J-1 Scholar: Process

UAMS  J-1 program is for research, consultation and/or observation only. If you are interested in inviting a new J-1 Exchange Visitors to UAMS, please complete and send the Immigration-Pre-process-Survey to askimmigration@uams.edu. If you are interested in inviting a current J-1 Exchange Visitor at another institution to join at UAMS, please complete and send J-1 Exchange Visitor Transfer in Form to askimmigration@uams.edu. Upon receiving the form, Immigration Services Office will contact you to start the J-1 process.

STEP ONE: OPEN CASE

The sponsoring department will need the access to Immigration Tracker Portal to open case for the J-1 Exchange Visitor. To obtain access to the Immigration Tracker Portal, email AskImmigration@uams.edu. You will receive a “Welcome to Tracker IMS” email from Support@trackercorp.com with your access link.

Once you have created your account, please do the following:

1. Hover over the “Add” button, and click “Process.”
2. Under the “New Service Request” section, choose J-1 Consular from the Process dropdown list.
3. If you are creating a J-1 request for a NEW EMPLOYEE:

a. Leave the Individual selection as “- New -” and click the “UAMS Intake – Add New Process/Employee” link.

OR

       2.  If you are creating an J-1 request for an EXISTING EMPLOYEE:

a.  Select the employee’s name in the Individual dropdown list.*

b. Click the “UAMS Intake – Add New Process/Employee” link.

*If you do not see your existing employee’s name under Individual, notify the Immigration Services office.

Please make sure that a correct email address is entered when filling out the intake form.

STEP TWO: EXPORT CONTROL FORM

Before any foreign national can be granted J-1 status to come to UAMS they must be run through Export Control Office. Therefore, you will be requested to fill out an Export Control Clearance Form for the foreign national once the intake form is accepted by us in the Immigration Tracker

Note: Export Control Approval can take up to 15 business days depending on the nature of the research project that the foreign national will be involved in. If it is determined that an Export Control license will need to be applied for from the U.S. Government, the visit/work will have to be delayed until the license is granted.

STEP THREE: SUBMIT DOCUMENTS

You will receive an email once the Intake is approved asking you to submit the following documents to Immigration Services Office for the foreign national:

1) Signed Affidavit Agreement for J-1 Sponsorship

2) Invitation letter or offer letter.  

3)  Copy of passports for foreign national and any dependents they might be bringing.

STEP FOUR: PICK UP NEW J-1 PACKET AND SEND IT TO FOREIGN NATIONAL

After a new J-1 packet for the foreign national is created by the Immigration Services Office, you will receive an email asking you to pick up the new J-1 packet and send it to the foreign national.

STEP FIVE: IMMIGRATION CHECK-IN

You need to keep the Immigration Services Office updated with the foreign national’s J-1 visa application process and inform the arrival date once you find it out. The new J-1 Exchange Visitors need to bring their immigration documents to our office as soon as they enter the U.S.