Hosting International Visitors and Visiting Scholars

Purdue loves hosting and collaborating with visitors to our campus. When the visitors are international, however, we must consider the research security requirements and export control regulations to mitigate any potential risk and avoid possible violations. To limit the possibility of an incident occurring because of an international visit to campus, Research Security and Export Controls (RSEC) reviews each visit for the following:

Is the visitor or the visitor’s institution a prohibited party on a U.S. Government Restricted Party List? Such lists are maintained by various federal agencies and identify persons and entities engaging in activities contrary to the national security or foreign policy objectives of the United States. RSEC will conduct this screening as part of the standard review process.
Does the hosting faculty member/laboratory have controlled research projects? If so, are there technology control plans that need to be revised to address the visitor’s presence within the lab?

If a visitor or their institution is on a restricted party list or the visit presents too high of a risk from an RSEC standpoint, the visit may not be approved. To ensure that risk is minimized and any concerns are identified before an invitation is formally made, please consider the following:

Before Issuing a Formal Invitation

Review Purdue policies. “Research Security Program (I.A.6)” and “Foreign Adversary Nations (III.B.7)” clarify roles, responsibilities, and restrictions at Purdue.
Understand the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Learn how this legislation affects payments to foreign government officials.
Know the difference. Recognize the differences between a visitor and a visiting scholar at Purdue and what activities are permissible for each during their stay.
Obtain your letter. By Purdue Provost policy, International Scholar Services/PISA issues invitation letters for all international visiting scholars and visitors except:
1. Conference participants
2. Large groups of visitors where the department completes a group screening through RSEC.
Note: If your visitor(s) are related to one of these, then contact RSEC for further guidance.

Conference attendees are issued an invitation letter through the Purdue University conference contact. Departments may generate visitor or visiting scholar letters only for individuals who are U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, asylees, refugees, and group screened visitors. Following a restricted party screening by RSEC, the Department Head or Dean in the department/school of the prospective host should review the proposed visit and sign the invitation letter.
Invitation letters may not be issued before a restricted party screening by RSEC has been conducted. Screening may take up to 30 days, so plan accordingly.
If you are hosting an international visiting scholar/visitor, a request must be submitted to PISA. Please see the International Scholar Services website for more information.
Following approval of the restricted party screening, PISA will draft an invitation letter and send it to the Department Contact who is responsible for acquiring departmental signatures. PISA will forward the department-signed letter to the visiting scholar/visitor for their signature then email the fully signed letter to the host, department contact, and business office.
The provost-approved invitation letter template must be used for all letters.

Things To Consider During the Visit

Visas are typically issued by the US State Department for specific activities. Be sure to review with the visitor what activities are contemplated. This is especially important for visitors from Countries/regions subject to U.S. Comprehensive Sanctions.
International visitors do present a risk of a deemed export. Consider contacting the RSEC Team early if you expect the visitor to be near or work with any of the following:
- Data that are not intended for the public domain (i.e. publication, seminars, etc.)
- Data with military or space applications
- Controlled projects where publication is not allowable (i.e. for proprietary, government controls or other agreements)
- Projects where participation is limited by citizenship through a contract or other means
- Technical data that are acquired through a non-disclosure/confidentiality agreement
- Projects/areas/items associated with a technology control plan