Sponsoring Agencies
Please note that the following information is meant to be used only by Florida State University faculty, staff, students, and potential visitors to Florida State University and only in the context of international visits to FSU specifically. It is not intended to be used and should not be construed as general legal advice.
Florida State University (FSU) will, in most cases, be the sponsoring agency for J-1 exchange visitors conducting research or studying on FSU’s campus. There are other agencies, though, which do place J-1 Research Scholars, Professors, Students, and Trainees on our campus. Some agencies which place J-1 scholars and students are:
AED – www.aed.org
American Councils – www.americancouncils.org
Amideast – www.amideast.org
Ford Foundation - www.fordfound.org
IIE – www.iie.org
IREX – www.irex.org
LASPAU – www.laspau.harvard.edu/
All designated J sponsors - http://exchanges.state.gov/jexchanges/
The above organizations have been given the responsibility for administering certain U.S. State Department grants, such as Fulbright, Muskie, JFDP, and other grant programs. They are responsible for all immigration paperwork and immigration benefits for recipients of the grants administered through their program. Therefore, FSU has no legal authority to grant work authorization, sign travel signatures, extend programs, etc. for exchange visitors sponsored by other organizations. If in doubt as to an exchange visitor’s sponsor, the program sponsor is listed in box 2 of the DS-2019 form and contact information is contained in the responsible officer’s signature box in the middle, right side of the DS-2019 form.
Because the International Center does not issue the immigration forms for exchange visitors sponsored by other agencies, we are not always alerted to the scholar’s presence on our campus. If you are a scholar sponsored by another agency or if you are a department expecting a sponsored scholar, we do offer general advice on university and community related issues of getting settled and getting the most from an exchange program on our campus. Sponsored scholars, trainees, and students are encouraged to attend orientation at the International Center for this information. Scholar orientation occurs every Friday at 11:00am and student orientation is scheduled at specific times throughout the year prior to the start of each semester. For student orientation, please see information on the student portion of our web site: Orientation & Check-in. Trainees should plan to attend a scholar orientation.