Requesting Your DS-2019

You will upload a color scan of your passport and confirm your citizenship information. Your passport must show an expiration date that is 6 months or more into the future beyond the start of your graduate program.

You will confirm your contact information and your dates of intended stay in the United States. If you have not yet decided on your specific travel dates, you may put your best estimate.

You will also indicate whether you will be bringing any dependents (spouse and/or children) with you. Please be aware that for purposes of the J-1 visa, dependents can only include your spouse and/or children under 21 years old.

IMPORTANT NOTE: It is recommended that you wait to make any major purchases for your time in the United States (flight tickets, health insurance, housing, etc.) until after you have received your J-1 visa stamp. For this reason, it is fine to submit this form with estimated dates of travel. If you have any questions about completing this requirement, please email grads@sandiego.edu.

You will be asked if you are an undergraduate exchange student. Please select “No” and submit this form.

If you are currently earning a graduate degree at a foreign institution and will be attending USD as part of a partnership or exchange program, you are required to submit this form with information on your home institution and your home institution exchange coordinator point of contact.

Note: If you are not currently earning a graduate degree at a foreign institution, please skip this form.

You will provide your contact information and designate an individual whom USD can contact on your behalf in case of emergency.

If you will be bringing your dependent(s) (spouse and/or children) with you to the United States, you must submit a copy of this form for each dependent, providing their personal information and a color copy of their passport. Your dependents' passports must show an expiration date that is 6 months or more into the future beyond the start of your graduate program. Please be aware that for purposes of the J-1 visa, dependents can only include your spouse and/or children under 21 years old.

You will upload documentation that proves you have met USD’s English Proficiency requirement for graduate studies. To prove this requirement, you may submit one of the following:

• An official TOEFL iBT (online version or Home edition accepted) or an official IELTS score report showing that you have met the minimum score required for your program.
• If you are currently earning a graduate degree at a foreign institution and will be attending USD as part of a partnership or exchange program: an official verification letter on institutional letterhead from your home institution exchange advisor confirming that your graduate program of study at your home institution is taught 100% in English.

If you received a waiver of the English proficiency exam requirement during the admission process, please email grads@sandiego.edu for assistance in completing this e-form.

Please skip this form. It is applicable only to USD students on study abroad programs, and therefore is not needed for your J-1 visa application.

You will provide financial documentation to prove that you have the funding available to cover the estimated expenses for your entire program. Review the estimated cost of attendance for your program so that you know the minimum amount that you will need to prove.

In order to prove your funding source(s), you will need to upload copies of the appropriate "acceptable documents," according to the type(s) of funds you plan to use. Please keep in mind that all documents submitted must be in English or submitted along with a certified official English translation, and must be dated within the past 3 months:

• Personal Funds: If you plan to support yourself using your own money, you must submit a bank statement, bank letter or similar financial statement (issued within the last three months) detailing current liquid/cash assets (savings account or checking account) available for use during your time in the US. The bank statement or letter must be in your name.
• Scholarship(s) from a University, Employer, Government, or Other Organization: If you plan to pay for your program using a scholarship you have received, you must submit the relevant contract or correspondence detailing the funding or scholarship.
• Outside Sponsor: If a relative, friend, or other personal acquaintance will be supporting you during your program, you must submit their bank statement, bank letter or similar financial statement (issued within the last three months) detailing current liquid/cash assets (savings account or checking account). The bank statement or letter must be in the name of your sponsor. Your sponsor must also provide you with a hand-signed Affidavit of Support stating that they will use the funds shown in their bank account to support you in your studies, and indicating how much of the funding shown on their bank statement is available for you to use. You must upload both their bank statement, and their Affidavit of Support, via the Visitor Certification of Finances e-form.

Note: Investments, stocks, retirement accounts, credit, real estate and other non-liquid assets cannot be used toward the Visitor Certification of Finances requirement. Only immediately available cash assets can be accepted.

You will review J-1 health insurance requirements and specify whether you will be using USD’s Student Health Insurance Plan (USD SHIP), or a different plan.

Please note that the USD SHIP does not provide coverage for dependents; only students.

J-1 students may choose to waive the USD SHIP by submitting proof of a comparable alternative insurance plan, only if this plan includes ALL of the following features:

• Effective throughout your entire duration of stay in the United States. The plan must provide coverage for the entire time you will be in US (from the day you arrive to the US, through the day you depart), not just coverage for the dates of your program
• Maximum dollar coverage of at least $100,000 per illness or injury (not the same as $100,000 maximum benefit)
• Include outpatient care (doctor visits, outpatient surgery, etc.)
• Include hospitalization
• Repatriation for at least $25,000
• Medical evacuation for at least $50,000
• Cost of deductible, if any, does not exceed $500 per accident or illness

J-1 students who wish to waive out of the USD SHIP by using an alternative plan must submit a copy of their alternative health insurance certificate in English, which explicitly states that the requirements above are included. Individuals who fail to do so at least 45 days before the date of their arrival to the United States will automatically be enrolled in the USD SHIP.

Alternative Health Insurance Plans: If you are interested in waiving out of the USD SHIP and choosing an alternative provider instead, we have compiled this list of insurance companies that have been successfully used by former USD international and exchange students. Please recognize that since we are not affiliated with any of these companies, we make no guarantee of their services. This list is offered only to serve as a starting point for your own research.

IMPORTANT NOTE: It is recommended that you wait to make any major purchases for your time in the United States (health insurance, flight tickets, housing, etc.) until after you have received your J-1 visa stamp. For this reason, you may need to submit a sample summary of benefits to fulfill the Student Health Insurance Intent Form requirement. Once your J-1 visa stamp has been obtained, you can then go back to your provider and purchase the actual plan. If you have any questions about completing this requirement, please email grads@sandiego.edu.

You will review and confirm that all necessary documents and forms required by the Office of Graduate Admission have been submitted through iTorero and acknowledge that any document that doesn't fulfill the minimum required standard may result in non-issuance of DS-2019 and that you are aware by electronic signature.

This is the last eform in Step 1. You will complete four additional eforms after the DS-2019 issuance.