International Scholar Dossier (ISD)

• 2/8/21: Date Amendment for J-1 requests submitted via Paper Form
  • Records created using the paper J-1 request system whose scholars are not currently in the U.S. can now be updated via ISD; record can be submitted to IFSO after updating the start and end date and including the "Note" reason
• 11/16/20: New process of inputting site of activity/worksite
  • For both J and H, the work site location must be added under the Site of Activity tab
  • For H-1B's, add the name of the building on address line 2 and review the online guide for updated instructions
• 10/12/20 - 10/26/20: Upgrades Coming to ISD with Timeline
  • Clear/Blank "processing stage" field in ISD to allow usage of ISD as a case manager
  • Scholars can now sign in to submit change of address updates and J-2 requests, upload student intern evaluations, and submit departure notifications

Review ISD, to make sure the scholar does not already have a record as they could have been at UCSD previously. To see if a record already exists, you can select Search for Visitor on the left-side "Home" bar. If a scholar already exists in the ISD system, please do not create a duplicate record.  See of Finding an Existing Record Instructions. 

To add a new scholar record, on the left-side navigation bar, click on Add Visitor to create a new Scholar profile in ISD.

Basic Information: should be information about the incoming scholar, not you the department administrator. The following fields are required:

• Last Name: Include the Scholar’s Last Name as it appears on their passport biographical page.
  • Please enter the scholar’s LAST NAME in all capital letters.
  • ISPO and IFSO share a database (ISSM). Entering the scholar last name in all caps helps avoid any confusion between ISPO and IFSO records. Also, it helps distinguish very clearly the last name as some individuals may have multiple.
• First Name: Include the Scholar’s First name as it appears on their passport biographical page. Unless the scholar does not have one.
• Middle Name: Do NOT use
• Campus ID: Do NOT use, this is not associated with a PID or employee ID.
• Campus: select University of California, San Diego                              
• Academic Department: Select the appropriate department from the drop-down list. The departments as listed by division, then in alphabetical order by department.

TIP: Can’t find the department in the drop-down list? Contact IFSO at ifsoisd@ucsd.edu for help.  

• Department User: From the drop-down menu of available departmental contacts for the sponsoring department, select the person that will have responsibility over the invitation process for this incoming scholar. The individual listed as the Department User will receive notifications from ISD regarding the specific scholar.
  • TIP: Can’t find the department administrator in the drop-down list? Contact IFSO at ifsoisd@ucsd.edu for help.  
• ISSO Advisor: Does not need to be updated, it should default to Admin, Admin

Login Information: will allow you to create a user name for the scholar to access ISD, grant them editing permissions, and fill in their record in ISD.

• User Name: Use the given/first and family/last names of the scholar. You will not be able to change the scholar’s user name after it is created.
  • Do not leave any spaces for the username. This will be their permanent username, try to make it simple. We highly encourage:
    • LASTNAME-FirstName
    • LASTNAMEFirstNameDept
    • LASTNAMEFirstNameDOB
    • LASTNAME-FirstName-Birthyear
• Email: Add the email address for the scholar. Please note that UC San Diego emails have been getting blocked/bouncebacks for “@hanmail.net” emails. Please try to avoid using “@hanmail.net” emails.

  • You can always go back in to update the email address associated with the ISD account. This is the email will receive all the correspondence generated by the ISD system are sent to.

• Read/Write: Allows the scholar to sign in and enter information.
• View: Allows the scholar to sign in but they cannot edit any information
• None: Scholar will not be able to log into ISD system. They wouldn’t know whether their access has been taken away or they are entering incorrect login information.

 TIP: Scholar will not be aware of their permission levels, it is up to you to disclose which permission levels they have been granted or have been taken away.

Click Save this will immediately take you to the scholar biographical information page.

If you get the error “This UserName already exists, please Correct” means that the username is already in use by another scholar, so you will need to add something to the username you want to create for your scholar to make it unique. Edit username and try to save again.

Do not proceed, if you receive any of these error messages. Contact ifsoisd@ucsd.edu for assistance. 

• This error occurs when there is already a record in ISD with a matching name 
• Search for the record 
  • Make sure to remove all filters
• if you still cant find the scholar record, the scholar could be in a department you dont have access to (ifso can help you with this)

• ISSM is IFSO/ISPO's internal database that links to SEVIS. Data you submit via ISD gets sent to ISSM.
• This error occurs when there is already a record in ISSM, the system want to link to it. DO NOT PROCEED.
  • The system could be trying to link to the student record. 

To see if a record already exists, you can select Search for Visitor on the left-side navigation bar.

TIP: To find the record, you may need to change the filters to All

Scholar records will appear on the bottom; you can click on the "Last Name" hyperlink to access and edit the specific scholar record.

