ISD
- Department Instructions
- Faculty/Scholar Instructions
Welcome to International Scholar Dossier (ISD), a web-based application used by the International Faculty & Scholars Office (IFSO) to manage the invitation process for J-1 Exchange Visitors and H-1B/TN/E-3 employees at UC San Diego. ISD allows you, the department administrator, to create a scholar record in the system for your prospective scholar, who will then be notified to enter their data and upload supporting documentation to the system. When they are finished, the system will notify you to review the data and documentation from the scholar, as well as add additional data and supporting documentation from the department side. Once completed, the record can be submitted to IFSO who will then review the submission. IFSO will issue the DS-2019 or file the employment-based petition or reach out to you for any additional information/documentation that is required.
This ISD record can then be used for any future requests or updates during the scholar's time at UCSD.
After completing the UC Learning training (must only be completed once) and being granted access by IFSO, signing into ISD is a two-part process for Department AdministratorsOnce a Department Administrator completes the UC Learning e-course "J-1 and H-1B Online Requests using ISD" (06SED-0260-IFSO), IFSO will receive an email notification which we will use to grant you access to the ISD Subpool and create ISD login credentials.
Note: there is no additional training required for E-3/TN submissions
This is a one time (required) training to gain access to the ISD web-based application submission system. You are welcome to take the training multiple times as a refresher.
To access ISD you must go through UC San Diego's VPN, regardless of whether you are on or off campus. If you have not already done so, install UCSD's VPN onto your computer.
1) Go to Cysco AnyConnect on your computer. To access ISD you must use a specific VPN subpool, this is done by adding "@isd" to your active directory credentials.2) DUO authentication. After clicking OK, this will trigger you to complete the DUO authentication via your designated authentication method (phone app notification, phone call, token, etc).
3) Accept Dialogue box notification. Once you approve the DUO authentication notice you will see a second dialogue box will appear, click accept.
After successfully signing into the VPN, you can proceed to the ISD website and follow detailed instructions on how to log into ISD. Please note that the username and password to log onto the ISD website were provided to you via email.
Troubleshooting
If you are unable to load the blue ISD landing page, then there was an error in the VPN or DUO process, please contact ifsoisd@ucsd.edu for assistance to let us know which, if any, of the above mentioned three steps you were able to complete.
IFSO will create a login for all new department administrators needing access to ISD, generating an automatic email to you (subject line: “International Scholar Dossier: New user account creation”) with login/password information and URL (https://ISD.ucsd.edu) for ISD. We recommend that you login and change your password. To do so, click on My Account in the top right-hand corner of the screen and type in your old and new passwords in the appropriate fields.
TIP: If you are copying and pasting your password from the email directly into the ISD login box, make sure that you have not copied any extra spaces
If you forget your username/password or have difficulties logging in, send an email to ifsoisd@ucsd.edu and IFSO staff will help you.
TIP: Your ISD Link is https://ISD.ucsd.edu, while the scholar ISD login link is https://ISD-visitor.ucsd.edu
After being granted access to ISD, you can edit your password and security question.
Steps:IFSO cannot see your security question, response, or passwords. However, we can reset your account login information if you are locked out.
Need password reset? Forgot your login/password information? Having technical difficulties with ISD? – Please contact IFSO at ifsoisd@ucsd.edu.
Note: Scholar only has access to the J category and Start and End date in the Appointment Section; scholars do not have access to view any other information in the Appointment Section.
If the scholar does not recall their username or password, there are three main paths you can take to have ISD generate an email with their username and generate a new password.
1) Edit the Scholar’s permissions by going to the Tasks tab and clicking on Edit Visitor Login and Permissions. Once on the Edit Visitor section, you will be able to select the reset password option. By clicking on the box an email will be generated to the scholar with their username and a new password.
TIP: This is the preferred method of having the department help a scholar that does not recall their username or password
2) Re-invite the scholar, by going to the Tasks tab then clicking on Invite Scholar. You will have the option to write any text on the email. When the email is sent to the scholar, it will include the username and new password below any text you include. This is the same way the login info was generated the first time you invited the scholar to access ISD.
TIP: This method is not the preferred method but it can be beneficial to have the ability to write a note to the scholar with any additional information the department may want to convey. This will change the status of the record in ISD to Invited.
3) Have the scholar contact ifsoisd@ucsd.edu
If the scholar cannot log in, they might have an incorrect username, password, or not have permission to log in.
To begin troubleshooting:When inviting the scholar through ISD, please feel free to use the following message templates.
Dear Scholar,
You are being invited to log in to International Scholar Dossier, a web-based application that is used by UCSD's International Faculty and Scholars Office to manage the invitation process of J-1 Exchange Visitors and their J-2 family members. Please log in using the username and password below, enter all required information, and attach any required documents. You can use the Scholar ISD Instructions to assist you in completing this process. Once you have completed this step, your UCSD department will complete their part in the process and submit the request to the International Faculty and Scholars Office, who will then issue an immigration document called a DS-2019. This DS-2019 will then be mailed to you so that you can apply for your J-1 visa (and J-2 visas for family members). Information will be emailed to you when the DS-2019 is issued that will allow you to make your visa appointment at the U.S. Embassy/Consulate.
