J-1-Procedure to invite Foreign Scholars

The J Visa program is a component of the U.S. State Department's soft diplomacy program. Its primary goal is to promote cultural and educational exchange by sponsoring a limited stay in the United States of individuals from other countries. The key words that characterize the program are "cultural exchange" and "sponsorship." Host institutions that issue invitations to international guests are required to provide experiences designed to immerse the guest in American culture and life. Additionally, the majority of funding or sponsorship of the individual should be provided by some entity other than the invited guest. If you are a candidate for a Fulbright award and wish to complete your program at Stockton University, please contact the Office of Global Engagement at oge@stockton.edu

For Stockton faculty desiring to invite colleagues from abroad

The OGE assists Stockton faculty in hosting their colleagues from around the world. If you would like to enhance your work by collaborating with colleagues from abroad, the J visa regulations require careful consideration of the invited guest's activities and support system offered by Stockton. The program also requires some objective measure of the visitor's English proficiency to ensure that they are able to complete their program objectives and more generally to make their stay in the US as positive an experience as possible. The information gathered below is necessary for creating official documents for the invited guest's visa application. The State Department and Stockton University are committed to providing invited guests with a welcoming and safe experience.

  1. The proposed duration of the visiting scholar’s stay/visit, as well as their tasks and job duties;
  2. The location of visiting scholar’s main activity and needs to complete their work, eg. on campus office/lab/rented space;
  3. The sources of funding for the visiting scholar and any dependent(s), for the entire program duration. Funding sources may be any combination of the following: internal (such as Stockton grants, non-salary funds, etc.), external (such as government, NGO, etc.) and visiting scholar’s own resources. J-1 visitors must be sponsored by their own institution, government, or the receiving institution, or any combination thereof. Use of personal funds is permitted but should not be the main source of funding;
  4. Consult with Stockton Human Resources department to seek guidance for hiring visiting, non-tenure track faculty;
  5. The visiting scholar's accompanying dependents, if any;
  6. Housing and additional needs, such as dependent school placement, daycare or ESL language coursework; and
  7. Cultural immersion activities for the visiting scholar and their dependent(s).

Once you have determined the above details, you will have the necessary information for your Dean/Director to consider what university resources are available or may be required to properly host a scholar from abroad.

  1. Consult with your Dean/Director of your School/unit to discuss the above mentioned procedure and plans.
  2. Only a Dean/Director/VP/Provost is authorized to execute a formal letter of invitation. 
  3. Share the Application for Form DS-2019 with the invited guest. Separate applications will be needed for each dependent. Pages 4 and 5 of the application must be completed by the host faculty/Dean/Director.
  4. Forward the completed Application(s) for Form DS-2019 to the OGE at oge@stockton.edu with subject field titled “Request for Form DS-2019”.

* The Office of Global Engagement requires 14 business days to process the DS-2019 requests. *

Instructions for Filing Form DS 2019

Application for DS 2019 (Visiting Scholars)
This application should be completed by the applicant with the assistance, if necessary, of the host faculty/Shool/unit.