University Responsibilities
The UW is responsible for maintaining compliance with both the letter and intent of all federal, state and local laws. The UW also has a responsibility to the foreign nationals who come to campus to pursue their education or other scholarly activities and to ensure that payments made are properly reported to the appropriate federal and state agencies. Proper reporting greatly reduces the potential for future tax or immigration problems for foreign nationals.
Sponsoring Department Responsibilities
University departments that host foreign nationals will generally be aware in advance of the actual arrival date that the visitor will be coming to the university. Accordingly, the hosting department or faculty member bears primary responsibility for ensuring that the visitor acquires the correct visa (or has the correct visa) so that payments made are in compliance with all requisite tax and immigration laws. Departments must insure that no payment of any kind is made to a foreign national unless the individual has been granted the appropriate authorization and visa status in advance of their arrival.
Either the International Scholars Office or the International Student Services Office must be contacted prior to making any contractual arrangement to pay a foreign national on an F-1 or J-1 visa. This applies to both non-student and student foreign nationals, and must be done in order to ensure that immigration laws are not violated. Such violations could lead to fines of up to $10,000 for the University as well as detention or deportation of the foreign national.
Departments should always follow the checklist(s) for making payments to foreign nationals to be certain of compliance.
UW Offices Associated with Tax Responsibilities
The following UW offices provide services for departments working with foreign nationals.
- Makes the following payments:
- Processes ITIN applications
- Consults on residency status for tax purposes
- Interprets tax treaties
- Issues Form I-20 to graduate students applying for a F-1 visa
- Issues Form DS-2019 to graduate students applying for a J-1 visa
International Scholars Office (ISO)
- Issues initial and extensions to Form DS-2019 to scholars applying for a J-1 Exchange Visitor Program visa
- Applies and files for H-1B visas on behalf of academic departments sponsoring foreign nationals
- Approves applications from J-1 Exchange Visitor Program participants to work off campus or receive an honorarium for occasional lecture on a UW campus
- Sponsors permanent resident petitions for UW faculty
International Student Services Office (ISS)
- Issues extensions for Form I-20 for F-1 students
- Issues extensions for Form DS-2019 for J-1 students
- Issues letters for students to apply for a SSN
- Helps F-1 students apply for Optional Practical Training (OPT)
- Helps F-1 students in STEM fields apply for a 17 month extension of their OPT
- Makes the following payments:
- Reviews USCIS Form I-9 for employment eligibility
- Monitors work authorization status
- Issues IRS Forms W-2 and 1042-S
- Consults on residency status for tax purposes
- Interprets tax treaties
- Pays scholarship and fellowship awards
- Posts and collects any taxes due on an award
- Consults on residency status for tax purposes
- Interprets tax treaties
- Consults on tax matters, including interpretation of tax laws and determination of proper procedures for tax filings
- Processes ITIN applications for students
- Issues Form I-20 to undergraduate students applying for a F-1 visa
- Issues Form DS-2019 to undergraduate students applying for a J-1 visa