Exchange Students and Scholars
The J-1 Exchange Visitor Program allows University of Houston Victoria to bring international scholars to the United States. The university has been approved by the U.S. State Department to serve as the visa sponsor for these individuals.
Federal regulations govern the J Exchange Visitor and the J visa sponsor. The intent of the program is exchange of knowledge; the assumption is that the international scholar is coming temporarily to the U.S. and expects to return home. The J-1 exchange visitor classification is appropriate for many educational and research activities.
Note about J-1 Sponsors
To apply for the J-1 visa stamp overseas, scholars are issued a Certificate of Eligibility for Exchange Visitor (J-1) status, commonly referred to as form DS-2019. The UHV International Programs requests and processes the DS-2019 form via the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS). When the UHV International Programs processes the DS-2019 for an exchange visitor, University of Houston Victoria is acting as the J-1 visa sponsor.
J-1 Students and Scholars from DS2019 from Organizations
If the scholar come to UHV with a DS-2019 issued by another organization, that organization is responsible for processing the scholar’s J-1 program. A scholar may be sponsored by an organization such as Fullbright Commission, Institute for International Education (IIE), National Institute of Health (NIH), World Health Organization (WHO), United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and IREX. The student and scholar must work with the representative from the Organization to be eligible for work authorization and transfer of J-1 to another U.S. institution.
The information provided in this section is intended for J-1 exchange visitors sponsored by University of Houston Victoria.
J-1 Professor, Research Scholar or Short Term Scholar
Exchange visitor status allows individuals to stay up to five years for research and/or teaching (six-month limit for short-term scholars). Employment is not required, but the visitor's activities are restricted to his/her academic field. A change of sponsoring departments must be approved by International Programs Office. Change to another status is possible only if the J-1 is not subject to the two-year home residence requirement**or has obtained a waiver thereof. A J-1 can transfer to another institution's J-l program within the five-year period to continue same objective. J status cannot be used for tenured or tenure-track positions. There are many restrictions on repeating visits in the Professor or Research Scholar categories. J-1 status is usually easy to obtain, but some restrictions apply. Only one document required -- form DS-2019
To Apply As a J-1 Exchange Student
UHV offers exchange student opportunities to students from our partner institutions. To learn more about the application process for Exchange students, please visit Apply For Program and select Exchange Students.