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Stanford
Bechtel International Center Bechtel International Center

J-1 Scholar Off-Site Activity Authorization

As a J-1 scholar, your professional activities in the United States are limited to that described on your DS-2019, and may only take place on the Stanford campus. However, Bechtel International Center may authorize an occasional lecture or short-term consultation, but only with prior written approval.

If you engage in off-site activities without prior authorization, you are in violation of your J-1 status, which can be cause for termination of your J-1 program. 

Bechtel cannot authorize short-term consulting if it exceeds four hours per week or exceeds a period of two months. Only one consulting off-site authorization is allowed (as opposed to a speaking engagement) per a scholar's academic appointment at Stanford. Bechtel cannot authorize activities that take place on U.S. soil but are paid for by a foreign entity. J-1 Scholars do not have authorization to launch a start-up, and further off-site authorization cannot be used to launch a start-up.

The proposed activity connected to your authorization request must:

  • Be directly related to the objectives of your program.
  • Be incidental to your primary program activities.
  • Not delay the completion date of your program.

Off-Site Activity Requests 

Bechtel requires a letter and a form to consider an off-site activity request. Please use the links below to prepare these documents.

Required Documents: 

Email both documents to internationalscholars@stanford.edu. The inviting organization will need a copy of the letter in order to pay an honorarium. You should keep a copy for your permanent record. Please allow 10 days for the processing of the authorization letter by Bechtel.

Learn More 

Send an email to internationalscholars@stanford.edu with any questions.