Middlebury-sponsored H-1B status (new or concurrent) for summer

H-1B Status

Middlebury College sponsors individuals in H-1B status for summer positions in limited circumstances. If you believe you may need H-1B status to work for Middlebury College during the summer, please carefully read all the information on this webpage to learn about the circumstances in which Middlebury will provide H-1B sponsorship for a new hire or rehired employee to work in one of our summer programs.

Circumstances where Middlebury will sponsor H-1Bs for Summer Employment

The two scenarios when Middlebury will sponsor a hire for H-1B status to work for one of our summer programs are as follows:

1. New Concurrent H-1B Cases

If you are currently in H-1B status or will be in H-1B status before or by the start of your Middlebury contract, and that H-1B status was petitioned by and granted to another employer on your behalf, Middlebury may need to file a new concurrent I-129 Petition for Non-Immigrant Worker with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for Middlebury to secure an H-1B approval for you to work at Middlebury.

• The H-1B petition will request to amend your H-1B status to work concurrently at Middlebury College (while still being employed by your current H-1B sponsor) for the duration of your Middlebury contract.
• The H-1B petition must be received by USCIS by no later than the start date of your contract with Middlebury, provided your current H-1B will remain valid beyond that date.
• For concurrent H-1B petitions, processing times for H-1B I-129 petitions are unpredictable. Legally, H-1B I-129 petitions can be filed no more than 6 months before the start date of the requested H-1B status and it may take longer than that for USCIS to adjudicate the petition.
• Pursuant to H-1B regulations, you are allowed to legally work for up to 240 days while the petition for Middlebury College is pending. For this to apply, the petition must be timely filed with USCIS and you have received evidence of the timely filing by Middlebury by the start date of your contract.  Timely filed means USCIS physically received the petition by no later than the contract start date.

2. New H-1B Cases

When the individual has accepted employment with another employer and the other employer intends to sponsor them in H-1B status and the start date of the other employer’s H-1B overlaps with the Middlebury contract dates, then the individual may need H-1B status to work at Middlebury for the summer session to avoid potential delays or interruptions in employment with the subsequent employer.

• The petition will request that Middlebury (the ‘petitioner’) be approved to employ the new hire in H-1B status for the position, location, conditions of employment, wage, and contract dates.
• In addition, it asks for the hire (the ‘beneficiary’) to be able to obtain H-1B status in one of two ways:
  1. If you are outside the U.S., the petition asks for you to obtain H-1B status via consular processing.
  2. If you are inside the U.S., the petition will request to change your current status to H-1B status to work at Middlebury College in that position for the duration of the contract. 
     
     Note: Please refer to the section “Questions about H-1B status and International travel” (see below) for important information regarding the impact of travel with a pending I-129 petition and if one needs to obtain an H-1B visa stamp before returning.
      
• To start working legally at Middlebury, the new H-1B petition must be adjudicated and approved by USCIS by no later than and preferably well before your contract start date.
  • Processing times for H-1B I-129 petitions are unpredictable. Therefore, the H-1B petition may need to be filed with premium processing (expedited processing) to ensure an expedited decision.
  • Even with premium processing, USCIS can take 4 weeks (from the date USCIS receives the completed petition packet/premium processing request) to adjudicate the H-1B petition and to receive the approval notice. You must have the USCIS approval in hand to allow you to start work.

If one of the above circumstances is true for you, please follow the instructions in the “H-1B Intake Form Instructions” section below to provide ISSS with some initial information. ISSS will review your submission to determine if H-1B is necessary. 

H-1B processing is managed via the Middlebury General Counsel’s office which contracts with an immigration attorney to process the cases on behalf of Middlebury. If ISSS confirms that an H-1B is needed for you to work with Middlebury, ISSS will notify the General Counsel’s office of the need to initiate your case.

ISSS strives to pass your contact information to the General Counsel’s office within 3 to 4 weeks of receiving the completed H-1B Intake Form and supporting documentation. Middlebury then initiates the case with the contracted immigration law firm and you should hear from the attorney or case manager via email shortly after that. From that point, the immigration attorney will be the primary contact for the H-1B petition preparation and filing. It can take up to 2 months to prepare and file H-1B petitions with USCIS. Case-specific circumstances may shorten or delay this timeline. Please respond promptly to any emails from the law firm for a timely filing and to avoid any additional delays. 

ISSS does not provide the H-1B Intake Form or any supporting documents that you submit to ISSS to the General Counsel’s Office or the immigration law firm. ISSS uses the H-1B Intake Form information to confirm the viability and necessity of H-1B sponsorship for the position. You will need to submit required information directly to the law firm when they initiate the case and solicit information from you.

Questions about H-1B status and International Travel

Once your case is in motion, all questions about your case before, during, and after the H-1B is processed by USCIS, should be directed to the immigration law firm. The law firm staff will provide their contact information once they email you to launch the case.

Important note: Leaving the U.S. while any petition or application is pending with USCIS may impact the adjudication process, so it is important to communicate any intended international travel plans to the immigration law firm.  It is also important to make sure that, in advance, you alert the immigration law firm of any international travel during your approved H-1B approved period for Middlebury College.

H-1B Intake Form Instructions

1. Gather the required documentation listed on page 1 of the H-1B Intake Form.

2. Once you have the documents gathered, complete and submit the H-1B Intake Form. 

Please submit the form and requested documents within 2 weeks of receiving our initial ISSS email to launch the visa support process. If you are not able to obtain all the documents within that time period, please send ISSS an email to let us know to anticipate you may need H-1B sponsorship.

If you are working for a Middlebury school or program that is offering its courses remotely and you will be in the U.S. and performing work for the remote program only, then you will need to provide ISSS with the address of where you will be physically working during your contract period as we must list that location in the petition. (H-1B status is employer, position, and location specific.)

If you have questions, contact isss@middlebury.edu and in the email subject line indicate the name of your school, if you are faculty or staff, and the type of question you have. For example, in the email subject line type: “Chinese Language School Faculty: H-1B questions.”

Updated 2/7/2025