Hosting International Visitors
UNC-Chapel Hill works to maintain an open, welcoming atmosphere where visitors and scholars from all over the world can come to learn, collaborate and perform research. In doing so, the University is also required by federal regulations to monitor assignments to its facilities of foreign persons in order to ensure that the disclosure of, and access to, export-controlled articles and related information are limited to those approved by an export authorization.
The Export Compliance office assists with required export attestations on visas, helps to ensure that licenses are either not required or are obtained for the proposed visit/visitor, and can help provide guidance on U.S. export-related regulations.
In collaboration with Science and Security in the Office of Research, the Export Compliance Office will review all recipients of a J-1, H-1B, H-1B1, or O-1 visa using the Export Compliance and Science and Security Visa Review Request Form. Review and approval from both the Export Compliance Office and Science and Security is required before UNC Global International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) may process your visa. The Export Compliance Review Process is summarized below:
- The beneficiary’s current affiliation does not present any RPS alerts.
- The scope of work does not involve controlled technology or software.
- The work constitutes fundamental research.
- The review does not involve sanctioned or restricted parties
- Provost
- Vice Chancellor for Research
- Chief Global Officer
- Vice Chancellor for Institutional Integrity and Risk Management
- Legal representative
For more information on UNC-Chapel Hill’s J-1 visa process, please see the ISSS J-1 Exchange Visitor Playbook.
For more information on Unpaid Volunteers, Interns and Visiting Scholars, please refer to the UNC-Chapel Hill Human Resources webpage.
Prior to inviting an international visitor or employee to campus, please consider the following questions:
- Is the visitor from a comprehensively sanctioned country?
- Is the visitor an employee or agent of a restricted entity?
- Will the visitor participate in any type of restricted research, or interact with any type of highly controlled equipment, materials, biologics, and/or software?
If you answer “yes” to any of the above questions, please contact the Export Compliance Office for assistance.