Overview

Full-time Participation

You must participate in research at your assigned Partners hospital at least 35 hours per week.

Academic Research

Your responsibilities must be consistent with academic research, which consists of hypothesis development, methodology and/or investigation development, hypothesis testing, and analysis of outcomes, and will result in authorship of peer reviewed publications.

You cannot perform responsibilities that are consistent with standard weekly paid positions, such as Research Technician, Research Technologist, Research Coordinator, Research Assistant, or any administrative role.

Funding Requirements

J-1 visa status requires that you be able to financially support yourself in the U.S.  You must have funds sufficient for housing, food, clothing and health insurance for yourself (and for any J-2 family dependents) without financial help from the U.S. government.¹

Minimum Funding Amounts²:

A J-1 Exchange Visitor must demonstrate funding at least at the level indicated below in order for Partners International Office to issue a J-1 visa eligibility document (DS-2019). Exchange Visitors bringing dependent family members (legally married spouse and children under 21) with them must demonstrate increased amounts of funding due to the additional costs for food, health care, insurance, clothing, etc. associated with additional family members.

•     J-1 alone = $31,500/year (prorated to $2,625/month)
•     J-1 and one dependent spouse or child = $37,500/year (prorated to $3,125/month)
•     J-1 and two dependents = $40,500/year (prorated to $3,375/month)
•     J-1, and three dependents = $41,500/year (prorated to $3,458/month)
•     additional $1000/year (prorated to an additional $83/month) for each additional dependent

Funding Sources

J-1 visa status permits flexible sources of funding.  The U.S. Department of State requires that all funding sources be listed on the visa eligibility documents.  The DS-2019 can be issued for only the length of time funding is available.

Scholarships, grants, salary, etc. that are not from the U.S. hospital must be confirmed by an award letter:   

• on letterhead
• dated within the past 4 months
• signed by the financial source’s representative
• list the J-1 beneficiary’s name
• state that the beneficiary will be paid while in the U.S.
• state the specific amount the beneficiary will be paid (if a salary range is provided, the average is accepted)
• in U.S. dollars (or be accompanied by a printed currency conversion)
• length of time for which they will be paid
• be in English³

Personal funds must be confirmed by a bank statement:

• on letterhead (online bank statements must include the bank's logo)
• dated within the past 4 months
• list the J-1 beneficiary’s name
• verify a specific U.S. dollar amount (or be accompanied by a printed currency conversion)
• be in English³
• The bank account must be in the name of the prospective J-1, the prospective J-1’s spouse, or the prospective J-1’s parent(s).  Also, a letter must be included from the parents stating that the prospective J-1 is their child and that they are willing to provide at least $31,500/year of the money from the bank account to the prospective J-1.

If your Partners hospital policy permits you to be based solely on personal funds (bank statement), the DS-2019 cannot be issued for more than one year at a time.  Personal funds can be used only if the “Minimum Funding Amounts” cannot be satisfied by any of the other funding source options.

¹The acceptance of U.S. government benefits may negatively affect your future immigration requests because it is interpreted as a declaration that the J-1 is unable to meet his/her financial obligations, a requirement of J visa status

²These are financial requirements for visas.  Your hospital may also have additional post-doc policy funding requirements.

³All documents must be in English or accompanied by English translation. The translation can be done by an official translator or by an "uninterested" person (in other words, the J-1 or a family member cannot provide the translation).  The J-1 may ask a coworker, acquaintance, etc. to translate the document and then the translator must write, “I certify that I am competent in (name the language) and English and the attached represents an accurate translation "at the bottom of the translation. The translator must sign, print their name, and date the document.  Please note that the translation must be word-for-word and cannot be a summary of the document.