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