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J-1 Scholar Employment

J-1 Employment

J-1 scholars are generally limited to working only for their J-1 program sponsor and at the site or sites of activity listed in their J-1 SEVIS record and Form DS-2019. If you received your DS-2019 from UC Davis, this means employment is restricted to your UC Davis department. Please contact SISS at sissscholar@ucdavis.edu if you intend to change or modify your employment in any way so that your record may be reviewed and updated if needed.

J-1 Occasional or Incident Employment with Outside Employers

Many scholars are invited to participate in occasional lectures and short-term consultations outside of UC Davis. Fortunately, J-1 regulations at 22 C.F.R. § 62.20(g) permit J-1 exchange visitors in the J-1 professor, research scholar, or short-term scholar categories to participate in these incidental employment opportunities with outside organizations. Participation must be approved in advance by SISS and documented in the scholar’s SEVIS record. In addition, approval is limited to activities that meet the following criteria:

  • The activity must be directly related to the objectives of your program at UC Davis
  • The activity must be incidental to your primary program activities
  • The activity must not delay the completion date of your program and program objectives
  • If receiving remuneration, you must be paid as an independent contractor (1099 employment) and not as a salaried employee of the organization.

Authorization Procedure: To request authorization from SISS, you must present SISS with a signed and dated letter from the outside organization that details the following information:

  • Name of the host organization
  • Brief description of the activity (lecture at conference, consultation on project, etc.) and complete address of activity site
  • Proposed dates of the activity
  • Number of hours for the event or per week
  • The nature of proposed remuneration (e.g., expense reimbursement, honorarium, other forms of payment)
  • Confirmation that the host organization understands that any remuneration be disbursed to the J-1 scholar as an independent contractor and not as a salaried employee.

In addition, you must also present a letter from your department sponsor or PI that recommends the activity and explains how it is directly related to your principal activity and how it would enhance your Exchange Visitor program experience at UC Davis.

Contact a J-1 scholar advisor by emailing sissscholar@ucdavis.edu with these documents at least two weeks in advance of the proposed activity. If approved, SISS will update your J-1 scholar record in SEVIS, and issue an approval letter that you may present to the outside organization.