Employment authorization for J-1 Professors and Scholars depends very much on your I-94 status while in the U.S. As a J-1 Professor or Scholar, you may work only as described on your DS-2019 and only at a site of activity listed in your SEVIS record. For all other employment, you must obtain a formal written letter of authorization from your Responsible Officer before you can start working.

Your Responsible Officer may be on campus at ISS or may be a representative of another sponsoring organization.

Employment Authorization

Regardless of who your Responsible Officer is, you should follow the procedure detailed below to get prior written employment authorization.

The prospective employer must issue a formal job offer letter to you with the following information:

• Name of supervisor
• Supervisor contact info (address, phone, fax, and email)
• Job title
• Job description
• Description of training (must be integral to field of study)
• Job site address
• Start date
• End date
• Number of hours to be working
• Pay or full honorarium amount

You must submit a copy of the above letter to your department.

Your department must issue a formal letter to the Responsible Officer explaining that the proposed employment

• Does not conflict with the Exchange Visitor's responsibilities to the department and will in no way cause the Exchange Visitor to be delayed in fulfilling his/her duties to the department; and
• Is recommended, as it is consistent with the purposes of the exchange visit. The letter must lists the skills related to the field of study that will be learned during this training.

NOTE: If department and employer are one and the same, a single letter combining all these details is acceptable. 

Upon receipt of both letters above, the Responsible Officer will issue to the prospective employee a formal letter authorizing employment, including occasional lectures, and, if necessary, update SEVIS to indicate a new site of activity. 

Only after the authorizing letter from the Responsible Officer is submitted to the prospective employer may you actually begin working.

J-1 Professors and Scholars may be employed by one or more employers but each instance of employment, whether paid or unpaid, must be authorized prior to the start of the employment.

Only after the authorizing letter from the Responsible Officer is submitted to the prospective employer may you actually begin working.

Important Note: The procedure described above is for J-1 Professors and Scholars ONLY.

The rules differ for professors and scholars in other immigration statuses. They also differ slightly for J-1 students.