Travel and Extended Absence Notification
Travel Requirements
J-1 scholars may request assistance from you when they plan to travel outside the U.S. by requesting a letter. The letter should be addressed To Whom it May Concern and simply state that the scholar is a participant in the Exchange Visitor Program at Emory, title/position, and explain that s/he has permission from the department to travel during this time and is expected to return to his/her program. In addition, the scholar should bring the Form DS-2019 to ISSS a couple of weeks or so before traveling to obtain travel endorsement on the Form. (Dependents are required to do this also.)
Travel Endorsement Required
All Exchange Visitors must notify the ISSS in advance of any international travel during the person’s participation in the Program. Currently, a travel endorsement signature is required from a Responsible Officer at ISSS. Usually a couple of weeks ahead is plenty of time to obtain the endorsement, and the scholar may come to ISSS during walk-in hours to do so. Sometimes new Exchange Visitors have mistakenly asked department folks to sign off on the DS-2019, so please make sure your scholar knows it must be signed by a Responsible Officer at ISSS. The hosting department may be asked to provide a letter for the Exchange Visitor explaining that the supervisor is aware of the EV’s absence and that the EV is expected to return to his/her program.
For travelers whose visas have expired while they were in the U.S., they will need to apply for a visa renewal at a U.S. Consulate before they will be allowed to return. EVs should be careful to schedule the visa appointments that fit within the time-frame they have abroad, and should notify ISSS if they expect to be out of the country for more than 30 days. See “Out of Country Permission” below.
Out-of-Country Permission
J Scholars who are in the Research Scholar / Professor categories only may obtain permission to be out of the country for more than 30 days. In this situation, it is best to have record of why the scholar is absent from his/her program for an extended period of time. If the scholar has obligations abroad that are related to the Emory visit, the supervisor may request “out-of-country permission” so that the travel can be documented in the scholar’s SEVIS record. This record shows that the department is aware of the scholar’s absence, that the absence is relative to the current research / activity of the scholar, and that do expect the scholar to return to his/her program. The record also will be kept in active status, enabling the scholar to resume his normal duties once he returns to Emory. Keep in mind, however, that the clock is still ticking away on the limitation of 5 years. Time spent outside the U.S. for the continuing active J scholar does not mean he has additional time to add to his program once he returns. If the scholar is absent from the program for personal or emergency reasons, some kind of acknowledgment from the scholar’s supervisor should be documented in the scholar’s file at ISSS.
Administrators should complete the Out-of-Country Permission form and submit it to ISSS for approval. You can access the form here.