Maintaining J-1 Scholar Status

It’s critically important that you and your accompanying family member(s) maintain your status for the duration of your program. Failure to adhere to the requirements listed below is considered a violation of your J status and can lead to the immediate termination of your program.

Our office relies on both you and your host department to provide ISO with timely notification of any changes and adherence to the requirements below.

Requirements for maintaining status

Check in with iso upon arrival

As a new or transferring J-1, you must check-in with the ISO upon arrival in Rochester. You can do this virtually through URcompass. You or your department representative may email Scholar Services at scholars@iso.rochester.edu to let us know you’ve arrived in Rochester.

Maintain health insurance

All J nonimmigrant exchange visitors must maintain health insurance for themselves and any accompanying family members to legally maintain the J nonimmigrant status for the duration of their program.

If you don’t purchase and maintain health insurance for yourself and any accompanying family members, we’ll have to terminate your J-1 program. To safeguard against this, all scholars must complete an insurance attestation upon arriving at the University.

University insurance policies meet the standards to maintain J-1 status. However, not all scholar positions at the University provide health insurance as an included benefit. You may be required to purchase health insurance on your own in order to maintain your status.

If you need to purchase a policy on your own, please reference alternative insurance options. The University of Rochester will provide medical evacuation and repatriation of remains insurance (MEDEX) for all J-1 scholars.

Your insurance policy must meet the following required minimums to maintain valid status:

1. Medical benefits of at least $100,000 per accident or illness
2. Payment for repatriation of remains in case of death in the amount of $25,000
3. Payment for medical evacuation in the amount of $50,000
4. A deductible not to exceed $500 per accident or illness
5. An insurance policy secured to meet the benefits requirements must be underwritten by an insurance corporation with an A.M. Best rating of “A-” or above, an Insurance Solvency International, Ltd. (ISI) rating of “A-I” or above, a Standard and Poor’s Claims Paying Ability rating of “A-” or above, or a Weiss Research, Inc. rating of B+ or above.

Continue to pursue your program objective

You have come to University of Rochester to take part in specific activities like research, teaching, or observing. To maintain legal status, you must continue in this same objective, and be making normal progress toward your objective goals.

Report personal changes within 10 days

J-1 exchange visitors are required to submit a Scholar Address Change Form within 10 days of any change in your residential address, telephone number, or email address.

Don’t work without permission

You can only work in the job that’s described on your form DS-2019. If you want to work another job, you must get written approval from ISO first. Please note that additional employment can only take the form of occasional lectures and/or consultations and must be in conjunction with your primary purpose.

Notify ISO if you plan to complete your program early

It’s essential that you and your host department notify ISO as soon as it’s known that your program will end before the program end date listed on your most recent form DS-2019 (see box 3 on page 1 of the DS-2019). If any dependents have accompanied you in the J-2 status, you’re required to inform the ISO when they leave the US. Please email scholars@iso.rochester.edu to notify ISO accordingly.