Thank you
Dear Scholar,
Your sponsoring department is working to extend your current J-1 program. Please access the ISD site indicated below at your earliest convenience and update your information following the instructions in the Scholar ISD Instructions.
[ LOGIN INFORMATION AND PASSWORD AUTO GENERATED BY SYSTEM]
Dear Scholar,
You are being invited to log in to International Scholar Dossier, a web-based application that is used by UCSD's International Faculty and Scholars Office to manage the invitation process of international visitors. Please log in using the username and password below, enter all required information, and attach any required documents. You can use the Scholar ISD Instructions to assist you in completing this process. Once you have completed this step, your UCSD department will complete their part in the process and submit the request to the International Faculty & Scholars Office for processing.
Thank you
Dear Scholar,
Your sponsoring department is working to extend/amend your current status. Please access the ISD site indicated below at your earliest convenience and update your information following the instructions in the Scholar ISD Instructions.
[ LOGIN INFORMATION AND PASSWORD AUTO GENERATED BY SYSTEM]
Updated topics in this video include, but are not limited to:
ISD Guidebooks for Departments and Scholars are being integrated into our website in a more user-friendly and accessible format. Several of our regular processes will now be done through ISD, including: Scholar Registration, Scholar Departures (or Early Completion), and J-1 Student Intern Evaluations.
** Note: Subtitles/Closed Captions for all videos were automatically generated by Zoom. If you have questions regarding any of the information on the video contact ischolars@ucsd.edu **
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 "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:
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.
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.
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.
Duplicate ISD ErrorTo 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:
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.
If you are certain its the same scholarDo 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.
The Tasks Tab and under the Edit Visitor Login and Permissions allows you to review the scholar’s email (edit if necessary) and update the department user from ISD, IFSO to yourself.
Don’t forget to hit save.
Reviewing/updating the scholar email in the Edit Visitor Login and Permissions is especially important for extensions/amendments as the email listed there is usually from an initial request, which typically won’t be the scholar’s UCSD email. The email listed in the Edit Visitor Login and Permissions is used for all ISD notifications.
After every request is completed IFSO clears the processing stage and sets the department user as ISD, IFSO. This allows departments to use ISD as a case manager.
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).
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.
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.
Tip: If the document you are trying to upload is too large: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.
After all required fields are completed, select: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.
IFSO Processing Fee required: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)
Please verify the following:
No: It’s an ISD VPN subpool or DUO issue
Troubleshooting steps:
Yes: It’s a login credential issue or wrong link (not VPN or DUO).
Steps you should take:
There are two methods of generating the scholar’s username and password.
"Compose Email" and "Confirm Visitor Information" do not generate a username and password.Faculty and scholars needing updated requests such as Extensions or Amendments may not have used ISD previously and will need to be provided with ISD login credentials. There are two primary ways you would know if a faculty/scholar has used ISD before:
There will NOT be an option to “reset password” until a faculty/scholar is invited to use ISD
Tip: Use the percent sign (%) to help you search for variations of names. By adding the % before, after, or at the start and/or end you can search for variations of a name or string of letters.
Each Department user will be assigned access to their department or division which they indicated they would be processing for when ISD access was requested. If this information needs to be changed, email ifsoisd@ucsd.edu
Department user should select the appropriate department from the drop-down list. The departments are listed by division, then in alphabetical order by department.
Division Breakdown
Interdisciplinary programs will be listed under the Division that they are housed under for IFSO processing purposes. If it is unclear which division the interdisciplinary program is housed under, choose the Division the PI is housed under.
ORU's will be listed in ISD as a drop-down option.
Can’t find the department in the drop-down list? Contact IFSO at ifsoisd@ucsd.edu for help.
After each request is completed, we clear the processing stage and set the department user to ISD, IFSO.
This allows scholars to submit requests (i.e. address changes, register, etc.) directly to our office without requiring the department to submit the request to IFSO. If IFSO is the department user, IFSO staff will be notified when a scholar submits one of these requests.
Setting the department user to IFSO also allows you to use ISD as a case manager, so you will only have cases assigned to you that you are actively working on.
Before initiating a new request or inviting the scholar to initiate it, always update the department user to yourself and review the scholar email to make sure it is up to date. Doing so will allow you to receive notifications associated with the request and the scholar to receive the notifications to the most current email.
Submit each request individually.
Please wait until IFSO acknowledges that they have received the first request. Upon acknowledgment of first request you can submit the next request.
Example: J extension and H-1B submission. ALL documents for both requests can already be uploaded in ISD. However, the data in the fields and status you submit to IFSO should first be for the J extension. Once we confirm we received the extension, you can update the ISD fields to include second request information (for example H-1B information such as start/end date). This ensures that IFSO has the correct information processed for each request.