UT Arlington Guidance to Departments for Inviting Short-Term International Visitors
This memorandum is intended for departments who plan on inviting foreign nationals to engagein academic activities here at UT Arlington for brief periods of time and who will not be employed by the University but will be considered an honorary/special guest and/or visitor.International visitors for periods of time longer than 9 days must be sponsored for the J-1 visa.
SUMMARY:
If you want a special visitor to come from abroad for a short period of time and plan to pay him, and you are not sponsoring him for an H1B or J1, he needs to enter the USA as a B1/WB visitor for business. The person may accept an honorarium payment and associated incidental expenses for usual academic activity not lasting longer than 9 days at a single institution. He cannot be paid any other wages/payments. Notethat the person’s activities here CANNOT exceed 9 days. In addition, the department will need to issue a letter to the person explaining that they are being invited to engage in academic activity (I can provide a draft letter), as the person may need this to show to the US Department of State/US Customs & Border Protection to enter the U.S. in B1/WB status.
If a person enters the US in B2/WT status, when he knew that he was going to engage in academic activity here in advance of arriving in the US but did not enter as a B1/WB, then we cannot pay him anythingand he should not conduct any activities here for which we would normally pay someone. He may attend a conference here or engage in informal exchanges with our faculty/staff, but he cannot teach seminars, conduct experiments, etc.-he basically cannot do anything that looks like work.
BOTTOM LINE:
If you plan to invite a student/scholar for longer than 9 days, you must sponsor them on a J-1 visa. The government has specifically created this category of visa, both the J-1 student-intern visa and the J-1 scholar visa, for the purpose of academic exchanges. I encourage you to speak with Linda Manningor the Office of International Educationbefore inviting a foreign national to visit so we may explore our options and prevent any problem situations.
Immigration and labor laws are not flexible, and make no exceptions for the world of academia aside from what I have noted above.
Relevant Immigration Regulations:
In immigration law, there are two types of nonimmigrant visitors to the USA:
-B1 visitors for business (for visa waiver countries, identified as WB) AND
-B2 visitors for pleasure (for visa waiver countries, identified as WT).
Neither requires sponsorship for a special work visas such as the H1B/J-1.
The B1/WB visitor for business is typically used for short-term business visits that do not involve an employer-employee relationship between a foreign national and a US employer. Generally, when a foreign national enters the United States as a visitor, and plans to accept an honorarium/reimbursement for expenses, they should enter as a B1/WB visitor.
The B2 visitor for pleasure is used for tourists and those who come to the US to engage in recreational activities. The general rule is that B2 visitors may participate in conferences but cannot receive any payment, including pocket change and incidentals.
There is an important exception in the law for academic honorariums. An alien admitted either as a B1 or B2 (or corresponding WB or WT) may accept an honorarium payment and associated incidental expenses for a usual academic activity not lasting longer than 9 days at a single institution. The honorarium is made for services conducted for the benefit of the institution. BUT, if the activities for which the honoraria are offered are arranged before the foreign national travels to the USA, then a B2 visitor CANNOT receive this payment. The thinking is if the person knew they were going to be paid an honorarium, then they should have entered the USA as a B1.
An honorarium is defined as a gratuitous payment of money or any other thing of value to a person for the person’s participation in a usual academic activity for which no fee is legally required. The honorarium may be of any dollar amount with no minimum or maximum required. It is altogether different from a salary that an individual receives on a continuing basis.
“Usual Academic Activity” includes teaching, lecturing, and sharing knowledge.
Activity may not last more than 9 days at any single institution.
***Please note that if the foreign national has accepted payment or expenses from more than 5 institutions or organizations in the previous 6-month period, then we cannot pay the foreign national either incidental or an honorarium, regardless of B1/B2 status, per federal regulations****
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