Upon completing a request (J-1: DS-2019 issued or H-1B/E-3 approved by USCIS), IFSO will change the processing stage to clear/blank and change the department user to ISD, IFSO.  If you wanted to search for cases that were already completed for your department you could:

• Use the “User” filter option and select the ISD, IFSO as the Department User.
• Select the blank option in the “Processing Stage” filter option

If you are unable find the record, contact IFSO at ifsoisd@ucsd.edu

If the record you found is inactive, this will typically occur for scholars returning to UC San Diego.  

• You can reactivate in ISD:
  • Click on the scholar record
  • Go to the Tasks Tab
  • Click Change Visitors Department
  • Select the same Academic Department the Scholar is currently listed under
• You can email ifsoisd@ucsd.edu to have IFSO reactivate the record.

• Email IFSO so that we can help you investigate and reactivate the record, email ifsoisd@ucsd.edu 

• We highly encourage you to reactivate the record with the current department listed in ISD, this will allow you to view all previous items on file. 
• To change the department, go to the Tasks Tab, click Change Visitors Department.
  • When a department is changed, the department information and attachments do NOT transfer over. Only basic scholar information will transfer over. 

Do not change the “Processing Stage” the system will automatically update the stage. The scholar does not have the option to edit the processing stage, but they can view the stage.

The processing stage listed in ISD can be used to give you a general idea of the status of a request.

• Initial
  • Record has been created but Faculty/Scholar has not been invited to use the system.
• Invited
  • Scholar/Faculty has been invited to sign into ISD via an email that contains their login information.  
• Pending Scholar Data Entry
  • Faculty/Scholar needs to update/add information to ISD.
• Pending Department Review 
  • Faculty/Scholar completed their sections in ISD, the notification that the Faculty/Scholar finished making updates will be sent to whoever is listed as the Department User in the Tasks Section under Edit Visitor Login and Permissions. This would be the Department Admin now needs to complete their sections and submit the request to IFSO OR IFSOisd who needs to process a task such as change of address, registrations, etc. 
• Submitted to International Office 
  • IFSO is still processing the request.
• Clear/Blank Processing stage 
  • IFSO has completed your request. There is no active request currently being worked on by IFSO.
    • • Issued DS-2019 or processed an amendment
      • H-1B initial/extension/amendment sent to USCIS

We always recommend emailing the scholar at a UCSD email or personal email (gmail, yahoo, etc.). We encourage you to not email Scholars at other institution email addresses (as we do not know how long scholar will retain access) or @hanmail.net (UCSD emails have been getting blocked).

Invite Visitor – Tasks Tab

• This generates a user name and new password every time an email is sent generated to the scholar. We recommend only doing this once. This can also be a quick way to send the scholar a new password, if you do not want to reset the password by going to Edit Visitor Login and Permissions under the Tasks Tab.
• The sender email address will be the email address of the admin noted under the Task Tab section Edit Visitor Login and Permissions. If the scholar replies the email goes to the department contact’s UCSD email that is associated with the ISD account.
• The email sent to the scholar is logged in the Case History of ISD. Please note that the scholar response is not saved to the Case History of ISD as it goes to your UCSD email account.
• You can cc yourself to ensure you also have a history of the emails in your UCSD email account.

Confirm Visitor Information – Tasks Tab

• Will only allow you to generate an email to the scholar for whose record you are currently working on. You can CC or BCC additional individuals. We recommend this option is used when you want the scholar to review/confirm any final information prior to submission to IFSO.
• The sender appears as the department UCSD email, if the scholar replies the email goes to the department contact’s UCSD email.
• The email sent to the scholar is logged in the Case History of ISD. Please note that the scholar response is not saved to the Case History of ISD.
• You can cc yourself to ensure you also have a history of the emails in your UCSD email account.

Compose Email – Tasks Tab

• Will allow you to generate an email, CC and BCC anyone you would like. We recommend this option is used when you want an email to be logged in the Case History of ISD
• The sender appears as the department UCSD email, if the scholar replies the email goes to the department contact’s UCSD email.
• The email sent to the scholar is logged in the Case History of ISD. Please note that the scholar response is not saved to the Case History of ISD.
• You can cc yourself to ensure you also have a history of the emails in your UCSD email account.

Current Email Program

• Apart from the initial Invite Visitor email as that generates the password and login for the scholar, you do not have to use ISD to generate emails you can continue to use your UCSD outlook/gmail. The benefit of using ISD to send emails is that the information is logged into one location for continuity purposes.

• Invite Visitor
  • This generates the scholar username and password
• Edit Visitor Login and permissions
  • Allows you to edit the scholar email, set the department user, and update the scholar's permissions
• Review and Submit Visitors Information
  • The way to submit a request to IFSO
• Change Visitor's Department
  • Allows you to change a visitors department 

The Notes Tab is only accessible to the department and IFSO.

The notes section can be used to write a note to IFSO or just an internal reminder for yourself. However, since IFSO has access to view this information please make sure whether it’s an internal note for yourself/your department or for IFSO.

