Summary: Exchange international students and J-1 visiting scholars who plan to come to study and/or research at American colleges and universities can receive the electronic Form DS-2019 to schedule their visa interviews from April 27, 2023.
International students and scholars who would like to participate in the exchange program in the U.S. usually need to go through the following process:
- (Exchange students) Be nominated by your home university or (visiting scholars) apply for the visiting scholar position
- Be accepted by the U.S. exchange college/university
- Receive the immigration document Form DS-2019 along with the acceptance letter
- Schedule the J-1 visa interview
To receive immigration documents Form DS-2019, the U.S. government only allowed the paper Form DS-2019 with wet signatures (signed with blue ink pens) by school officials.
To meet this requirement, exchange students are used to be required to pay for shipping depending on the exchange university policy.
What is more, exchange students had to wait several days and even weeks to receive the paper Form DS-2019 via mail if…
- there are typos on Form DS-2019
- the Form DS-2019 gets lost in transit (shipping)
- the student lost Form DS-2019 (especially problematic if they are traveling outside the U.S. and need Form DS-2019 to re-enter the U.S.)
However, the Department of State (DOS) FINALLY announced that electronically signed Form DS-2019 can be electronically transmitted to J-1 visa applicants (accepted exchange students and visiting scholars) from April 27, 2023.
The Department of State is making administrative changes to the regulations to include providing sponsors two new options: using digital signature software to sign Certificates of Eligibility for Exchange Visitor (J-1) Status (Forms DS-2019) and electronically transmitting Forms DS-2019.
Federal Register 22 CFR 62
This cost-saving announcement is great not only because exchange students and universities can save shipping costs but also because J-1 visa students can have more freedom in terms of planning trips outside the U.S. during their stay and extending their stay.
In this blog post, details regarding the electronic Form DS-2019 and its implication for exchange students will be shared based on 5+ years of experience as a J-1 student and scholar advisor.
Contents
- Updates regarding the electronic Form DS-2019
- Implications/benefits of the update for exchange students and scholars
Updates regarding the electronic Form DS-2019
The update allows the U.S. colleges and universities to do two things:
- Put electronic signature on Form DS-2019 or put wet signature and scan the form; and/or
- Send signed Form DS-2019 to exchange students and visiting professors electronically
If you are a current exchange student or visiting scholar, you would know that all J-1 visa applicants need to sign Form DS-2019 with a pen upon receipt of Form DS-2019. It is worth noting that wet signatures are still required for exchange students.
Thus, when you receive Form DS-2019, you are required to print it out and sign it under the Exchange Visitor Certification part of Form DS-2019 with a pen.
With this updated change, sponsors may continue to mail paper copies of Form DS-2019 to prospective exchange visitors or take advantage of two new options:
· Sponsors may print and physically sign paper forms in ink, scan and save them (e.g., as portable document format (PDF) files), and electronically transmit them (e.g., via email). The new rule eliminates the requirement that sponsors sign the Form DS-2019 in blue ink.
· Sponsors may use digital signature software to sign Forms DS-2019 and then electronically transmit them.
Department of State – Form DS-2019 electronic transmission newsletter by the Office of Private Sector Exchange
In the same light, DOS confirmed that J-1 visa applicants need to bring paper Form DS-2019 to the interview on the announcement as well- please see below:
Once a sponsor issues a Form DS-2019 to a prospective exchange visitor, the exchange visitor and their spouse or children can apply for a J-1 or J-2 nonimmigrant visa at a U.S. embassy or consulate. If approved for a J-1 and J-2 visa, the exchange visitor and their spouse or children must carry their Form DS-2019 to the U.S. border, where the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will review this form as part of the exchange visitor’s application for admission into the United States.
Department of State – Form DS-2019 electronic transmission newsletter by the Office of Private Sector Exchange
In other words, once exchange accepted students and approved visiting scholars receive electronic Form DS-2019, they must print it out and put wet signatures on Form DS-2019 and bring it to the visa interview.
What else can be electronically signed will be shared in the next paragraph.
Implications/benefits of the update for exchange students/visiting scholars
The below table explains before and after scenarios of how implementing electronic Form DS-2019 impacts exchange students/ visiting scholars positively:
| Scenario | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| When Form DS-2019 recipients want to schedule the J-1 visa interview | Receive the paper Form DS-2019 via mail which can take several days to weeks | Receive the electronic Form DS-2019 via email or download it depending on the college/university policy |
| When typos are found on Form DS-2019 | Request the new Form DS-2019 and wait several days or weeks to receive the corrected one | Receive the corrected electronic Form DS-2019 via email or download it depending on the college/university policy |
| When students/scholars lost Form DS-2019s | Request the new Form DS-2019 and pay for the shipping or pick it up in person | Receive the electronic Form DS-2019 via email or download it depending on the college/university policy |
| Forgot to bring or lost Form DS-2019 when traveling outside the U.S. and need one to re-enter the U.S. | The most problematic scenario- technically the student needs to receive Form DS-2019 via mail to present a wet-signed Form DS-2019 at the border | Receive the electronic Form DS-2019 via email or download it depending on the college/university policy then print it out to present at the border |
| When exchange students /visiting scholars want to travel outside the U.S. including Canada/Mexico during the exchange program | Bring Form DS-2019 to the International Services Office in-person to get the travel validation from RO (see the image below to learn where the travel validation needs to be placed) | Request for the new Form DS-2019 with travel validation via email and receive the electronically signed Form DS-2019 via email (see the image below to learn where the travel validation needs to be placed) |
| When J-1 visa holders want to extend the participation period. | Once the program extension request is granted, pick up paper Form DS-2019 in person | Once the program extension request is granted, electronic Form DS-2019 can be sent to the exchange students/visiting scholars via email |
Being able to send visa documents to international students electronically is one of the few things that good things came out of the pandemic and it’s good to see finally J-1 students/scholars can also benefit from the online form other than F-1 students.
If you read this blog post through, that means you are a proactive and savvy exchange student/visiting scholar! Don’t forget to check out the J-1 visa page to learn more about your rights in plain English.
