Changes for international scholar invitation process
The request process for inviting international scholars to Mississippi State on a J-1 Exchange Visitor visa has undergone recent changes, effective Sept. 1. While many departments regularly invite international research scholars, short-term collaborators or interns, inviting international scholars may be fairly new to other units on campus.
Due to recent internal procedural changes, many campus visitors with access to labs and university research projects will be subject to federal export control regulations and university intellectual property guidelines.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has also added additional reporting requirements to our immigration paperwork and oversight.
These changes have resulted in 1) an updated request form for Exchange Visitor visa paperwork, 2) additional steps in the routing process to request an Exchange Visitor DS-2019, and 3) a one-time fee charged to departments for the issuance of a DS-2019 to an invited research scholar or intern.
Officials are confident that the visitor program is now in compliance with university and federal regulations with these changes, and they are looking forward to working across campus to expand Mississippi State's J-1 Research Scholar program to benefit faculty, staff and students.
For additional information, click here to read the memo describing the processes from Vice President for Research and Economic Development David Shaw, which was developed in collaboration with Provost and Executive Vice President Jerry Gilbert and Vice President for Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine Greg Bohach.
View the Official Visitor Agreement to be used in the invitation process by clicking here.
Click here for the updated DS-2019 Request Form.
Please contact Caroline Hearnsberger at caroline@international.msstate.edu with any questions about these changes.
