Hosting a Visitor

The guidance on this page is primarily for University departments and department administrators to help process new and incoming visiting international students. However, visiting students may also find this information helpful to better understand the steps and materials needed for processing by the University.

We recommend that most visiting international students apply for an F-1 Student visa. Our office will facilitate the visa process and issue the appropriate immigration document. If your visiting international student is new to the University of Rochester, you’ll first need to request a URID or guest account for them before beginning the application process through URcompass.

Once the guest account/URID has been activated, you can log into URcompass to begin the application:

Log into URcompass and initiate a new visiting student application.

Please ensure all required documents are submitted and E-Forms are complete. We cannot process a request or issue immigration documents until we have a complete application. Please allow for at least three months between the date ISO receives a complete application and the new visiting student’s start date.

If you have questions, please contact us at URvisitor@rochester.edu.

Learn more about the onboarding process for students

All visiting faculty and researchers undertaking significant research or teaching activities at Rochester should have a formal appointment at the University. Departments should follow their school’s process for appointing visiting faculty and researchers. This process should include ensuring that the visitor signs a Visiting Scientist Agreement.

Hosts should contact the International Services Office early in the process to assist with obtaining the appropriate visa.

Review the University’s research security guidelines for more information.

Visit the research security website

If the visitor will have a faculty or post-doc appointment, the first step would be to contact ISO.

The ISO team will work directly with the faculty member and visitor for the onboarding process, including helping them obtain the appropriate visa.

For additional information, visit our J-1 Scholars page.

Email URvisitor@rochester.edu three to six months in advance of the visitor’s arrival to initiate the process.

As part of the Global Visitor Program, you must complete a series of forms to prepare the paperwork for your visitor’s arrival.

If you have questions, please contact us at URvisitor@rochester.edu.

The relationship an individual maintains with the University and the purpose of the visit is initially evaluated by the International Services Office to determine whether the visitor will be enrolled as a non-matriculated student or appointed in one of the schools in one of several visiting categories (i.e. faculty, post-doc, etc.).

Contact us at URvisitor@rochester.edu to initiate this evaluation, or with any questions.

As the hosting faculty, you are the visiting student, collaborator, or researchers’ supervisor and primary point of contact with the University from an academic, research, support, and supervisory standpoint. Additionally, should the student complete their stay at the University with any outstanding fees, it is your department’s responsibility to cover those fees.

If the duration of the visiting student, collaborator, or researchers’ time at the University changes—either shortens or lengthens—you should inform your department head/dean for approval as soon as possible, and then notify URvisitor@rochester.edu.

As head of the hosting department, you must review and approve/deny proposals from faculty members within your department to host visiting students/visiting researchers or faculty.