J-1 Exchange Students: Once you have formally accepted your admission to your exchange program (by paying a deposit or other method indicated by the program), ISSS will email you instructions for requesting a DS-2019 through ISSS Link, our international student and scholar portal. In ISSS Link, you will provide information and documents needed for ISSS to issue your DS-2019. Then, your exchange program administrator will receive an email asking them to provide supplemental information. After the DS-2019(s) is ready, you will receive an electronic copy of your DS-2019(s) along with instructions for paying the SEVIS fee and applying for your visa.  

J-1 Degree-Seeking Students (including Fulbright transfers):  

Degree Seeking students that are not already at Emory will receive an email from ISSS with instructions for requesting a DS-2019 through ISSS Link.  

Current Emory students that are transferring their sponsorship from another organization, such as Fulbright, to Emory will need to contact our office directly at newfjstudent@emory.edu.  

For more information, visit our DS-2019 FAQ page.

Transferring to Emory  

If you are currently in J-1 status attending another US institution or you are already at Emory under different sponsorship (ex. Fulbright), your current institution will need to transfer your SEVIS immigration record to Emory after determining whether you are eligible for a SEVIS transfer.

Emory's program code is P-1-00874 for all students.

Procedure

1. Contact your international student advisor at your current institution to discuss transferring to Emory and to determine an appropriate “SEVIS release date” (the date your SEVIS record will be transferred to Emory). 
   1. Emory will only accept transfers of SEVIS records in Active SEVIS status. Students with an inactive SEVIS record must request an Initial status DS-2019.
   2. Your current advisor will need to fill out the J-1 Student Transfer-In Request which can be found in the “New Student DS-2019 Request” e-form in ISSS Link.
2. Complete Emory’s DS-2019 Request
   

   Please complete the “New Student DS-2019 Request” e-form in ISSS Link. The information in this e-form will be used to arrange the transfer of your SEVIS record to Emory and to create a DS-2019. 

   If you are a Fulbright student that wants to transfer to Emory sponsorship, please email us at newfjstudent@emory.edu to receive the next steps. 
3. After your SEVIS record is released to Emory, Emory will issue your updated DS-2019. This is the document you should present when traveling abroad. Do not enter the US using a DS-2019 from your previous J-1 sponsor.

Graduating J-1s 

If you are graduating from another institution in J-1 status, you need to have your SEVIS record transferred to Emory before your DS-2019 form expires or your program completion date, whichever is earlier. 

If you want to transfer to Emory in the middle of a program at another institution, please first contact your ISSS Advisor at Emory for discussion to avoid immigration difficulties. 

If you are already in the US in an immigration status other than J-1 and want to change your immigration status to J-1, you can either: 

• Travel outside the US and re-enter the US using a new visa and DS-2019.

• File a government application from within the US to change status if eligible. This process usually takes longer.  

For more information about changing your status, please visit our Changing Your Status page.

Your ISSS advisor is available to help you each step of the way as well!

• For initial DS-2019 questions, contact newfjstudent@emory.edu. For other immigration questions, contact your ISSS advisor.
• Check out our DS-2019 FAQ page.