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Author: Ursula Owen

Blackout period for ISO’s visa request tool

Update as of 7/6:

Units may resume visa request submission using revised forms available at https://lux.ap.washington.edu/visa/. The forms have been updated to incorporate and require new Workday Finance worktags. 

  • ISO advisors and AHR specialists will reach out to units to collect worktags on visa requests that were submitted. but not approved by 06/30. 
  • Visa intake forms have been updated to collect worktags; use the current versions going forward:
  • The H Visa Request Form and H Visa Intake Form have also been updated to accommodate staff titles, consistent with the joint OAP/UWHR staff visa pilot program. 
  • The H Visa Request Checklist (edition date June 2023) has been refreshed to correct links and checkboxes and to include staff visa sponsorship.

Please contact ISO with any questions you have regarding these changes.

Update as of 7/3: Visa request submission will be re-opened once OAP has access to UWFT  financial information, which is currently estimated to be 7/6/2023.

OAP has been working to smoothly manage the transition of our Lux visa request system from UW’s legacy financial system to the worktags being implemented as part of the UW Finance Transformation (“UWFT”). This week, OAP was informed that worktag data will not be available until 07/05. As a result, it will not be possible to accept visa requests between 06/17 and 07/05.

Units should therefore plan around the following dates:

  • Now through 06/16: units submit visa requests (including H visa requests, J visa requests, J amendments, and J-2 dependent requests) per the current process using existing budget codes for billing. 
  • 06/16: DEADLINE to submit visa requests using existing budget codes; any requests submitted on or before 06/16 and conditionally approved will be billed before FT cutover.
  • 06/17-07/05: Visa request black-out period; request forms (including drafts) are unavailable and visa request submissions paused. Other Lux functionality (including “Manage Files” pages and “My submitted” pages) will remain accessible.
  • 07/06: Visa request forms available; units may resume visa request submission using UWFT worktags. Saved draft visa requests less than 90 days old will still be available. Requestors will need to add UWFT worktags to these drafts before submitting.

If you have an urgent visa request during the blackout period, you should contact ISO, who will assess the urgency of the request and identify any alternative pathways to continue processing.

We appreciate your patience during this transition period.

Upcoming changes to OAP Visa Request Forms

The Office of Academic Personnel (OAP), in collaboration with the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP), is pleased to announce some important changes to the H and J Visa Request Forms. Most importantly, the H Visa Request Form will be moved to a new tool at 5pm on Friday, July 31, in the same way the J Visa Request Form was updated on June 1. The H and J Intake Forms will be updated accordingly.

As part of this update, units will no longer need to create separate Deemed Export Compliance Attestations (DECAs); instead, DECA information from the new H Visa Request Form will be sent directly to OSP for immediate review. To facilitate this process, OAP has added several fields to the H Visa Intake and Visa Request Forms: purpose of stay, faculty supervisor, and grants/contracts being used for funding. If additional information is needed, you will be contacted by OSP. 

OAP is also adding “save as draft” functionality to both the J and the H Visa Request Forms. “Save as draft” will save everything except attachments; drafts will be saved for 90 days.

Here are a few other highlights:

  • Standardized country list: Country of birth, countries of citizenship, and country of residence will now all be required and will be selectable from a list of countries recognized by the U.S. government. This will reduce back-and-forth needed with the ISO team.
  • The display of “print views” used for conditional approvals will be more legible
  • The J Visa Request Form will now allow export compliance review by OSP.

Please feel free to contact ISO with any questions or feedback you have about the new forms.