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Update to OAP Visa Request Tool

On June 30, OAP will update our visa request tool. To perform the update there will be a scheduled outage from 4-6pm when the tool, including visa request forms, will be unavailable.

The upgrade will affect draft visa requests. OAP strongly encourages units to finalize and submit any drafts ready for OAP review before the scheduled outage. Anyone with a draft visa request in the system as of June 30 at 4pm will receive an email asking them to carefully review their drafts. Some saved draft data will need to be reentered manually.

Improvements in this update include the following:

  • More user-friendly landing page
  • “Manage files” function enhancements
    • New easy-to-use “drag and drop” upload option
    • Ability to delete recently-uploaded files
  • Improved invoicing
    • Better functionality for post-billing invoice corrections
    • More accurate invoicing for J-1 amendments
  • Easier-to-use “country of citizenship” fields

Significant changes going forward:

  • H-1B prevailing wage documentation collection
    • Units will now have to provide Prevailing Wage Intake Form and copy of job ad, if relevant (unless the title or visa category is exempt), to successfully submit the H Visa Request.
    • This will allow ISO to start processing earlier, shortening total processing time.
  • New “Add J-2 dependent” form
    • This replaces the “Request For Family J-2 DS-2019” form.
    • Units can now add a dependent for an existing J-1 by going to their list of J-1 visa requests and selecting Amend > Add Dependents
  • J-1 field changes
    • The J-1 visa request form now asks slightly different questions for scholars currently in the U.S. These will allow ISO advisors to more quickly determine eligibility for extensions.
    • “Home country position” field values will now align with ICE’s SEVIS lookup table (table 28)
  • Record retention
    • Uploaded files will now be deleted one year from when a request is complete. (Note: The visa tool is not OAP’s system of record for visa records; OAP uses UW-IT’s Enterprise Document Management system to ensure compliance with records retention.)
  • Revised intake forms
    • The H and J Visa Intake Forms will also be updated to reflect these changes; please make sure you are using the most recent version starting July 1.

2021/06/30 – upgrade complete; link added to the new “add J-2 dependent” form.

Contact acadvisa@uw.edu with any questions.