The Office of International Services is happy to work with students and scholars transferring to USC. J-1 Students will first need to be admitted to the university. Once admitted, you will want to coordinate a release date with your international student office and the Office of International Admissions. In order to maintain student status you cannot be released until the end of the current semester. Until the release date USC cannot issue the DS-2019. Once the DS-2019 has been issued you will need to attend orientation. At that time you will go through passport verification and we will complete your transfer to USC. If you fail to do passport verification we will not be able to complete your transfer and you risk losing your immigration status.
USC Sponsorng Departments must mark Transfer to USC from another institution in the U.S. as the purpose of the form and include the internal requisition for $250. In addition, OIS requires a copy of the Exchange Visitor’s current DS-2019. The current institution will need our Exchange Visitor program number: P-1-00322. They will also need to determine a suitable release date.
Exchange Visitors in other J-1 categories are also eligible to transfer to USC. J-1 Research Scholars and Professors will need to speak with the sponsoring department at USC. The department will then request a transfer DS-2019 from the Office of International Services. However, before OIS can issue the DS-2019 the scholar or professor will need to be released by the previous institution. The release date is very important. You cannot be paid by USC until you have been released. At the same time, once you have been released you are no longer eligible to receive funding from the previous institution.
It is also important to note that when an Exchange Visitor transfers to USC their length of stay does not start over. For example: Research Scholars are allowed to be in the U.S. for 3 years. If a Research Scholar spends one year at another institution before transferring to USC they are only eligible to conduct research at USC for two years. The clock does not restart by transferring to a new institution.
Once you have arrived on campus you will need to make an appointment to meet with our Executive Director Dr. Johnson so we may complete your transfer to USC. Please make sure you check in with our office within 72 hours of your arrival on campus. If we are unable to complete your transfer to USC you may lose your immigration status.
Transfer out of USC
While we are sorry to see Exchange Visitors leave USC we understand that circumstances change and we are happy to help with the transfer process. J-1 Students must be admitted to the new institution before we may transfer you out of the university. You must schedule an appointment with an Immigration Advisor or Counselor in OIS so we may coordinate a proper release date. We cannot release you during an academic semester as this could put your immigration status in jeopardy. Once you have been released, USC is no longer able to make any updates to your record or approve any immigration benefits such as work authorization.
J-1 Research Scholars and Professors who wish to transfer to another institution will need to make an appointment to meet with an Immigration Advisor or Counselor in OIS. It is important that the purpose of the transfer is to complete the objective(s) for which the Exchange Visitor entered in J-1 status. The departmental sponsor at USC and the new institution must both agree to the transfer. Once this agreement has been made we will need the new institution’s program number as well as to decide on a release date in SEVIS. Once an Exchange Visitor has been released they are no longer eligible to receive funding from USC. However, until the release date you will not be able to receive funding from the new institution.
