Maintaining J-1 Visa Status
Passport: keep your passport valid at all times while in the U.S.. If your country is on the “Six-month Club” list, keep the passport valid for at least 6 months at all times
- Check with home country Consulate/Embassy in the U.S. regarding visa renewal
DS-2019: note the end date on the form, which indicates the length of your J-1 program. Extension/transfer must be requested before the end date.
Visa Stamp: have a valid visa whenever you plan to travel back to the U.S.
Form I-94: check if the record reflects accurate information, report errors to GSS
Documents required for your return to the US in J-1 status:
- Valid Passport
- Valid J-1 visa stamp
- Valid DS-2019 with travel signature (from GSS office)
- Invitation letter
- Funding documents
Automatic Revalidation: you may re-enter the US if you travel to Canada, Mexico and adjacent islands* on an expired visa as long as you have a valid DS-2019 form and travel is less than 30 days.
Transferring: If you transferred to Virginia Tech from another school/institution, you MUST apply for a new J visa prior to returning to the US (even if your current visa is still valid).
Research/work only at site of activity reflects on the DS-2019, report change/addition to GSS
If you are a Virginia Tech employee (on VT Payroll, receive bi-weekly paycheck from VT), upload valid documents when you first start/after you receive an extension DS-2019 through payroll dropbox, never disregard emails sent from payroll@vt.edu
Your source(s)/amount of funding must be matching the information on the DS-2019, any updates must be made to DS-2019 prior to receiving the funding
No unauthorized employment!
Occasional lectures and short-term consultations:
Occasionally, a U.S. entity (other than the VT) invites a scholar to give a lecture or a short-term consultation in the scholar’s field of expertise. Often, the entity wishes to reimburse the scholar for their travel expenses or pay them an honorarium. Scholarsmust receive authorization from GSS prior to the activity to perform the activity and receive the payment.
Eligibility for Authorization:
- The activity must be directly related to the objectives of the scholar’s program at the VT.
- The activity must be merely incidental to the scholar’s primary program activities.
- The activity must not delay the completion date of the scholar’s program at VT.
- The scholar must act as an independent contractor (not an employee) in the activity.
- The activity must be requested and get approved by GSS before starting the activity
- The activity and site of activity must be documented in SEVIS (will be done while approving the request)
*You might be asked by the entity to fill out tax form W-8BEN
An insurance policy must cover the whole duration of J program for both J-1/J-2 dependent(s).
Insurance Requirements
- Major medical benefits per accident or illness: $100,000
- Medical evacuation:$50,000
- Repatriation of remains to home country:$25,000
- Deductible not to exceed $500 per accident or illness
- Coinsurance not to exceed 25% of the covered benefits per accident or illness.
To meet requirements:
Use Virginia Tech employee benefits: VT AnthamCOVA CARE + additional medical evacuation and repatriation insurance.
Or, use these alternatives:
- Option #1: purchase from GSS recommendation list (reach out to vtgss@vt.edu)
- Option #2: purchase VT student policy AETNA (covers cost associated with pregnancy)
- Option #3: purchase other policy + get evaluation (reach out to vtgss@vt.edu)