“Visitors” means people that you are hosting on campus. People visiting for less than a week are “short-term” visitors, and are typically seminar speakers, job candidates, and collaborators. “Long-term” visitors include visiting faculty, visiting grad students, etc. Postdocs who are paid from a non-UW source of funds (such as a directly-paid scholarship from the European Science Foundation) are also long-term visitors. Long-term visitors are subject to certain rules and regulations (see below).
Short-term visitors
Short-term visitors will be on campus visiting for one (1) week or less, and are typically seminar speakers, job candidates, and collaborators. For general questions please contact Summer Caton; for questions about space contact Scott Dakins; for questions about airfare or hotels contact Eunice Yang, for questions regarding reimbursement please contact Nicky Nipapon. Faculty with dry lab space should house visiting collaborators in that lab space.
Long-term visitors
Visiting Graduate students
Visiting graduate students must be on campus through the VISIT/VISER program or be a visiting graduate student through the graduate school. Graduate students who will be visiting campus through the VISIT/VISER or visiting graduate student programs should apply at least one (1) quarter in advance. Space for the student needs to be identified at the time the visit is proposed. A graduate student committee is responsible for assigning graduate student space; please contact Student Services for a list of current committee members. If the sponsor has dry lab space, that should be used to house visiting graduate students. Note: graduate students at another institution cannot be granted the visiting scientist or visiting scholar title.
Other long-term visitors
Long-term visitors must be in an official status with an appointment through the UW payroll system (visiting scientist, visiting scholar, visiting professor).
At least three (3) weeks before the visitor’s appointment starts, the supervisor/sponsor emails the Chair details regarding the appointment: Name, duration, purpose, and if they have space in a lab or if they need space. If the visitor requires a UW-sponsored visa additional time is required (see below).
At least two (2) weeks before the start of the appointment, all materials for the appointment should be submitted to the HR Manager, who coordinates submission to the College and AHR.
Keys and Space
Visiting graduate students and long-term visitors can be granted keys and an office/desk assignment if they are in an official status as described above.
Visa Application Process
Please find instructions and links to relevant forms regarding the visa application process below. Please read through these sections beforeemailing anyone about visiting students or faculty. The following visa application processes are required for “long-term” visitors.
Visiting Postdocs & Faculty Requiring Visas - Initial Requests
Be aware that the UW requires a minimum of 3 months processing time from the submission date. Please make sure your start date can reasonably accommodate this.
Please email the following documents to Alicia Campese (), cc’ing Scott Dakins () after completing the offer, invitation, or reappointment letter.
A copy of the biographic page of the scholar’s passport
Copies of biographic pages for all dependents coming to the US in J-2 status, if any
Evidence that the scholar has adequate fluency in English. If relying on an interview, please see the below suggestions:
Please indicate what factors were used to determine the visiting scholar’s English proficiency. Were they able to understand spoken English easily/with some difficulty/not at all? Were they able to use complex sentence structures? Did they make many/some/few/no grammatical errors?
There is a regulatory requirement that there be a statement that the scholar is proficient enough in English to participate successfully in the exchange program and to function on a day-to-day basis in the U.S. The interview statement implies this but it doesn’t actually state that.
You may want to elaborate on your observations during the interview, as well as confirm that the visiting scholar is “proficient enough in English to participate successfully in the exchange program and to function on a day-to-day basis in the U.S.”
All documentation should be legible, single-sided photocopies of original documents on 8.5″ x 11″ paper.
For a list of required documentation for change of unit, extension, or transfer requests, please go here.
Visiting Students Requiring Visas
The UW VISIT Program now requires a minimum of 12 weeks for processing VISIT applications (this includes the visa) from the time of submission. Please make sure your start date can reasonably accommodate this.
Please email the following documents to Alicia Campese (), cc’ing Scott Dakins ().
Applicant: Please work with your sponsor to complete the intern fields (Parts C-G, and I-J). Note that your home institution supervisor will need to sign off on your internship as well (Part F). Please pay close attention to funding requirements. You will be required to submit a bank statement demonstrating parental support of funds with corresponding.
Faculty Sponsor: Please review form and relevant internship fields (Part A-B, H and K).
Applicant: Please complete the required sections (Sections 1 and 3).
Faculty Sponsor: Please review the form and complete the required sections (Sections 2, 3 and 4).
For the J-1 Visa Application, we will need the following from the applicant:
Copy of biographical page of passport
Financial support documentation either in the forms of bank statements and/or sponsorship letters on official letterhead. All monies must be presented in US dollars (USD) or accompanied by documentation displaying current exchange rates. All non-English original documentation must be accompanied by English translations.
Official score report from TOEFL iBT (minimum score is 76) or IELTS (minimum score is 6.0) or Duolingo (minimum score is 105).
Updated CV
For extension and transfer requests, for visitors, please email Summer Caton ().