Biophysical Society Bulletin | September 2020

Career Development

Immigration Paths for Scientific Researchers in the United States Part One As an immigration lawyer in the United States, I travel to the annual meetings of numerous major scientific organizations such as the Biophysical Society to give presentations and provide free consultations. I find that most foreign scientists, from PhD students to postdocs, have a poor understanding of their legal situation, even if they have been in the United States for many years. If you are going to school or working in the United States and you are not a green card holder or US citizen, it is extremely important that you understand your personal path that will lead to a green card. You should have a clear timeline so that you understand your situation and know exactly when it will be necessary for you to take action and move forward at each step of the process. Start by asking yourself what your plans are in the United States. What is your dream job? Is it a tenure track teaching position or is it in industry? If you are currently a PhD student, do you want to do a postdoc or go straight to industry? Once you have established your short- and long-term goals, you can start to formulate a plan for your personal immigration timeline. F-1 Student Visas and Work Authorization If you complete a PhD in the United States on an F-1 student visa, it is possible to apply for a green card before you gradu- ate with your PhD, but for a variety of reasons, it is usually not recommended. Depending on your future plans, there may be no benefit to applying early and few people qualify before graduating. In some cases it may make sense to take the risk, but as that is relatively rare, I’m going to skip over this option. If you are a PhD graduate with an F-1 student visa, your first option after graduation is to obtain work authoriza- tion through the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program. Through OPT, you can obtain an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) if you did your PhD in this country. Generally, a US PhD qualifies you for three years of work authorization through the OPT program. Eventually, at the end of your OPT, you will need a green card or a work visa. A green card gives you a permanent lawful status in the United States and a path to citizenship. In order to get a green card (also known as lawful permanent resident

The Rangamani Group

We’ve gotten the nitty gritty sorted and as a group we will likely be one of the last to be back on campus full-time when- ever some semblance of normalcy returns. I know that we will be okay and the computational nature of our work means that we can continue making progress with our research. There are, however, a few missing pieces in my day that no amount of planning and time management can fill. Pre-pandemic, we used to be an extremely interactive group. One of my favor- ite things to do during the workday was stop by the student offices and chat with them. The topics varied from papers we were working on or something we read to recipes and where to find the best ice cream in town (Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream). Often, coffee and chocolate were involved in these chats and my group members knew my favorite snacks. They’d bring back cookies or treats from seminars that they went to, if they knew I liked them. Can I let you process my good fortune for just a minute? And reiterate how much I miss these interactions. In the past few months, we have, however, slowly but steadily adjusted and become resilient to quite a few things. I have learned how to manage my time somewhat between child- care and professional responsibilities; the keyword here is somewhat. Babies and cats join our group meetings. We are starting to learn to reach out more and look out for each other in ways we have not done before. And while I really cannot wait to outline papers on my office whiteboard again and for my group to share treats with me, I will always be grateful for their grace and resilience in these extremely difficult times. Until then, we plan to get through this, together, one hour, one day, and one group meeting at a time. — Padmini Rangamani , University of California, San Diego

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