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International Scholars

The University of Tennessee College of Business Administration and the Global Business Institute are pleased to invite our colleagues from around the world to come to UT to teach, conduct research, or collaborate with our outstanding faculty and staff.

The specific purpose of your stay at UT and in the United States will determine your appropriate visa status. The University Center for International Education will determine what your visa status is based on a number of factors including:

  • Your purpose (teaching, research, etc.) for coming to the UT College of Business Administration.
  • The duration of your intended stay.
  • The likelihood that you will want to extend your stay or possibly desire to remain permanently in the United States.
  • Source of funding for your stay, such as whether the funds come from the U.S. government, your home government, the University of Tennessee (in the form of a salary, stipend, grant, etc.), your home institution, an international organization, or from the use of your personal funds.
  • Whether you are coming as the result of an exchange agreement between UT and your home institution or between the U.S. Government and the government of your country.
  • The nature of the position you will be holding, if any, while at UT (for example, whether the position is tenure track or non-tenure track).
  • The requirements of U.S. immigration law.

It is vital that you clearly communicate the above information to the Global Business Institute so that the UT Center for International Education has all the information it needs to make the proper decision about the most appropriate U.S. visa status. It is also important to understand that it is highly recommended that you come to the U.S. with the appropriate visa status, for it may take as long as six to nine months for the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services to consider an application for a change of non-immigrant status. There is no guarantee that they will approve such requests.

We recommend that all scholars, even those who are self-funded and are coming for a short period of time to conduct research, arrange for a university-sponsored visa status so that you will have access to the full range of university facilities and resources. Generally, short term, self-funded scholars must hold a J-1 exchange visitor visa status, as opposed to a B-1/B-2 visitor visa in order to reside on campus and access the university's computing, library, and other programs/resources.

Additionally, if your primary purpose for coming to the U.S. is to pursue a degree here, it may be better for you to come to the United States as an F-1 student or in the J-1 student category. Be sure that you share your intention to enroll in classes, if any, with the UT Center for International Education so that they can select the best visa option for you.