J-1 Visa Student Interns

Utah State University will sponsor international undergraduate students coming to work on collaborative research (without enrolling in a full-course of study) on the J-1 Visa Exchange Visitor Program’s Student Intern category.

Program Requirements

• The student intern must be enrolled in and pursuing a degree at an accredited postsecondary academic institution outside the USA.
  • The internship must "fulfill the educational objectives for his or her current degree program at his or her home institution."
• Must be full-time (minimum of 32 hours a week). 
  • No more than 20% of the program activities can be clerical in nature. 
• Must be for a minimum of 3 weeks. The program cannot last longer than 12 months, including any time spent in a previous J-1 visa student intern program at the same degree level.
• Internships cannot place a student intern in any position that involves the following:
  • Unskilled or casual labor
  • Child care or elder care
  • Aviation
  • "Clinical positions or engaging in any other kind of work that involves patient care or contact, including any work that would require student interns to provide therapy, medication, or other clinical or medical care (e.g., sports or physical therapy, psychological counseling, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, social work, speech therapy, or early childhood education)"
  • Any "position, occupation, or business that could bring the Exchange Visitor Program or the Department into notoriety or disrepute."
• Any "position, occupation, or business that could bring the Exchange Visitor Program or the Department into notoriety or disrepute." 
• Does not displace full- or part-time or temporary or permanent American workers or serve to fill a labor need and ensures that the position that the student interns fills exists solely to assist the student intern in achieving the objectives of his or her participation in a student internship program.
• Student internship programs in the field of agriculture meet all the requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act, as amended (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, as amended (29 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.)

Process to Host a Student Intern at USU

Required Evaluations

Federal regulations require program sponsors to conduct an evaluation “prior to the conclusion of a student internship program”. “Programs lasting longer than six months also require a midpoint evaluation.”

Utilize Student Intern Evaluation form to document the evaluation. The student intern will upload this in the Scholar Portal via the request “EVP Quarterly Report”.

To Request a Program Extension for a J-1 Visa Student Intern

ServiceNow Request

Student interns may be able to extend their program if the extension does not exceed the maximum program duration limitation of 12 months, including any time spent in a previous J-1 visa student intern program at the same degree level.

A faculty member must initiate the Exchange Visitor Extension Request in ServiceNow and upload the fully executed Form DS-7002 (refer to the following section for further information regarding the Form DS-7002).

• The ServiceNow request is not required if the program extension is for < 1 month. In this case, simply email the Form DS-7002 to exchangevisitors@usu.edu with a written request for the program extension.

Form DS-7002

The USU faculty host and student intern will need to work together to complete a new Form DS-7002 similar to the previous form submitted – with the modifications indicated below.

• If the additional time is to enable the students to complete the work detailed on the original Form DS-7002:
  1. Update the program end date on pages 1 and 3 when completing the Form DS-7002
     • Page 1
       
     • Page 3
       
• If the extension period involves new activities NOT included in the original Form DS-7002, we will need to add the extension as a new phase of their program. In this case, the new Form DS-7002 should include the previous mentioned information plus:
  1. Update the "Phase Name" and phase start date on page 3
     
  2. Indicate this is Phase 2 of 2
     
  3. Update the training plan information on pages 3 & 4
  4. Update any other information on this form, as needed

Documentation Required from the Student Intern

The student intern will need to provide the following documents required for a program extension:

• Proof of additional funding for the extended program time frame
• Proof of insurance for extended program time frame, as needed

Visa Requirements for Program Extensions

Individuals present on the J visa do not need to extend their visa in order to remain in the USA with the program extension. The Form DS-2019 with the program end date plus the 30-day grace period dictates the period they are authorized to stay in the USA - even if the J visa expires. This is because the Form I-94 indicates they were admitted until: D/S. This stands for duration of status (refer to the U.S. Department of State for more information). They would only need to apply for a new visa outside the USA if their visa expires and they travel, returning on the J visa to continue the current program.