The clock is ticking for Katrin Anacker.

The 38-year-old postdoctoral associate came to the United States on a Fulbright Scholarship in 1997 to study at Ohio State University. After graduating she was able to stay in the country thanks to a one-year fellowship with Virginia Tech's Metropolitan Institute in Alexandria.

That fellowship ends Aug. 9, and her visa requires her to leave the country by Aug. 27. She'd like to have a job offer in hand by April because of the lengthy visa application process.

"If a school starts a job search late and the paperwork gets here in June, I wouldn't have enough time to apply," she said. "That would mean a trip back to Germany -- blech."

A faculty position or another postdoctoral fellowship would mean Anacker could stay in the country on another visa. If she's lucky, her next employer will sponsor her for a green card. That would mean she would be a permanent resident and no longer have to play the game of academic -- and work visa -- musical chairs to stay in the country.

"Postdocs" are scholars or researchers who work for universities, usually on grants that fund their work for a limited time.

Anacker's situation is typical of foreign scholars and researchers on temporary appointments throughout the country. While Virginia Tech's new green card policy allows for green card sponsorship for research and teaching faculty, it does not include those on postdoctoral appointments.

With postdoc positions at Tech limited to four years, Provost Mark McNamee said it wouldn't make sense to offer permanent residency to people who will be at the university for only a few years.

"You have to make an honest commitment to the government that these are not temporary positions," he said. "A lot of it is intent."

Kim Beisecker, director of Tech's Cranwell International Center, said there's no underestimating how difficult it can be for foreign scholars without permanent residency to jump from position to position and one temporary visa to another.

"You're talking years of not knowing where your future is," she said. "No control over timing, no control over the decision, really."

Because of their qualifications, foreigners with appointments at universities are in a better position than most foreigners, but even for them, obtaining the limited number of green cards made available each year is a challenge. About 1.12 million green cards were awarded to foreigners in the U.S. in 2005. Competition for them is so stiff that there is actually a green card lottery that awards green card opportunities to up to 55,000 people a year.

"Most Americans assume that good, hardworking people who are here can attain permanent residency," Beisecker said. "That's just not true."

Richard Bissell, executive director of the policy and global affairs division for the National Academies, labeled Tech's policy "fairly modest," because it excluded postdocs. Beisecker said some people were disappointed that the policy wasn't more inclusive. When asked if that included postdocs she said yes, but wouldn't elaborate.

Anacker said she never expected to get a green card sponsorship as a postdoc. But while she's anxious to find out where she's going next, the atmosphere that drew her to the U.S. also makes her optimistic about her chances.

"There are so many opportunities here," she said. "It's just amazing. There's no other country in the world with so many grants, awards, just encouragement to do good things."