear of persecution if one returns to their home country.
  • The Diversity Lottery: An annual lottery of select underserved countries.
  • Investors
  • Special Acts of Congress: Laws that change or make exceptions to the standard procedures for certain persons or groups of people.

Note: Please inform your OISS adviser of your plans to apply for a green card since we need to coordinate your current visa status with your LPR application.