Senior International Student/Scholar Advisor (Hybrid) - Provost Office - Visa Compliance

About the role

The Senior Advisor is responsible for delivering a successful program for international students/scholars at WashU, addressing their unique needs, and maintaining required documentation for compliance. Key responsibilities include advising, counseling, and providing services to international students, scholars, faculty, and staff on immigration status, employment authorization, cross-cultural adjustment, academic issues, and personal challenges.

Responsibilities

• Maintains student/scholar immigration status to ensure legal status.
• Ensures proper administration of university and international student/scholar compliance with federal regulations regarding SEVIS.
• Informs students, scholars, employees and departments about immigration statuses related to WashU-sponsored F, J and H applications, processes and obligations.
• Responds to internal/external inquiries concerning United States immigration rules and regulations regarding international students, scholars, faculty members, and/or dependents.
• Determines appropriate immigration status for university-sponsored immigration applications.
• Provides advising, counseling and immigration services to international students, scholars and dependents regarding immigration, cross-cultural adjustment, employment, housing, financial, academic, and personal issues and concerns.
• Presents options, assessing how to provide information considering the cultural perspective of the student/scholar.
• Interprets governmental regulations to assess applicability to situations found at the University.
• Provides guidance to departments and employers regarding immigration regulations and applications.
• Leads or manages special projects assigned by the Associate Director of Student or Scholar Services such as report maintenance.
• Develops content for student or scholar services procedures to inform students/scholars and departments about immigration statuses, processes and obligations.
• Helps create and leads programs appropriate to the international student/scholar population, and their departments, including orientation and training programs about work eligibility, maintenance of status, immigration and visa compliance, cultural integration and awareness, and other topics of interest to the international population.
• Conducts educational programs and answers questions from participants.
• Collaborates with colleagues across campus in providing services to international students/scholars.
• Mentors International Student or Scholar Advisors, to deepen their understanding of immigration and visa issues, as well as understanding of the culture and departments within WashU.
• Assists in providing training or professional development for advisors.
• Provides guidance for complex immigration cases and overload assistance for advisors.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Requirements

Job Location/Working Conditions: Normal office environment. May be assigned to work on both the Danforth campus and the Medical campus. Will have periodic duties after hours and on weekends.

Physical Effort: Typically sitting at a desk or table. Repetitive wrist, hand or finger movement. Ability to move to on and off-campus locations.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree.
• International Advising with in-depth knowledge of immigration regulations related to F, J, and H visas (5 years).
• Experience living and working in another culture.
• Familiarity and/or previous experience working with F, J and H1B visas.
• Effective cross-cultural communication skills, both verbally and in writing.
• Able to manage multiple priorities at once.
• Demonstrated problem-solving skills.
• Comfortable with ambiguous situations.
• Able to explain and provide information and decisions, even if negative.
• Ability to develop effective training materials.
• Team leadership skills.

Skills

• Communication.
• Cross-Cultural Collaboration.
• Employment Visas.
• Group Problem Solving.
• Immigration Policy.
• Leadership.
• Managing Ambiguity.
• Multitasking.
• Prioritization.
• Project Administration.
• Team Leadership.
• Training Effectiveness.
• Visa Applications.
• Visa Processing.
• Visa Services.

Benefits

• Personal: Up to 22 days of vacation, 10 recognized holidays, and sick time.
• Competitive health insurance packages with priority appointments and lower copays/coinsurance.
• Take advantage of our free Metro transit U-Pass for eligible employees.
• WashU provides eligible employees with a defined contribution (403(b)) Retirement Savings Plan, which combines employee contributions and university contributions starting at 7%.
• Wellness: Wellness challenges, annual health screenings, mental health resources, mindfulness programs and courses, employee assistance program (EAP), financial resources, access to dietitians, and more!
• Family: We offer 4 weeks of caregiver leave to bond with your new child. Family care resources are also available for your continued childcare needs. For policies, detailed benefits, and eligibility, please visit: here.