The staff of the International Services office would like to congratulate you on your appointment and welcome you to the Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences (RBHS). The J-1 program is administered by the United States Department of State, and RBHS is one of many institutions which have been authorized as J-1 program sponsors. Designated International Services staff members serve as representatives, known as Responsible or Alternate Responsible Officers (RO/ARO), who help administer RBHS's Exchange Visitor's Program. It is our hope that we will be able to assist you in making a smooth transition to life in the U.S. and to RBHS.

Purpose of the J-1 Exchange Visitor's Program:
The purpose of the J-1 Exchange Visitor Program's (EVP) is to promote cultural and educational exchange in order to develop mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

Exchange Visitor's Program Categories:
You are coming to the U.S. as an exchange visitor to pursue a specific program objective under a specific category. Although there are many other categories, RBHS-International Services is only authorized to sponsor EVs for the following: Professor, Research Scholar, Short-term Scholar and Student. The International Services office has assigned you a category based on the description of the proposed activities provided to us by your sponsoring department. The primary activity/program objective for each of these categories is described below:

Professor: Teaching, lecturing, observing or consulting. A professor may also conduct research unless the sponsor does not allow it.
Research Scholar: Conducting research, observing or consulting in connection with a research project. The research scholar may also teach or lecture unless the sponsor does not allow it.
Short-Term Scholar: A professor, research scholar, specialist, or a person with similar education or accomplishments coming to the U.S. on a short-term of six (6) months or less visit for the purpose of lecturing, observing, consulting, training, or demonstrating special skills at research institutions, museums, libraries, post-secondary accredited educational institutions, or similar types of institutions.
Student: Full-time studies leading to a U.S. degree at a post-secondary accredited educational institution or full-time studies in a prescribed course/program leading to a degree earned at a foreign institution of higher learning.

Mandatory J Orientation
In accordance with the Department of State's regulations, all new Exchange Visitors (EVs) are required to go through a J-1 orientation program. At RBHS, International Services is responsible for providing this service. All new EVs arriving at RBHS must attend a mandatory orientation program within ten (10) business days or two weeks of their arrival. J-2 dependents are encouraged to attend this program if they will be in the U.S. for more than one year.

The J-1 orientation is conducted every two weeks on the Newark and New Brunswick campuses. On the Newark and New Brunswick campus, orientation is conducted at the International Services office every other Tuesday. Scholar's are assigned an orientation date in the welcome letter that accompanies the DS-2019 form. All orientation sessions begin at 10:00 a.m. Special arrangements will be made for any EV arriving at the Stratford campus. Please call International Services for further information.

Please note that, regardless of the date you are assigned for orientation, you must inform International Services of your arrival at RBHS immediately.