A permanent resident letter of recommendation is a document submitted by an employer, such as the head of a college or university department, explaining why that department head feels that a scholar from another country should be allowed to live in a given country and to work for the institution within that nation's borders. In the United States, such letters are written pursuant to the Immigration Act of 1990, which, according to the Outstanding Professors and Researchers website, provides for a faster approval process for academics, since, unlike a non-academic employer who must file more complicated paperwork--the papers are submitted directly to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services(hereafter USCIS).