You are responsible for maintaining your immigration status. There are several important things you must do to maintain your status.
Change of address requirement
As part of the U.S. federal immigration regulations, you must notify the Office of International Affairs within 10 days of a U.S. residential address change. Please select the appropriate scenario as described below to notify us:
- If you are a J-1 scholar receiving a paycheck from Ohio State, watch the Workday Basics video for more details on how to update your address. Details regarding this start at 6:20.
- If you are a non-paid J-1 scholar, log in with your Ohio State Username into the International Buckeye system and select the Change of U.S. Address e-form to update your residential address.
- If you are a J-1 scholar working for Nationwide Children’s Hospital, please update your residential address here.
Note: you cannot use a work address or a P.O. Box for this requirement
Email iss@osu.edu with any questions.
Additional requirements
In addition to the above reporting requirements, you are responsible for the following:
- Maintain a passport that is valid for at least six months into the future at all times
- Report to the Office of International Affairs any significant changes in your program, such as a substantial change in funding, physical change in the program location, change in department or change of activity within original objectives. The Office International Affairs must approve all changes in advance.
- Maintain health insurance for J-1 Scholar and all J-2 Dependents
- Do not work off-campus without first obtaining special employment authorization from International Affairs—such authorization is granted only in rare circumstances
- We do not recommend that you accept any type of public assistance from the U.S. government (low-income/subsidized housing, food stamps, Medicare/Medicaid, subsidized utilities, etc.). If you or any member of your family accepts public assistance of any kind, including from the State of Ohio, it may jeopardize your J-1 status. You may be denied renewal of your nonimmigrant visa and/or be required to pay back any assistance you received before your application for a new visa will be considered.
Occasional lectures and short-term consultations
Department of State J-1 regulations allow visiting scholars to participate in occasional lectures and short-term consultations outside of the program sponsor under limited conditions. Before accepting such an opportunity, you must first obtain approval in writing in advance from the program sponsor, Ohio State's Office of International Affairs. The program sponsor must evaluate the documentation listed below in terms of your program objectives, your individual circumstances and the J-1 regulations, and then determine whether it would be appropriate or not. Only when all the criteria are met and procedures completed will authorization be approved.
Criteria for authorizing an activity
The proposed activity must:
- Be directly related to the objectives of your program
- Be incidental to your primary activities
- Not delay the completion of your program
- Be occasional and not an ongoing activity
Procedures
To obtain authorization for an additional activity, you must request that your inviting institution/corporation and your department supervisor complete the J-1 Occasional Lectures and Short-Term Consultations Form and return it to the Office of International Affairs.
Additional activity authorization
Your authorization will take the form of a letter to you from International Affairs, which your inviting institution/corporation may ask to see, and which you should keep permanently. A new DS-2019 with the updated information will be printed for your records and be available for pick-up at the Office of International Affairs front desk upon notification. You will be working not as an employee but as an independent contractor, meaning that you will not have a sustained employer-employee relationship with the person or institution paying you, and will not complete Form I-9, "Employment Eligibility Verification," in order to start work.
If there are any questions, please consult a scholar immigration coordinator at the Office of International Affairs. Schedule an appointment.
Change of status
Due to the complexity of the J status immigration regulations, the Office of International Affairs recommends that you speak with a specialist as soon as you begin to consider changing your nonimmigrant status. If you are subject to Section 212(e), also known as the "two-year home residency requirement," this will impact your situation. If you are uncertain whether or not you are subject to 212(e), a specialist can likely assist you with the determination and, if needed, will provide you with information about how you can apply to receive a waiver of this requirement. The specialist will also discuss options for changing status via the mail or via travel.
J-1 scholar services
Visiting scholars can request to have their DS-2019 reprinted or updated if lost, damaged or experience a change in funding to their J-1 program.
If you were hired before December 2017, please email oia@osu.edu to make your request, and an immigration coordinator will follow up shortly.
If you were hired after December 2017, please go directly to IntBuckeye and under "Current Students, Scholars, Faculty and Staff," log in using your BuckeyePass credentials. Once you are directed to the IntBuckeye Services home page, under J-1 Scholar Services, select "Replace DS-2019" or "Change in Funding" to make your requests. An immigration coordinator will send an email notification once your DS-2019 is ready for pickup.