J-1 Scholar Categories

At William & Mary and VIMS, we have the ability to sponsor several categories within J-1 status that may be useful for bringing your scholar to campus.

The J-1 Exchange Visitor categories may not be used for the following types of positions:

Permanent or long term academic or non-academic staff positions
Tenure-track or tenured faculty appointments

J-1 Short-Term Scholar

For an individual who comes to the university for short-term academic exchange for the purpose of lecturing, consulting, or research.
No minimum stay requirement.
Limited to 6 months or less. If there is a possibility that their time at at W&M or VIMS will be extended to be longer than 6 months, we do not recommend this category.
Bachelor’s degree required.
Some J-1 scholars might be subjected to the two year home residency requirement.
Examples: Short term researcher or instructor/professor, adjunct visiting professor.

J-1 Research Scholar or Professor

For an individual who comes to the university for academic exchange for the purpose of lecturing, consulting, or research. These categories are similar; the professor category should be selected if the scholar will be doing more lecturing than research, and the research scholar category if the reverse is true.
Bachelor’s degree required.
Has a minimum stay of three weeks.
Can be extended for up to 5 years.
If a scholar has recently been in the US in J status (J-1 or J-2), they may be barred from being in this category for 12 months. There are some exceptions, but please contact our office to discuss.
Once a scholar participates in this category, there will be a 24-month bar on coming to the US again in both the J-1 research scholar and J-1 professor categories. This bar will also apply to any dependents the scholar has, who come in J-2 status.
Some J-1 scholars might be subjected to the two year home residency requirement.
J-1 Research scholar examples: Post doctoral research associate, visiting scientist, scholar-in-residence, graduate student coming for thesis research.
J-1 Professor examples: Visiting professor or instructor, Language House Fellow.

J-1 Student Intern

If their stay at W&M or VIMS is less focused on doing research, and more like an internship, this category would be more appropriate.
Open to current undergraduate and graduate students
Limited to stays of 1 year or less.
Program activities must be at least 32 hours per week
An initial training plan must be completed (the DS-7002) by the faculty sponsor. The intern will also need to have both a midpoint and closing evaluation.
All sites where the intern completes their work must be certified by ISSP in advance.
This category has additional restrictions, including ensuring that the intern is doing clerical work no more than 20% of the time, that they’re being exposed to US techniques/ways of doing things, and making sure that they’re not replacing a US worker, and that they’re learning something new. For more information, please contact ISSP.
Some J-1 Interns might be subjected to the two year home residency requirement.
Some J-1 Interns might be subjected to the J-1 12-month bar.

J-1 Specialist

Specialists, for J-1 purposes, are defined as individuals who are experts in a field of specialized knowledge or skill coming to the US for observing, consulting or demonstrating their special skills.
This category is not intended for experts covered by the research scholar, professor, and short-term scholar categories.
Limited to stays of 1 year or less.
Some J-1 Specialists might be subjected to the two year home residency requirement.
Some J-1 Interns might be subjected to the J-112-month bar.

Questions, or want to discuss which category best applies to your situation? Contact Emily Bailey at the Office of International Students, Scholars & Programs (ISSP).