All incidental employment must be approved by the Immigration Officer in International Services and Student Affairs (ISSA) in writing before the employment takes place.

Proposed incidental employment (i.e. occasional lectures or short-term consultation) must meet the following criteria:

• Be directly related to the objectives of the exchange visitor's program
• Be incidental to the exchange visitor's primary program activities
• Not delay the completion date of the exchange visitor's program at Western Michigan University
• In order to receive written approval for J-1 scholar’s incidental employment, the scholar must present the following two documents to the Immigration Officer:
  A letter from the prospective employer/host setting forth the terms and conditions of the offer to lecture or consult, including:
• the duration
• number of hours
• field or subject
• amount of compensation
• detailed description of such activity
• A letter from the WMU host department chair or supervisor recommending the incidental employment (i.e. occasional lectures and short-term consultations) and explaining how it would enhance the scholar's program.

After receiving the above documents, the Immigration Officer will note the approval in the SEVIS database and issue an approval letter to the scholar prior to the start of such activity. Please allow 10 working days for processing.

Note: If your J-1 visa is sponsored by an organization other than Western Michigan University, ISSA cannot approve incidental employment. Please contact your sponsoring organization, which issued your DS-2019, with questions concerning incidental employment authorization.