Establishing New Employee Records for Non-United States Citizens
The following steps are provided to assist departmental personnel in understanding the process for creating a new employee record and the role of the GLACIER system in that process for non-United States citizens.
Initiate the Employee Eligibility Verification: The employing department should initiate Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, within three business days for all new employees. This form should be submitted to Human Resource Services, Employee Records.
Get a UT EID: In addition to the I-9 document, if new employees do not have UT EIDs, they should obtain a Member Class (formerly called High Assurance) UT EID at the Flawn Academic Center. This will allow employees to access many online services.
Obtain a Social Security Number (SSN): If employees do not have SSNs, they must apply with the Social Security Administration (SSA) Office located at 1029 Camino La Costa (Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.).
The SSA provides a receipt or a delay letter to individuals upon application.
A receipt indicates that the application is being processed and the SSN card should be received within 3-14 days. Upon receipt of the SSN card, employees should provide this information to their employing departments in order to create an active employee record on OVE or ANN in *DEFINE. Then departments should instruct employees to complete My Paycheck Profile (step five).
If the SSA issues a delay letter indicating that the process may take four to six weeks, the department may request a temporary SSN from Payroll Services. For more information about that process, refer to Social Security Numbers for Non-United States Citizens. If a temporary SSN is assigned, notification will be sent via e-mail to the department, Human Resource Services, and the new employee. Notifications will instruct employees to update My Paycheck Profile using their UT EIDs.
Create an Active Employee Record: If the individual already has an SSN, departmental personnel should create an active employee record by entering the required information on *DEFINE commands ANN or OVE. The creation of an employee record will allow the department to create an appointment, and it will allow the employee to enter My Paycheck Profile (step five).
Based on federal tax laws, the W-4 information in My Paycheck Profile requires that nonresidents file their W-4 as single (regardless of their actual marital status) with only 0 or 1 allowance. However, special rules for residents of Canada, India (students only), Korea, and Mexico allow employees to claim additional allowances for spouses and dependents. Additionally, non-United States citizens who have passed the Substantial Presence test and are identified as resident aliens for tax purposes, do not have to follow the nonresident W-4 requirements (see Internal Revenue Service—IRS—Publication 519). As a result, both groups may be prompted in GLACIER to create a revised W-4 based on their circumstances.
Log In to GLACIER: Once employees' profiles have been updated on My Paycheck Profile, Payroll Services will upload their names and e-mail addresses to the GLACIER Nonresident Alien Tax Compliance System within three business days. Then an e-mail will be sent to employees directing them to retrieve their GLACIER login instructions via the UT Secure Message System. All information needed including a temporary GLACIER User ID and password will be provided in the secure message.
When employees access the GLACIER system using their temporary UserIDs and passwords, they will immediately be prompted to establish their own unique GLACIER UserIDs and passwords.
Complete GLACIER Forms: The employee will be prompted to enter all necessary information in the GLACIER system. Upon successfully entering all required fields, GLACIER will provide the completed tax forms in PDF documents on the final screen. The user will be directed to print and sign all the forms provided by GLACIER. The following documents may be produced:
Tax Summary (replaces the former Payment Request Form)
W-4
Form 8233 and Tax Treaty Attachment (if able to claim a tax treaty exemption)
W-9 (if the resident alien claims a tax treaty)
Employees should submit all forms, along with all copies of their immigration documentation (as identified by GLACIER) to the address below:
Campus Mail
Payroll Services
G0200
Personal Delivery
Main Building, MAI 134
U.S. Mail
University of Texas at Austin
Payroll Services
P.O. Box 7849
Austin, TX 78713-7849
Review and Update Status: Upon submission of the GLACIER tax forms and copies of the nonresident immigration documents to Payroll Services, employees' statuses will be reviewed and updated so that the correct tax calculation and exemptions will be deducted on the subsequent payroll payments. Any tax treaty documents (Form 8233) will be submitted to the IRS after approval by Payroll Services.
Update SSN Information: Employees who received temporary SSNs must provide their actual SSNs to Payroll Services (MAI 134) when they obtain their new cards. Their records will be updated to reflect their actual SSNs for year-end tax reporting. Employees must also enter their new SSNs in GLACIER.
Note: If employees were originally disallowed a tax treaty because of a hold placed on their records due to lack of SSNs, GLACIER may allow tax treaties at this time. If this occurs, the nonresidents may print Form 8233 and the Tax Treaty Attachments from GLACIER at this time and submit these forms to Payroll Services.
Renew the Tax Treaty Annually: Each year all employees who are eligible to continue claiming a tax treaty exemptions in the next tax year are required to submit a new Form 8233 and Tax Treaty Attachments. In November of each year, e-mails will be sent to all eligible individuals notifying them to log back in to GLACIER to update their records and print new forms for the upcoming year.
Keep GLACIER Records Up-To-Date: If at any time during employees' stays in the U.S. there is a change in the information they originally entered in GLACIER, they must log back in to GLACIER to update their profiles. If the updates result in a change to their tax residency statuses, new Tax Summary Updates will be provided and must be submitted to Payroll Services. Changes that must be updated in GLACIER are:
visa classification
visa expiration date
receipt of a Social Security Number
change in expected departure date
e-mail address or other address change
Special Circumstances
The GLACIER system works primarily by communicating via e-mail. If employees don't have e-mail addresses or cannot operate a computer, a departmental representative should contact our Nonresident Tax Team at pr.nrtax@austin.utexas.edu. We will need to upload records into GLACIER and set up appointments with these employees in Payroll Services, so that we may assist them in creating GLACIER records.
Contact Information
For questions regarding GLACIER or other nonresident tax issues, please contact Payroll Services Customer Service at pr.prpostman@austin.utexas.edu or 512-471-5271, or contact the Nonresident Tax Team at pr.nrtax@austin.utexas.edu.