• J-1 transfer-In: include current non-UC San Diego Immigration advisor’s contact information; full name and email address.
• Amendment: reason for amendment
• Separation/Departure: reason for separation/departure and separation/departure date

• Document Path: Click on Choose File option to find a file on your computer that you would like uploaded as evidence to ISD.
  • Upload supporting documentation in PDF format when possible
• Is Active option: Do not edit.
• Document Name: Include a description of the document you are uploading. If multiple items, you could name Complete Supporting Documentation File.
  • Do not use any special characters such as /, ?, #
• Document Type: Select the most appropriate document type from the list of options.
  • If no category seems appropriate, leave blank
• Add Document Type: Do not click on this option.

Do not delete any previous documents. You will know the items have been successfully uploaded because they will be visible on the List of Documents. If an item you uploaded is not listed on the List of Documents, please upload again.

• Max individual file size is 4 MB (4,000 KB)
• Reduce file size using adobe reduce file - optimize PDF option.
• You can try to print to PDF. Even if it 's already a PDF, this will typically reduce the quality and help make the file size smaller.

The forms tab allows you the preview what information the scholar could enter on ISD as opposed to the department; some information is listed for both the scholar and department to enter to ensure both are review the information.

The History tab is only visible to department contacts and IFSO. This is great historical information for departments with turn over.

The history tab can be very useful as it will show you who is making changes in the record and the changes they made. This feature can be critical for extension requests or if you want to see changes IFSO updated in ISD as well.

You can also see when a request was submitted to IFSO, this will show as a line item event that says Data Submission by Department with description Department submitted information to the international office.

You will be able to see any emails sent through the ISD system. Please note that scholar responses to emails generated from ISD, are not saved into the ISD History Tab because the response is sent to the email associated with department user listed for the ISD record.

IFSO does NOT get alerts for changes made in ISD, unless the following steps are taken.

For a department to submit a request to IFSO you must click on the Tasks tab on the left-hand side of the top Horizontal Fields Navigation Bar and click on Review and Submit Visitor's Information.

• Profile Status: 
  • SEVIS - Pending: For a new/transfer-in J-1 Status considered pending until the scholar registers with IFSO.
  • Pending: For a new/transfer-in/port H-1B/extension remains as such until we receive approval notice from USCIS
  • SEVIS - Active: Sevis-Active status should be used for a J-1 extension request. For J-1 who has already registered and currently has an active DS-2019 issued by UC San Diego.
• Profile Type: These are the only statuses that should be selected 
  • J-1 Exchange Visitor 
    • Do not select J-1 Academic Training option
  • H-1B Temporary Specialty Worker
  • E-3 Treaty Professional 
  • TN Treaty NAFTA
• Profile Subtype: 
  • Scholar: Must always be noted as scholar, student would be for ISPO record and ISPO does not use ISD. Do not select "other"
• Profile Subtype If Other:
  • Always leave blank 

Click Submit button toward the left-hand top of the screen. This action forwards the complete record to IFSO staff to review.

Tip: to update any missing information you must go to the Horizontal Fields Navigation Bar then return to Review and Submit to Department section.

After the request is submitted, it should show that the record was “sent to ISSM.” You can also see when a request was submitted to IFSO by going to the History tab, this will show as a line item event that says Data Submission by Department with description Department submitted information to the international office.

Please also remember to submit an online recharge payment for request, which must be done separately from the ISD process. You do not need to include proof of recharge payment through ISD; it will be checked by IFSO. 

• Fee Breakdown and how to complete online payment form
• Online Payment Form

• J-1 Initial/Transfer-In
• J-1 Extension
• H-1B Initial/Port (Transfer)  
• H-1B Extension
• H-1B Amendment

• J-1 Date Amendment
• J-1 Amendment

• J-1 rush fee is required for any initial, extension, amendment (not date amendment) requests that require processing under 10 business days.
  • Initials that require a start date in less than 45 will also require a rush fee. This policy reflects the processing time of our federal agencies, which include lengthy background checks required by the U.S. Dept of State for visa applications.
• H-1B/E-3 rush fee is required for any complete H-1B requesting a start date in less than three-month’s time from submission to IFSO; incomplete requests will not be evaluated until they are complete. 

• Institutional policy requires that departments pay the service fee for all persons appointed in Postdoctoral appointments.

• ALL fees for H-1B/E-3 requests MUST be paid by the sponsoring department. Fees are not rechargeable to the international scholar and scholars cannot reimburse the department for these fees.

You can find instructions and additional information on IFSO’s Recharge Webpage.

For H-1B and E-3, in addition to the IFSO recharge fees there are USCIS required checks that will need to be provided to IFSO for the filing the employment-based petition.

Request checks from UC San Diego: see instructions https://ifso.ucsd.edu/_visa/checks.html. These checks must be individually issued.

For check amounts, please see IFSO website: https://ifso.ucsd.edu/dept-facilitators/h1b/index.html#Fees-and-USCIS-Check(s)

• J-1 Sponsorship Form (PDF)
• Supplemental J-1 Student Intern Sponsorship Form (PDF)

• H-1B/E-3 Request Form (PDF)

• Sponsorship form is NOT required, the ISD submission and chair letter serves as the official request