The International Center provides immigration support and visa document services to Tufts University departments seeking to sponsor international scholars and employees for activities relating to the University's academic mission. Please read below for a guide to immigration statuses relevant to employment and professional activity. For more information about specific cases, contact your school's international scholar or employee advisor.
Tufts University sponsors international scholars and employees in different visa categories, including J-1 Exchange Visitors, H-1B temporary workers in a specialty occupation, and other non-immigrant visa classifications that allow employment or professional activity in the US. The appropriate visa classification will depend on the individual's specific affiliation with and activity at Tufts. In certain cases, more than one visa category may be available. The International Center will work with departments to develop appropriate sponsorship plans for their scholars and employees. A brief description of the main immigration categories used to sponsor scholars and employees is provided below.
J-1 Scholars (Exchange Visitors)
H-1B Temporary Worker in a Specialty Occupation
Other Employment or Professional Categories
Special Topics
The International Center works collaboratively with departments to ensure efficient and timely immigration services for new and current international scholars and employees. While the International Center is responsible for managing all immigration-related processes, departments can help to facilitate effective sponsorship processes by:
To support our visa and immigration processing and advising services, the International Center charges immigration services fees. In addition, certain visa processes will require the International Center to file petitions on behalf of a department and employee, incurring mandatory US Homeland Security filing fees. Responsibility for consular visa fees and related costs (passport copies and photos, translation of educational credentials, family-related visa expenses etc.) are typically the responsibility of the individual scholar or employee.
International Center fees and US government filing fees (where applicable) must be paid by the sponsoring department except in the case of self-funded J-1 scholars invited to Tufts on a courtesy basis for purposes of research; for these individuals the International Center fee may be paid by either the host department or the invited scholar. For a full schedule of fees, go to our Immigration Fees page.