Overview
The University of Washington hosts hundreds of faculty and other academic personnel from around the world each year. These individuals are collectively referred to as “international scholars.”
International scholars engage in a variety of teaching and research activities but are not enrolled as students at the UW or abroad. They hold a UW appointment and generally require a temporary, non-immigrant visa to enter the U.S.
International Scholars Operations (ISO) processes requests for visa sponsorship, provides training and guidance to UW academic units, and supports international scholars in compliance with their visas.
For questions about visas, including relevant academic appointments, contact the ISO team.
Campus departments that sponsor international scholars for visas undertake several obligations. These include, but are not limited to:
- Assigning the international scholar a UW appointment title that is appropriate for the intended activity
- Documenting that the scholar is fully qualified to participate in the proposed activity
- Completing visa sponsorship paperwork (UW J and UW H Visa Request Forms)
- Advising the scholar, before and after arrival in Seattle, of the services and facilities (e.g., housing, insurance, office or lab space) available
- Emailing acadvisa@uw.edu in advance of changes in the scholar’s start or end date, financial support, appointment title, percent of FTE, worksite location and the like
Visa-related news and announcements
ISO Visa Request Fees Decreasing Effective 08/01
July 16, 2025
Effective August 1, 2025, the following visa-related fee changes will apply: Visa request fees for J-1s, H-1Bs, TNs, and E-3s will decrease to $519 (from $580) Amendment fees for J-1 documents (DS-2019s) will decrease to $99 (from $107) O-1 and EB-1B hourly visa case management fees…
Upcoming changes to Lux visa request forms
July 16, 2025
On Monday, July 28th, APF will update our visa request tool. No downtime is expected for this update. You may notice the following changes: Enhanced navigation menus Clearer prompts for prior immigration statuses A new question to capture upcoming international travel plans Reduced blank space on conditional approval PDFs Updated visa intake forms are now…
Department of State resumes F-1, M-1, and J-1 visa scheduling, with expanded social media screening
June 30, 2025
As of June 18, the Department of State has announced that it will resume appointment scheduling for student visas, including J-1 exchange visitor visas, and that these visa applicants will now undergo expanded social media screening. Please see the announcement for more details. It has also been reported that these changes will result in initial…