Communique – Volume 19, Number 1

May 2023

Greetings from the ISSO!

In this issue:

Remote Work Guidelines for Foreign Nationals

In order to support BU’s mission as a vibrant, residential research University, HR developed remote work guidelines to maintain the collaborative and in-person environment. These guidelines establish a process and parameters regarding work location and number of days per week. However, for foreign national employees, immigration status must also be considered in the determination.

Generally, remote arrangements for 1 or 2 days from a location in Massachusetts can be approved as the primary worksite and in-person collaboration is not impacted. However, remote arrangements for 3 or more days a week and/or for any arrangements where the remote employment is not in Massachusetts should be discussed with the ISSO prior to submitting to HR for approval to see if the arrangement may be allowed based on the employee’s underlying immigration status in the U.S.

We recommend that you review our guidelines as you consider remote work arrangements for a foreign national in your department, as the employee’s immigration classification matters and may prohibit the arrangement or require additional processing at the ISSO. In addition, please note that host departments must notify the ISSO of any changes to remote work arrangements, including but not limited to a change in the number of remote days or a change in the address of the remote employment (i.e., change of residential address).

If any foreign national in your department, regardless of their immigration classification, has already obtained HR approval for a remote work arrangement, please notify us immediately by sending the HR approval.

J-1 Regulations Now Allow for Digital Signature and electronic Document Transmission

The U.S. Department of State published revised regulations allowing designated J-1 program sponsors to use digital signatures and to transmit the Form DS-2019 to exchange visitors and their accompanying dependents in J-2 status via e-mail, effective 4/27/2023. This welcome change eliminates the need for host departments to provide pre-completed air bills or to pick-up the original Form DS-2019 in-person at that ISSO. In addition, the regulatory change should allow exchange visitors to obtain the documentation required to pay their SEVIS fee and schedule their visa interviews more quickly as they will not need to wait for the original documents to arrive via courier.

While the new regulations allow us to sign and issue the Form DS-2019 electronically, J-1 exchange visitors will still be required to present a paper version of the document to obtain their visa and request admission to the U.S. We have updated our pre-arrival instructions to reflect these changes. In addition, we have added a new field to our J-1 supplement form to confirm the e-mail address to which we will send the Form DS-2019. While we cannot copy department administrators and hosts when we send the Form DS-2019, we will certainly continue to send confirmation that it was sent to the designated department e-mail.

Please contact us if you have any questions about the long-awaited change in the J regulations.

Immigration Processing Forms Updated

In order to obtain the required details about remote work approvals and to ensure proper electronic transmission of the digitally signed Form DS-2019 for J-1 exchange visitors, we have updated all of our required immigration processing forms. While all forms should now indicate the 04/27/23 revisions (in the lower right corner of each form), here are a few specific items to note:

  • Form A, Request for Immigration Processing: Section E (page 3) has been modified to request information related to HR approved Remote Work Arrangements
  • J Supplement: Section B has been modified to obtain e-mail address where the exchange visitor would like for the ISSO to send once processing on our end is completed.
  • Change in Employment Form: This form has been modified to apply to H, O, E and TN requests (previously was specific to H-1B) and to requests information about any HR approved Remote Work Arrangements.

You will notice some slight modifications to other forms as well. Effective immediately, please be sure to use forms that note the 04/27/23 revisions so that we can ensure we have the required details for reviewing and processing your requests. We will accept prior versions until 5/31/2023 to support the transition and accommodate those of you who have already started the process using the prior version. Please consult with your scholar advisor if you have any questions or issues related to the new forms.

The Scholar Services Team remains committed to advising and assisting our international scholar community and appreciates your continued support!